The recent early resignation of Julie Bishop as chancellor of the ANU, and the resignations of many of her allies on the ANU council, is on the one hand a mark of how leadership went off the rails at the university. On the other hand, however, it's a mark of something much more positive.

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Democracy worked in this case, if belatedly, as a kind of immune system to repair the damage done.

Democracy both within the university and across the wider democratic system of Australia played this role.

The ANU ultimately withstood a problematic period in its leadership - which could have hollowed out the institution - because staff, students, local and national media, regulators, and a wide and non-partisan group of members of parliament stepped up.

As scholars of democratic governance, we see what happened at the ANU as ultimately a success story - even an inspiring one - that shows how grassroots democracy can still sometimes work to restore sound governance.

By way of background, a former vice-chancellor - whom Julie Bishop had selected - initiated a program of structural change and widespread firings of staff based on contested claims about the university's apparent money woes.

From start to finish, there was a notable lack of transparency around the figures. Staff, understandably, wished to see the numbers.

Many staff were financial experts, others experts in political processes, and still others simply concerned employees of an institution they respect and even love.

In the end, academics with expertise ranging from Middle Eastern politics, to honeybee pollination, to politics and constitutional law formed a constituency that spoke up, and prevailed. This is why this saga qualifies as a success story.

The success involved one of the most effective ground-up democratic movements of recent years - which continues at other universities, like UTS, with comparable governance failures that have led to program and staff cuts based on unexplained rationales, overreliance on costly external consultants, and little to no transparency or accountability to staff, students and the broader public.

At the ANU, one of the standout features of the movement was the leadership of the ANU Governance Project,........

© Canberra Times