Mr. Smith Goes to Ottawa
Mr. Smith Goes to Ottawa

Author: David C. Docherty

Publisher: UBC Press

Published: 2011-11-01

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 0774841850

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In Mr Smith Goes to Ottawa, the author compares the 34th (1988-93) and the 35th (1993-97) Parliaments. The former, the second consecutive Conservative-led majority government, could not appear more different from the Liberal one which followed. Over two-thirds of its members were rookies. More significantly, over one-third represented two new political parties - the Bloc Quebecois and the Reform party. Yet, for all this change, Docherty shows that the new agendas of the 35th Parliament have not translated into changes in the legislative behaviour or socialization of new members. Unlike Jimmy Stewart in Washington, the majority of the men and women who go to Ottawa end up accepting a limited policy role.

Whatever Happened to the Music Teacher?
Whatever Happened to the Music Teacher?

Author: Donald J. Savoie

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2013-03-01

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 0773588035

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Thirty years ago, Anglo-American politicians set out to make the public sector look like the private sector. These reforms continue today, ultimately seeking to empower elected officials to shape policies and pushing public servants to manage operations in the same manner as their private-sector counterparts. In Whatever Happened to the Music Teacher?, Donald Savoie provides a nuanced account of how the Canadian federal government makes decisions. Savoie argues that the traditional role of public servants advising governments on policy has been turned on its head, and that evidence-based policy making is no longer valued as it once was. Policy making has become a matter of opinion, Google searches, focus groups, and public opinion surveys, where a well-connected lobbyist can provide any answers politicians wish to hear. As a result, public servants have lost their way and are uncertain about how they should assess management performance, how they should generate policy advice, how they should work with their political leaders, and how they should speak truth to political power - even within their own departments. Savoie demonstrates how recent management reforms in government have caused a steep rise in the overhead cost of government, as well as how the notion that public administration could be made to operate like the private sector has been misguided and costly to taxpayers. Abandoning "textbook" discussions of government and public service, Whatever Happened to the Music Teacher? Is a realistic portrayal of how policy decisions are made and how actors and institutions interact with one another and exposes the complexities, contradictions present in Canadian politics and governance.

Breaking the Bargain
Breaking the Bargain

Author: Donald J. Savoie

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2003-01-01

Total Pages: 358

ISBN-13: 9780802085917

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In Breaking the Bargain, Donald J. Savoie reveals how the traditional deal struck between politicians and career officials that underpins the workings of our national political and administrative process is today being challenged.

Hearings
Hearings

Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations

Publisher:

Published: 1924

Total Pages: 1330

ISBN-13:

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Canadian Government and Politics - Seventh Edition
Canadian Government and Politics - Seventh Edition

Author: Robert J. Jackson

Publisher: Broadview Press

Published: 2020-02-25

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 1770487409

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Canadian Government and Politics delivers an up-to-date and concise introduction to Canada’s political institutions, processes, and issues. The text integrates theory, history, Census data, and current affairs to give students an orderly picture of the wide-ranging landscape of Canadian government and politics. This seventh edition includes coverage and analysis of the 2019 general election, as well as a preview of the new Canadian government. It also adds exciting material on Canada’s cultural landscape, institutions, and policies, along with a new chapter on Indigenous Peoples. Other chapters examine the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, the electoral system, bureaucracy, Québec nationalism, foreign policy, and much more. The authors provide trenchant coverage of many key issues of concern to Canadians, including regionalism, nationalism, climate change, defense policy, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, minority rights, pipelines, and the USMCA trade deal. These topics are addressed by way of fair-minded impartial discussions, aimed to foster a vital and optimistic perspective on Canadian politics that will encourage critical thinking and active citizenship.

Canadian Democracy from the Ground Up
Canadian Democracy from the Ground Up

Author: Elisabeth Gidengil

Publisher: UBC Press

Published: 2014-06-25

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0774828285

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Canada is often held up as an example of a healthy democracy. However, the Canadian public is less enthusiastic about the way our democracy works. Rather than focusing on institutional performance, this book approaches the “democratic deficit” from the perspective of the Canadian public and assesses the performance of political leaders and the media in light of Canadians’ perceptions and expectations. In doing so, a number of chapters highlight the disjuncture between perceptions and performance. For example, governments do keep many of their election promises, and media coverage is not as negative as we are apt to believe. Similarly, the book provides new insights into political apathy by drawing on focus group discussions that represent the first attempt to ask politically marginalized Canadians why they have turned their backs on politics. By introducing the voice of everyday Canadians, this book adds a new perspective to political discussions in this country. Canadian Democracy from the Ground Up is essential for anyone who would like to learn how to build a better democracy – one that meets the expectations of the Canadian public.

Democracy in Canada
Democracy in Canada

Author: Donald J. Savoie

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2019-09-02

Total Pages: 492

ISBN-13: 0228000408

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Canada's representative democracy is confronting important challenges. At the top of the list is the growing inability of the national government to perform its most important roles: namely mapping out collective actions that resonate in all regions as well as enforcing these measures. Others include Parliament's failure to carry out important responsibilities, an activist judiciary, incessant calls for greater transparency, the media's rapidly changing role, and a federal government bureaucracy that has lost both its way and its standing. Arguing that Canadians must reconsider the origins of their country in order to understand why change is difficult and why they continue to embrace regional identities, Democracy in Canada explains how Canada's national institutions were shaped by British historical experiences, and why there was little effort to bring Canadian realities into the mix. As a result, the scope and size of government and Canadian federalism have taken on new forms largely outside the Constitution. Parliament and now even Cabinet have been pushed aside so that policy makers can design and manage the modern state. This also accounts for the average citizen's belief that national institutions cater to economic elites, to their own members, and to interest groups at their own expense. A masterwork analysis, Democracy in Canada investigates the forces shaping the workings of Canadian federalism and the country's national political and bureaucratic institutions.

The People's House of Commons
The People's House of Commons

Author: David E. Smith

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2007-04-21

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 144269159X

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Canada's House of Commons has come under considerable attack in recent years. Many critics have contended that the House has been unresponsive to public opinion, and that its party leaders have too much control, while leaving individual MPs essentially powerless. The House has also faced challenges by the courts since the introduction of the Charter, a powerful bureaucracy equipped with specialized knowledge, and new telecommunications systems that are redefining the transfer of information. Through an examination of academic, judicial, political, and legal commentary, The People's House of Commons explores the role of the House as a public institution. While addressing much of the criticism that has been levelled at the House, David E. Smith considers the competing political models and inherent tensions and their affect on public understanding. Smith maintains that court decisions are transforming the political system from one dominated by parties to one that promotes individual participation. He argues that reforms such as fixed election dates or stronger parliamentary committees have constitutional significance since their implementation would alter the practice of responsible government, which for more than a century has been a party government. A definitive work by one of Canada's foremost experts in the field of political science, The People's House of Commons explores the ramifications of many of the changes currently being proposed to Canada's political system, with particular reference to their affect on prerogative power, parliamentary privilege, party discipline, bicameralism, and the role of the opposition.

Continuity and Change in Canadian Politics
Continuity and Change in Canadian Politics

Author: Hans J. Michelmann

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2006-12-15

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 1442658924

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The state of Canadian politics is in constant flux. Current and recent issues and events have led to a host of changes in the way politics is done in this country and there are no signs of this trend coming to an end. In Continuity and Change in Canadian Politics, Hans J. Michelmann and Cristine de Clercy, along with some of the leading names in Canadian political scholarship, provide a many-sided assessment of contemporary Canadian government and politics to honour the career of their eminent colleague, David E. Smith. The contributors to this collection address a range of policy sectors and institutional features. These include the changing constitution, the senior civil service, the impact of NAFTA, federal-provincial relations, unilateralism in social policy, Aboriginal self-government, citizenship and immigration policies, coalition governments, agriculture, and, of course, Smith's impact on the political scholarship of Western Canada. Change and Continuity in Canadian Politics gets to the heart of key issues and provides important insights into contemporary Canadian government and politics. Contributors: Christine de Clercy Ken Coates Thomas J. Courchene Joseph Garcea Roger Gibbons Brooke Jeffrey Gregory P. Marchildon Hans J. Michelmann Éric Montpetit Greg Poelzer Peter H. Russell Donald J. Savoie Grace Skogstad

The Canadian Senate in Bicameral Perspective
The Canadian Senate in Bicameral Perspective

Author: David E. Smith

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2017-06-22

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 1487516940

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The Canadian Senate in Bicameral Perspective is the first scholarly study of the Senate in over a quarter century and the first analysis of the upper house as one chamber of a bicameral legislature. David E. Smith's aim in this work is to demonstrate the interrelationship of the two chambers and the constraints this relationship poses for Senate reform. He analyses past literature on the Senate and current proposals for reform - such as a Triple-E Senate - and compares Canada's upper chamber with those of Australia, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, noting a revival of interest in Canada and abroad in upper chambers and bicameralism. Drawing on parliamentary debates and committee reports, as well as a range of broad secondary sources, The Canadian Senate in Bicameral Perspective examine the Canadian Senate within the international context, shedding light on its role as a political institution and arguing for a renewed investigation into its future.