Applying a democratic evidence-based decision-making model: a case illustration of policy development at an Arab University

Abstract

This case study explores the potential for democratic governance in state-regulated Arab higher education systems focusing on institutional committee members’ adoption of deliberative, empowered and participatory evidence-based decision-making practices while engaged in university policy development. Amidst a landscape characterised by the forces of globalisation and internationalisation, coupled with an intensifying focus on quality assurance and accreditation that increasingly shape governance structures, this research examines decision-making at the practical micro-level within an Arab State institution. This university, mirroring others in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, functions within a largely centralised political system where government bodies exert substantial influence. By presenting an illustrative case of grassroots democratic evidence-based decision-making during committee members’ formulation of a new institution-wide policy, this study aims to partially bridge the conceptual and applied research void. It delves into the opportunities and challenges of practicing shared, evidence-based decision-making in multiplex universities operating within characteristically state-regulated, management-centric political contexts.