Canadian Public Administration Series

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Latest release: November 20, 1998
Series
14
Books

About this ebook series

In this book Richard J. Schultz analyses the political process which resulted in a major section of the 1967 National Transportation Act-Part III, which deals with highway transport regulation-never being implemented. In effect, he presents us with a case study of an act that has not become law. In his analysis Professor Schultz employs two models to explain the fate of Part III: the first is the "unitary actor" model, common to the study of Canadian intergovernmental relations; the second is the far less commonly used "bureaucratic politics" model. He finds the first model leaves unanswered too many critical questions, while the second, with its emphasis on the forces that give rise to internal conflict and competition and the consequent colouring this can give to negotiations between governments, offers a more comprehensive explanation of the stalemate that resulted in the shelving of Part III. Using the analysis of the particular case study, the book discusses the broader issues of the underlying dynamics of both intergovernmental and intragovernmental relations in Canada. The study challenges some of the common assumptions about the nature of the policy process within a parliamentary system, and suggests in particular that central agencies may not exercise the degree of control frequently ascribed to them and, more significantly, that power and influence are much more widely dispersed and diffused within our parliamentary system than is generally acknowledged.
Federalism, Bureaucracy, and Public Policy
Book 8 · Apr 1980 ·
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In this book Richard J. Schultz analyses the political process which resulted in a major section of the 1967 National Transportation Act-Part III, which deals with highway transport regulation-never being implemented. In effect, he presents us with a case study of an act that has not become law. In his analysis Professor Schultz employs two models to explain the fate of Part III: the first is the "unitary actor" model, common to the study of Canadian intergovernmental relations; the second is the far less commonly used "bureaucratic politics" model. He finds the first model leaves unanswered too many critical questions, while the second, with its emphasis on the forces that give rise to internal conflict and competition and the consequent colouring this can give to negotiations between governments, offers a more comprehensive explanation of the stalemate that resulted in the shelving of Part III. Using the analysis of the particular case study, the book discusses the broader issues of the underlying dynamics of both intergovernmental and intragovernmental relations in Canada. The study challenges some of the common assumptions about the nature of the policy process within a parliamentary system, and suggests in particular that central agencies may not exercise the degree of control frequently ascribed to them and, more significantly, that power and influence are much more widely dispersed and diffused within our parliamentary system than is generally acknowledged.
Federal-Provincial Collaboration
Book 9 · Jun 1981 ·
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What implications does the GDA approach have for federal-provincial relations? How does it relate to the constitutional division of responsibility? What advantages and drawbacks does it hold for Canada's political system? More generally, what can we conclude about the GDA approach?
Canadian Social Welfare Policy: Federal and Provincial Dimensions
Book 12 · Aug 1985 ·
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Seven experts, representing a variety of disciplinary perspectives, discuss specific reform efforts in a number of social welfare policy areas and identify the jurisdictional fremework of policy-making in Canada's federal system as a factor of significantly affects these efforts.
Maturing in Hard Times: Canada's Department of Finance through the Great Depression
Book 13 · Jun 1986 ·
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Focusing on the causes and extent of the Depression of the 1930s and its impact on a wide range of governmental policies, Bryce describes the department's increasing involvement in the formation and conduct of economic policies. The department was involved in events ranging from the collapse of the gold standard in 1931, to the possible default of the governments of the western provinces, to the introduction of federal unemployment and housing policies, to the founding of the Bank of Canada. Bryce presents a fascinating portrait of the early Department of Finance and the informality of the policy process in what was obviously a smaller, simpler Ottawa. From the vantage point of his years of experience within the department, he offers insightful analyses of the central economic issues of this century.
Canada's Department of External Affairs, Volume 1: The Early Years, 1909-1946
Book 16 · Jan 1990 ·
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After an introductory chapter dealing with the conduct of external relations before 1909, the book examines three distinct phases of the department's development. Although the department had modest beginnings under the first under-secretary, Sir Joseph Pope (1909-1925), it was seen by his successor, O.D. Skelton, as an important instrument for the assertion of Canadian autonomy. Skelton presided over the establishment of the first Canadian diplomatic missions abroad, and was responsible for the creation of a foreign service to staff them. With the outbreak of the war in 1939, both the responsibilities and the size of the department underwent substantial organizational change under Norman Robertson, who became under-secretary after Skelton's death in 1941. Taken together, the criteria for recruitment introduced by Skelton and the reorganization which took place under Robertson gave the department many of the features which have characterized it as a branch of the Canadian government. The further development of the institution will be examined in a second volume covering the years 1946-1968. Since the prime minister was secretary of state for External Affairs during much of the period covered by volume I, the book contributes to an understanding of the operation of the Canadian government as a whole as well as of a single department. It also examines the policy making process and therefore will be of interest to students of international relations as well as of public administration.
Getting It Right: Regional Development in Canada
Book 17 · Nov 1992 ·
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Getting It Right is the first "insider's" account of this period of regional development in Canada. Harley McGee draws on his experience with the government at senior regional and departmental levels, and on primary and secondary sources, to examine the evolution of federal regional development policies and the structures developed between 1970 and 1991 to implement them. He dispels some of the myths and challenges some of the perceptions about the manner in which regional development has been tackled by governments in Canada. He explores the federal-provincial dimensions of regional development, as well as the difficulty of reconciling the perceived dichotomy between national and regional policies. McGee argues that the 1982 move away from the DREE model of regional development was a mistake, and suggests that the predilection of governments for reorganising existing instruments of regional development policy and creating new ones has been detrimental to regional economies. Mindful of the new realities of the global economy within which Canada and its regions must compete, and of the promise/threat of rapidly changing technology, McGee identifies the need for a new order of priorities with which governments can meet these challenges and opportunities.
Corporate Autonomy and Institutional Control: The Crown Corporation as a Problem in Organization Design
Book 18 · Jun 1993 ·
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Stevens examines institutional frameworks for Crown corporations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba between the early 1970s and the mid 1980s, showing how each framework establishes different practices and offers distinct strategic advantages. Organizational approaches in Alberta most closely approximated what the author calls a "self-contained" design, in which corporate actors had the advantage and were most able to achieve their own objectives. In Manitoba, where "vertical information systems" prevailed, central bureaucratic monitoring agents tended, to some extent, to wield influence over the corporations. Saskatchewan practice was akin to a "lateral relations" pattern, with an equilibrium between corporate and bureaucratic goals. Stevens's comparison of Crown corporation organization designs suggests that, while no one form is inherently more efficient than another, each leads to qualitatively different outcomes. He concludes that the most important issue in problems of organization design is who is winning the Crown corporation "game" -- a finding of considerable interest to all students of government enterprise.
Shifting Sands: Government-Group Relationships in the Health Care Sector
Book 19 · Mar 1994 ·
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During the 1970s and 1980s policymaking in the complex area of regulatory legislation of the health disciplines became both increasingly important and increasingly difficult for the Canadian provinces. In this comparative study Joan Boase traces the evolution of relationships among governments and health care interest groups in four provinces - Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Alberta - and finds that, although they have faced similar problems, they have responded in different ways. She employs several theoretical approaches to explain these different responses, including community/policy networks, institutionalism, and state traditions, and uses case studies to illustrate the intense interest group activity that has occurred in this sector. Boase reaches three conclusions: (1) with the development of a national health insurance plan there has been a shift in the actions of government from reliance on interest group liberalism towards concerted efforts to plan the structure of the welfare system; (2) the different systems of interest intermediation that evolved in the provinces reflected the underlying political and administrative culture and institutional structures within the provinces; and (3) the unique proactive approach taken by Ontario in the 1980s was a deliberate effort to modify the institutional arrangements through which groups had traditionally influenced policy. Boase suggests that the complexities of modern government and the move towards redistributive politics will lead the state to make extraordinary efforts to control its environment in the future. Shifting Sands will be of particular interest to health care specialists, policy-makers, and legislators as well as activists.
Canada's Department of External Affairs, Volume 2: Coming of Age, 1946-1968
Book 20 · Apr 1995 ·
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In 1946, with its own minister for the first time, the Department of External Affairs embarked on a period of impressive growth and assumed responsibility for a broader range of foreign policy issues than ever before. Under the expert guidance of Lester Pearson, for a decade the department enjoyed popular and parliamentary consensus about international interests. The election of the Diefenbaker government in 1957 deprived the department of Pearson's experienced ministerial direction and exposed it to new priorities and new ways of doing things. At this time foreign policy consensus began to erode. As well, there was pressure to respond to the administrative revolution inaugurated by the Royal Commission on Government Organization (the Glassco Commission) appointed in 1960. After Pearson returned to office as prime minister in 1963, questioning by the public, and also by the governing party and the cabinet, became more fervent. Coming of Age concludes in 1968 as indications of a challenge to the principles underlying Canadian foreign policy emerged from a new generation of ministers, a challenge that would produce major changes after Pierre Trudeau became prime minister.
Institutionalized Cabinet: Governing the Western Provinces
Book 21 · Jun 1995 ·
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Dunn investigates factors leading to the initiation and persistence of institutionalized cabinets in the governments of T.C. Douglas in Saskatchewan, Duff Roblin and Walter Weir in Manitoba, and W.R. Bennett in British Columbia. He describes the transition from unaided, or relatively uncoordinated, central executive structures to those that are more structured, collegial, and prone to emphasize planning and coordination. He also examines how the premier's role has expanded from simply choosing cabinets to reorganizing their structure and decision-making processes as well. The institutionalization of provincial cabinets has had major effects on both political actors and functions in the three provinces studied. Dunn shows that cabinet structure has changed, and been changed by, power relations within the cabinet.
Dominion Bureau of Statistics: A History of Canada's Central Statistical Office and Its Antecedents, 1841-1972
Book 22 · Apr 1998 ·
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During the Bureau's history Canada has developed from a country dependent on a staple economy to a mature industrial power poised at the brink of the information era. Information needs have mushroomed in both quantity and complexity; at the same time the technology for gathering, compiling, analysing, and disseminating information has been revolutionized. Worton looks at how Canada's statistical system has coped with these tremendous changes and outlines some notable Canadian contributions to the science and production of statistics.
Bureau fédéral de la statistique: Les origines et l'evolution du bureau central de la statistique au Canada, 1841- 1972
Book 22 · Apr 1998 ·
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Le Bureau fédéral de la statistique a balisé l'évolution du Canada d'une économie de base à une puissance industrielle adulte, au seuil de l'ère de l'information. Tout au long de cette évolution, la nécessité d'obtenir des informations a progressé à la fois en quantité et en complexité alors même que les techniques destinées à recueillir, dépouiller, analyser et divulguer ces informations subissaient de profondes transformations. David A. Worton se penche sur la manière dont le système statistique canadien a fait face à ces profonds changements et décrit les importantes contributions que le Canada a apportées à la statistique et à sa production.
Patchworks of Purpose: The Development of Provincial Social Assistance Regimes in Canada
Book 23 · May 1998 ·
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To examine patterns of social assistance provision specific to particular provinces, Boychuk develops a five-fold typology consisting of "residual," "market/family enforcement," "market performance," "conservative," and "redistributive" models. He uses this typology to compare development of assistance provision in the provinces, provincial responses to federal initiatives, and unique trajectories of assistance regimes. He concludes by surveying some of the broader implications of his findings for issues such as the development of national standards and the impact of globalization on social assistance provision in Canada. Patchworks of Purpose is an important book for students of social assistance and social policy as well as for scholars interested in Canadian public policy, Canadian federalism, and Canadian politics in general.
Service in the Field: The World of Front-line Public Servants
Book 24 · Nov 1998 ·
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As governments attempt to focus more on service delivery, it has become apparent that little is known about the people who actually provide the services. Barbara Wake Carroll and David Siegel discuss structural issues and analyse the various administrative reforms developed in the last few years. They highlight field officers' perceptions of the problems in the system and suggest ways to improve field office-head office relations and the operation of field offices generally. The authors' analysis is based on more than two hundred interviews with federal and provincial civil servants in all ten provinces, in the smallest hamlets and largest cities across Canada. Using extensive quotations from these interviews, the authors allow public servants to tell their own stories and, in so doing, provide examples of the application of systematic qualitative research to Canadian political science. With its accessible style and emphasis on personal experience, Service in the Field will be of interest to students and scholars of public administration, political science, organization theory, and related disciplines in addition to people in government in both field and head offices.