University Governance: Democracy and/or Efficiency? (full text in Greek)

Abstract

The article aims to analyse the issue of university governance from the viewpoint of the antithesis between democracy and efficiency. The related debate and the legislative initiatives undertaken in Greece after 1982 are outlined, being considered in the respective international and, more specifically, European context. In the beginning, the transition from the “oligarchic” university of the competence-based authorities to the democratic and participatory university (after 1968 in Europe and after 1982 in Greece) is analysed. Then, the introduction of the model of “dual governance” is analysed, as the response to the need and the demand for opening the university to society (accountability). And, finally, the recent trends in some European countries are analysed too, trends which result in the gradual shift of the “dual governancemodel towards corporate governance approaches, which aim increase efficiency and which in consequence result in decreasing democracy (participatory governance). The analysis pays particular attention to the role that students play in their participation in higher education governance, especially in the context of the Bologna Process. In this respect, emphasis is given to the distinction between the students’ individual and collective responsibility. The article concludes with the view that efficiency in decision-making is of no value if it is not followed by efficiency in the implementation of the decisions, which in turn – and especially in higher education – presupposes and requires the democratic legitimacy of the decisions and of the governance structures and procedures in place.