Abstract: In order to understand the characteristics of American research universities governance process, we not only need to concern the distribution of power, but also focus on the governance level. In general, the governance process of American research university possess the characteristics of polity, ambiguity and the rule of law, which is closely related to American social culture of individualism (community tradition), weak uncertainty avoidance and "the human nature is evil" respectively. In order to achieve effective university governance, besides perfecting governance structure, the university should consider the behavior features of university decision makers under specific culture context.

Key words: American research university, governance process, polity, ambiguity, the rule of law, cultural basis