Manon Ratel's thesis defense

Manon Ratel defended her dissertation, “Territorial Governance of the School System: A Study of a School Zoning System,” on Friday, November 19, 2021, at 1:00 p.m.

Abstract: How is the school system governed at the local level? This dissertation examines the evolution of a school zoning scheme to understand change in local public policy. Based on an in-depth empirical study and a multi-level strategic analysis, I reveal the complexity of the network of actors and the intertwining of responsibilities surrounding the school system within the local political-administrative structure. This instrumental and experimental approach opens up analytical perspectives situated at the intersection of diverse issues (educational, political, social, urban, security-related, etc.) that have been refracted through the trajectory of the initiative. I thus demonstrate how a range of instruments, public and private actors, ideas, values, and practices shape and guide public action.

This research sheds light on the decision-making process behind the closure of a segregated middle school and the reassignment of its students to other districts in the name of diversity. It serves as a contribution to the study of implementation and change in public policy. Tracing the trajectory of the zoning system contributes to the study of state governance through the lens of a region’s political and social activity. Among other findings, it emerges that the territorial governance of the school system is a routine yet discontinuous process, in which the level of stakeholder involvement depends more or less directly on the quality of the opportunities available to them. This thesis examines the governance process of an uncertain political project, urban change, the governance of bodies, budgets, and values, as well as security, within the school system.

Keywords: governance – social inequalities – region – public education policy – program

Jury members:

• Anne BARRÈRE, Professor, Paris Descartes University (examiner)
• Renaud EPSTEIN, Professor, Sciences Po Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Chair)
• Patrick LE GALÈS, Professor, Sciences Po Paris (rapporteur)
• Jean-Paul PAYET, Professor, University of Geneva (examiner)
• Gilles PINSON, Professor, Sciences Po Bordeaux (rapporteur)
• Geneviève ZOïA, Professor, University of Montpellier (Director)