Teacher Education (TE) in Sweden and the Republic of Ireland, as well as many other countries, has come, to be closely regulated by the state. In this study we conducted a comparative critical discourse analysis of four policy documents, two documents in each country. We tested our hypothesis that the democratic (ethical) identity of the teacher educator has been diminished in recent policy documents. Our critical discourse analysis to date has confirmed the accuracy of this hypothesis and indicated that the paradigm shift in this regard has been rapid and substantive. The findings have implications for the democratic (ethical) dimension of teacher education generally and for education’s role as a social and political shaper of contemporary democratic society.