Stakeholders and Senates: the governance of higher education institutions in South Africa

This article investigates the issue of the governance of higher education institutions and argues that governance by Senates is more appropriate than governance by stakeholders for such institutions. It discusses the ambiguous democratic credentials of stakeholder politics and argues against this mode of politics in the governance of higher education institutions, especially in respect to their ‘transformation’. In terms of distinctions between convergent and shared interests, service and constitutive institutions and the essential lack of transparency of academic practices, it argues that higher education institutions should be governed by the body of accomplished academics. The conclusion is not that Senates cannot be corrupt, but that to substitute governance by stakeholders for governance by Senates cannot solve that problem.