Elke Weyer sheds light on the question why after more than three decades of higher education
reforms in some countries it is still not clear whether the reforms have achieved their stated
goals i.e. to create autonomous universities that meet political expectations. By
back-casting real-life decision-making processes the author reconstructs how different types
of actors influenced the academic governance of higher education institutions in the context of
these reforms. This approach highlights how numerous changes in governance and organisation
affect the relationships between actors and how they promote their interests.
