Buried deep in the psyche of British (certainly English) higher education there are still residues of noblesse oblige and its historical role of co-opting the best of the brightest into the ruling class. So widening participation is all very well at the margins. But it becomes a threat if it moves centre-stage.
The contrast with the US is stark. Going to college is part of being American; it has a direct link through to the founding values of the republic. So big books like Amy Gutmann's Democratic Education get written – and noticed. The fact that she is now president of the University of Pennsylvania, a world-class research university, (and was provost at Princeton) only emphasises how wide the Atlantic is.
"By teaching the skills and virtues of deliberation among citizens," wrote Gutmann in 1995, "schools can contribute to bringing a democracy closer to its own ideal."
