We start the book with a reiteration of the idea that quality has become
one of the most important framing factors in education policies and
practices. The introductory chapter coins the concept of quality
assurance and evaluation (QAE), its differing and contested
interpretations, and its seemingly uniform transnational agenda. The
chapter discusses how QAE is linked to the questions of politics and
power as well as how it is used as a governance tool. The chapter also
describes the project’s ontological premises, which are contingency and
complexity theory. These ontological premises are then discussed in the
light of contemporary comparative education and political science
theories. The book’s analytical framework, called Comparative Analytics
of Dynamics in Education Politics (CADEP), is introduced. The CADEP
framework focuses the analysis on the dimensions of political
situations, political possibilities, and the use of political space. The
chapter concludes with a discussion of the book’s aim, which is to
analyse how QAE as a transnational flow and governance tool changes the
role of state, expertise, governance, and the room for action which
exists for politicians, teachers, and other actors in varying contexts.