AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES ON BRITISH HIGHER-EDUCATION UNDER THATCHER AND MAJOR

This paper discusses some of the persistent themes in the troubled rel ationship between government and universities over the past 18 years-t he absence of serious discussion, and of trust, between them; the dile mmas facing governments committed to a market ideology but also consid ering themselves responsible for academic standards and the distributi on of students between subjects; the curious insistence by both govern ment and academics that, despite continuous cuts in per capita support , standards have not fallen and may even have risen; the decline in 't ruth telling' by the academic community, and its acceptance of a new l anguage to describe their activities; the deformations of academic lif e flowing from the attempts to measure departments' research quality. It concludes with some observations on academic 'slack' that the Thatc her/Major governments wished to eliminate, and a summary characterisat ion of their policies over the last 18 years.