THE NOTION OF PUBLIC AND THE INSTITUTIONAL DIVERSIFICATION IN THE HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN BRAZIL

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing aspects of the historical development of Higher Education in Brazil, as part of Brazilian political culture and as a result of different points of view that originated this institutional framework. The public character inherent to this historical dynamics is studied in the light of important authors on political culture, such as Faoro (1987) and Tavares (2000), and on Brazilian education, as Cunha (1988,1989) and Fávero (1991). This analysis is concentrated in the nineties, and it intends to construct own means of interpretation able to contribute to the present debate on the subject. Public character is historically precarious, but academic-institutional organization is also delicate, fact that is even more challenging to guarantee that the present expansion of Higher Education can perceive a strong public character, although possibilities to improve in this sense are not ignored. The text is organized under five historical periods, defined according to the announced approach, allowing this analysis to be systematized.