Changing legal regimes and the fate of autonomy in portuguese universities

Abstract

In 2007, Parliament approved a new University Framework Law which replaced the University Autonomy Act of 1988. Based mainly on parliamentary debates, this chapter reviews and compares the Acts of 1988 and 2007. It traces the main changes in the mission of the university and the institutional conditions for accomplishing it. University autonomy is a key principle. Its meaning changed markedly from 1988 to 2007. Emphasis now rests primarily on the implications university autonomy has for financial and administrative management as levers to raise management efficiency, rather than scientific and pedagogical autonomy per se. The bond between autonomy and academic community's participation in university governance, set down in the 1988 legislation, was replaced by a representation both limited and indirect. This is a profound though subtle transformation in the inner workings of the university. The Liberal ethos of the university yields before operational behaviour of self adjustment to priorities set by university administrators, boards of trustees or corporate sponsors, and with it a limited form of participation.