The article addresses the concept of quality assurance (QA) and its relation to quality in higher education which itself is a component of total quality management. It then examines the regulatory policies for higher education followed by the meaning of the concept of democracy in the South African Constitution and its impact and implications on the higher education. The cornerstone of any democracy is an inductive (bottom-up) approach rather than a deductive (top-down) approach. The article finally examines, to which of these approaches the QA's content, processes and procedures are aligned.