Accountability, Democratic Theory, and Higher Education

Abstract

Accountability defines the appropriate relationship between elected and nonelected officials. Herman Finer emphasized elected officials’, and Carl Friedrich emphasized nonelected officials’, professional values and knowledge to determine the actions of nonelected officials. The Higher Education Amendments of 1972 and more recent state-imposed requirements on higher education comply with classical definitions of accountability and responsibility. Neither Friedrich nor Finer provided a rich enough definition of what works in practice. The relationships between elected and nonelected officials include elements of both. This suggests that policy making can best occur with a blending of elected and nonelected officials’ values and preferences. Developing this kind of relationship in higher education will be especially challenging given the history of autonomy of higher education professionals, the difficulty of measuring effectively what higher education does, and the values of academic freedom that can speak truth to power no matter how painful that may be.

Exploring the uncharted territory of devolution in Zimbabwe

“…Efficiency has to do with minimising waste and maximising value from given resources, that is achieving more with less, while effectiveness would involve achieving set objectives (Dunn, 2003). These two combine to reflect the level of productivity of an organisation.…”

Transnational Governance of Higher Education: On Globalization and International University Ranking Lists

“…Ranking lists are assumed to represent higher education and research institutions in ways that make it possible for laymen and politicians, as well as students and parents, to understand and compare qualities of different universities (e.g., Dunn, 2003). Thus, such representations are assumed to provide information about a world that seems to be incomprehensible and to make higher education transparent and possible to deal with by informed customers, or as decision‐makers in and involving higher education.…”

Nuevas tendencias en políticas de garantía de calidad en la educación superior

“…Esta tendencia ha sido reforzada por un tercer factor, característico de las décadas de 1980 y 1990: el énfasis sobre la necesidad que las universidades puedan «rendir cuentas» de sus actividades y del uso de los medios financieros de que disponen (Crowther-Hunter, 1983;Dunn, 2003;Kogan, 1986;Neave, 1984;Neave y Van Vught, 1991).…”