© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 361 The

Abstract. The nature and extent of institutional autonomy at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) has been a matter of contention between academics, policy makers and university members for many years. Opinions about governmental influence over the university in Mexico range from absolute autonomy to absolute control. Few of them, however, are founded on research on university-government relations. Most studies of univer-sity autonomy in Mexico are based on classical definitions and pluralist political perspectives that limit a thorough understanding of this relation between the University and the government in the context of an authoritarian State. This article provides an alternative perspective on the nature and limits of autonomy at UNAM based on conflict theories, resource dependency and theories of power