Recent shifts in university governance have relied on increased autonomy. Within this context, the enhanced role attributed to governance boards at the expense of academic bodies and the role of external stakeholders has gained momentum. With the aim of understanding the extent of the influence of external stakeholders at the institutional level,…

Major public policies for institutional governance in France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom over the past two decades are reviewed, and factors that may account for differences in policy developments in the three countries are considered. In France and (although only recently) in Sweden, politics have aimed at increasing institutional autonomy in…