Abstract
The 1988 University Autonomy Act conferred Portuguese universities with a considerable degree of autonomy and designed a governance system based on collegiality. Strong participation of academic and non-academic staffs and students in decisions became the rule and democratic elections of all individual or collective governance bodies were the basis for legitimacy. More recently, a new reform has changed the legal framework. This reform was publicly presented as the implementation of New Public Management (NPM) in the Portuguese higher education system. In this paper, we analyse the new legal framework to understand how far it can be seen as an application of NPM and compare the Portuguese reform with those taking place in several European countries to determine how far there is convergence with the European modernisation agenda.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amaral, A. (ed.) (2003) Avaliação, Revisão e Consolidação da Legislação do Ensino Superior, Coimbra: Fundação das Universidades Portuguesas.
Amaral, A. (2007) ‘From Quality Assurance to Accreditation — A Satirical View’, in J. Enders and F. van Vught (eds.) Towards a Cartography of Higher Education Policy Change, Czech Republic: UNITISK, pp. 79–86.
Amaral, A., Magalhães, A. and Santiago, R. (2003) ‘The Rise of Academic Managerialism in Portugal’, in A. Amaral, V.L. Meek and I.M. Larsen (eds.) The Higher Education Managerial Revolution?, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 101–123.
Amaral, A. and Rosa, M.J. (2004) ‘Portugal: Professional and Academic Accreditation — The Impossible Marriage?’, in S. Schwarz and D. Westerheijden (eds.) Accreditation and Evaluation in the European Higher Education Area, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 127–157.
Bleiklie, I. (1998) ‘Justifying the evaluative state: New public management ideals in higher education’, European Journal of Education 33 (3): 299–316.
Calogero, M. (2010) ‘The introduction of new public management principles in the Italian public sector’, Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences 30 (2): 30–54.
Clark, B. (1998) Creating Entrepreneurial Universities: Organisational Pathways of Transformation, Oxford: Pergamon.
Danish Consolidation Act no. 1368 of 7 December 2007, (official translation), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
de Boer, H. (2003) ‘Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue? The Colourful World of Management Reforms’, in A. Amaral, V.L. Meek and I.M. Larsen (eds.) The Higher Education Managerial Revolution?, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 89–108.
de Boer, H., Denters, B. and Goedegebuure, L. (1998) ‘On boards and councils; shaky balances considered: The governance of Dutch universities’, Higher Education Policy 11 (2/3): 153–164.
de Boer, H. and Goedegebuure, L. (1995) ‘Decision-making in higher education: A comparative perspective’, Australian Universities’ Review 38 (1): 41–47.
Dill, D., Teixeira, P., Jongbloed, B. and Amaral, A. (2004) ‘Conclusion’, in P. Teixeira, B. Jongbloed, D. Dill and A. Amaral (eds.) Markets in Higher Education: Rhetoric or Reality?, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 327–352.
Duke, C. (2002) Managing the Learning University, Buckingham: Open University Press.
Ferlie, E., Ashburner, L., Fitzgerald, L. and Pettigrew, A. (1996) The New Public Management in Action, London: Sage.
Finnish Universities Act 558/2009, Amendments up to 1349/2010, unofficial translation http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/kaannokset/2009/en20090558.pdf.
Hood, C. (1991) ‘A public management for all seasons?’ Public Administration 69 (1): 3–19.
Larbi, G.A. (1999) ‘The new public management approach and crisis states’, Geneva: UNRISD. UNRISD discussion paper no. 112.
Marginson, S. and Considine, M. (2000) The Enterprise University: Power, Governance and Reinvention in Australia, Oakleigh: Cambridge University Press.
Moore, M., Stewart, S. and Hoddock, A. (1994) ‘Institution building as a development assistance method: A review of literature and ideas’, Stockholm. Report to the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA).
Norway. (2005) ‘Act relating to universities and university colleges’, http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/KD/Vedlegg/UH/UHloven_engelsk.pdf, accessed 21 December 2012.
Pollitt, C. (1993) Managerialism and the Public Services: The Anglo-American Experience, 2nd edn., Oxford: Blackwell.
Pollitt, C., Birchall, J. and Putnam, K. (1998) Decentralising Public Service Management, London: Macmillan Press.
Reed, M. (2002) ‘New Managerialism, Professional Power and Organisational Governance in UK universities: A Review and Assessment’, in A. Amaral, G. Jones and B. Karseth (eds.) Governing Higher Education: National Perspectives on Institutional Governance, Dordrecht: Kluwer University Publishers, pp. 163–185.
Ridley, F. (1996) ‘The new public management in Europe: Comparative perspectives’, Public Policy and Administration 11 (1): 16–29.
Sappington, D.E.M. (1991) ‘Incentives in principal–agent relationship’, Journal of Economic Perspectives 5 (2): 45–66.
Schwarz, S. and Westerheijden, D. (2004) Accreditation and Evaluation in the European Higher Education Area, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Press.
Strathern, M. (ed.) (2000) Audit Cultures, London: Routledge.
Swedish Code of Statutes (SFS) No: 1992:1434, Heading Swedish Higher Education Act (SFS 1992:1434), issued 17 December 1992, with amendments up to and including Swedish Code of Statutes (SFS) No: 2006: 173 issued 21 March 2006, Ministry of Education and Research, Sweden.
Swedish Code of Statutes (SFS) No: 1993:100, Heading Higher Education Ordinance (SFS 1993:100), issued 4 February 1993, with amendments up to and including Swedish Code of Statutes (SFS) No: 2006:1054, issued 18 July 2006, Ministry of education and Research, Sweden.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Amaral, A., Tavares, O. & Santos, C. Higher Education Reform in Portugal: A Historical and Comparative Perspective of the New Legal Framework for Public Universities. High Educ Policy 26, 5–24 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2012.29
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2012.29