Justifying the Need for Control. Motives for Swedish National School Inspection during Two Governments

This paper analyses the political motives that underlie the increased educational control exercised by reinstalling and reinforcing school inspection during the periods of 2001-2003 and 2006-2008. These periods cover both social democratic and non-socialist governments, with different parties in office. The paper draws on an approach to scrutinize the process of problematization in public policy making applied on political policy documents. Overall, school inspection has been politically and ideologically unchallenged and justified on similar grounds by the two governments. By focusing on quality, equivalence and, in the latter period, educational and pupils' academic results, school inspection was legitimized and framed in a way that leaves no room for party political opposition.