UNIVERSITY DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT: NEW FRACTURES, OLD WOUNDS

Abstract

In recent years, university democracy has entered the agenda of national debates, in view of successive interventions in the electoral systems of Federal Institutions of Higher Education. It is estimated that 45% of federal universities suffered some type of interference in the choice of rectors, in addition to legal changes in their decision-making processes. In this scenario, marked by the weakening of democratic principles, the present article had the general objective of investigating the impacts of federal interference, in the democratic management practices of federal universities, between the years 2018 and 2022. unit of analysis of 10 universities in Minas Gerais, accompanied by documentary research and questionnaires with 167 members of university advisors. The results showed that the interventions, via provisional measures and technical notes, revoked institutionalized democratic practices, such as parity in internal voting at universities. On the other hand, even though the majority of university counselors refuted federal discretion in choosing deans, discourses of faculty supremacy emerged when agreeing with the changes that reduced the participation of students and administrative technicians in electoral processes. The conclusions point to the need to debate the limits of recent interference, as well as the internal contradictions that historically cross university practices, in the search for more democratic paths.