The External Pressures on the Internal Governance of Universities Brian Salter, University of East Anglia, and Ted Tapper, University of Sussex Abstract Governance is a means for realising institutional goals and in an ideal world should enable the institution to respond to the demands of the political envi- ronment by regulating its internal affairs accordingly. In the case of univer- sities, not only is that environment increasingly differentiated but so also is the ability of universities to access it. Changes in state funding arrange- ments, accountability mechanisms, the contribution of the private sector, and the public definition of university education have placed numerous and varied pressures on institutions. Yet there is a studied reluctance by institu- tions to accept that their ability to respond to these pressures is equally vari- able, that they should tailor their ambitions to their capacities, and that their internal governance should be adapted using the principle of fitness for purpose. In the main, this is because the dominant ideological themes of higher education do not support the idea of distinct university functions of equal status. Rather, they encourage the erroneous belief that all universities are homogeneous in their functions – or, at least, that all have the potential to be homogeneous. Introduction The internal governance of universities is shaped by a political environ- ment which encourages, chastises or is indifferent to the various forms that governance may take. To the extent that institutions adopt a form of governance which can readily engage with the pressures generated by their environment, they are then able to compete effectively in the polit- ical game for resources. To the extent that they do not, they will fall behind and, ultimately, succumb. Governance is thus a means to a polit- ical end, not an end in itself. It is therefore sensible to place the discus- sion of the ‘appropriateness’ or ‘efficiency’ of particular governance Higher Education Quarterly, 0951–5224 Volume 56, No. 3, July 2002, pp 245–256  Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 2002, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.