This book provides a comparative analysis of the impact of 'soft Europeanization' on higher education governance in Western Europe. Using concrete indicators of policy change, it focuses on university reform in Italy, France, Germany and the UK to explore how historical legacies and transnational communication have impacted policy pathways.

"Since the national process tracing of the HE reforms with a comparative perspective and multi-model analysis is rich and presents theoretical challenges to advance the field, I highly recommend Dobbins' and Knill's book to students and researchers in the fields of education policy, comparative education, and political science as well as policy-makers." (Marcelo Marques, Journal of Education Policy, Vol. 31 (1), January, 2016)