大学公共性实现:政府与市场的力量—— 从“达特茅斯学院案”和“灯塔制度”谈开去

Realization of University Publicity: A Discussion of the Power of Government and Market Based on Dartmouth Case and the Lighthouse System

公共性问题是当前市场经济条件下人们拷问政府和社会组织职能的一个热门话题,大学公共性因为大学走向社会中心而倍加受到人们关注。公共性是大学的本质属性,那么,是否只有公立大学才能保证大学的公共性呢?通过市场融资方式获得收入,大学是否就意味着一定会丧失公共性呢?这些现实问题需要我们求解。从历史比较视角观察,达特茅斯学院案对私立大学合法性的裁定,使美国私立大学获得了蓬勃的发展,也促进了高等教育的繁荣和兴盛,并认同了私立大学的公共性品质;而英国灯塔制度演变说明,产权界定降低了市场外部行为的交易成本,公共产品不仅可以由政府来提供,私人组织在提供公共服务中有可能具有比政府更高的效率。大学的公共性价值更多是秉持为公众服务的理念,只要把服务私人目标和服务公共目标更好地结合起来,通过政府和市场的共同力量,大学可以有效催生公共性的实现。

Publicity is a hot topic raised by the public to challenge the function of governments and social organizations in current market economy.University publicity gains more public attention as universities go towards the core of society.Publicity is the fundamental nature of university.Does that mean only public universities can assure university publicity,and universities which obtain funding through market financing definitely lose publicity?These questions need to be answered. This paper examined and compared the history and pointed out that the Dartmouth Case legalized private universities in the United States,and promoted the vigorous development of private universities as well as higher education as a whole in the United States;meanwhile,it acknowledged the publicity of private universities.The lighthouse system in England shows that property defining can decrease the costs of external market transaction,and private organizations may be more effective in providing public services than the governments.The value of university publicity lies more in its idea to serve the public.Universities can effectively have publicity realized with both the power of government and market when they achieve a good combination of individual objectives with public goals.