Comparing employment policy governance regimes in Canada and the European Union

This article assesses the performance of Canada's employment policy governance regime post‐1996 by explicitly comparing Canadian approaches to those used in the European Union (EU) through the open method of coordination (OMC). It concludes that Canada has moved so far along the decentralization continuum — with 13 provincial systems as well as a federal‐only system in place — that coordination, coherence, mutual learning and information sharing on a pan‐Canadian basis have been lost. While EU OMC approaches hold promise, to be realized stakeholders would need to become more engaged in the policy domain and provinces, rather than the federal government, must take the initiative for enhanced coordination.     

Local governance and the local political career in Canada: A sample dataset

This research note introduces and describes a new dataset of political actors from the city of Kitchener, Ontario. The dataset is comprised of 348 complete political careers, across four local institutions, from 1912 to the present. This research note aims to show that large‐scale databases of local political actors can contribute to our understanding of (a) local political careers, (b) the dynamics of formal and informal local institutions, and (c) the nature and boundaries of local multilevel governance. This note concludes with some practical advice for those who wish to build similar datasets in other Canadian cities.     

Shifting scales of governance and civil society participation in Canada and the European Union

This article compares how the role and place of civil society groups in multilevel governance have evolved in Canada and the European Union (EU). It argues that, while the scope for engagement of organizations in the EU has broadened, it has been increasingly narrowed in Canada, to the extent that the policy process may be undermined. The article concludes with some insights from the EU experience in order to revive policy coordination in Canada as a governance technique.     

Digital era open government and democratic governance: The case of Government of Canada Wikipedia editing

As digital era open government initiatives are deployed globally, researchers are debating their effects on democratic governance. We develop a framework to evaluate whether these initiatives improve or undermine democratic governance and apply it to the case of Government of Canada Wikipedia editing and an automated Twitter account (@gccaedits) tracking this activity. Through content analysis of edits and analysis of access to information requests we show that while most edits made are useful and non-partisan, the response of news media and government managers ultimately renders the editing a threat to democratic governance. This complexity highlights the importance of assessing the merits of open government initiatives in their broader socio-political context. The findings also suggest that more fundamental shifts in contemporary political, media and administrative cultures are necessary before the potential benefits of open government reforms can materialize.     

风险社会下的"大学生就业安全"治理分析

基于风险社会视界,凸显治理以应对大学生就业难所致大学生就业安全风险,政府相关制度供给与创新尤显重要,比如消除大学生进入政府部门就业的制度瓶颈;创新市场干预机制,提升营利部门吸纳大学生就业的能力;促进第三部门更快发展,开拓大学生就业新渠道.     

The governance of children with disabilities and their families: Charting the public‐sector regime in Canada

Abstract: This article discusses governance and accountability structures that relate to the contemporary agenda of inclusion for children with disabilities in Canada. Who are the major public‐sector actors in policies for children with disabilities and their families? What governance roles does the sector perform? What are the defining trends that characterize the sector in the present age? The scope of the analysis is a broad scan of structures and roles rather than a detailed inventory of programs. Three clusters of governing activities are addressed: policy planning, consultation and coordination; creating structures, allocating resources and delivering services; and accountability roles and processes. Each of the clusters is examined in relation to public‐sector organizations general to government and to organizations specific to child and family and to disability issues. The education, health‐care and social‐service sectors are profiled to identify important trends and issues in the governance of Canadian disability policy. A concern of the public sector's governance regime for children with disabilities and their families is the absence of clear, consistent and central accountability mechanisms. There is a déjà vu discourse on disability reform, a strong sense that we have been here before. Among other factors, this frustrating pace of reform is due to bureaucratic factors and weak accountability mechanisms. To overcome this déjà vu, the author calls for the adoption of a more inclusive and integrated governance regime for the disability policy domain. Sommaire: Le prdéjàsent article porte sur les structures de gouvernance et de reddition de comptes concernant le programme aduel d'inclusion des enfants handicapés au Canada. Qui sont les principaux acteurs du secteur public responsables des politiques pour les enfants handicapés et leurs familles ? Quels rôles de gouvemance estce que le secteur joue? Quelles sont les tendances spécifiques qui caractérisent ce secteur à I'heure actuelle? L'analyse porte sur un vaste ensemble de structures et de rôles, plutôt que sur un inventaire détaillé de programmes. Trois groupes d'activités gouvernementales sont étudiés:la planification, la consultation et la coordination de politiques; la création de structures, l'affectation de ressources et la prestation de services; et les rôles et processus de la responsabilisation. Chacun de ces groupes est examiné par rapport aux organismes du secteur public dépendant du gouvemement et aux organismes relatifs à l'enfance et à la famille et aux questions d'invalidité. Les secteurs de l'éducation, des soins de santé et des services sociaux sont présentés pour identifier les tendances et questions importantes dans la gouvemance de la politique canadienne sur l'invalidité. Une précupation du régime de gouvernance du secteur public concemant les enfants handicapés et leurs familles est I'absence de mécanismes centraux de responsabilisation qui soient clairs, consistants et centralisés. Ce discours sur la réforme de l'invalidité a déjàété tenu. La lenteur frustrante de cette réforme est attribuable entre autres à des facteurs bureaucratiques et à de faibles mécanismes de reddition de comptes. Pour aller au‐dellà de ce déjà vu, I'auteur sumère l'adoption d'un régime de gouvemance plus inclusif et plus intégré pour le domaine des politiques en matière d'invalidité.     

Bureaucracy and governance

Bureaucracy and Political Power. By B. C. Smith . Sussex and New York: Wheatsheaf Books and St. Martin's Press, 1988. Pp. 237. Bibliography and index. £12.95 (cloth) Organizing Governance: Governing Organizations. By Colin Campbell and B. Guy Peters , eds. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press. 1988. Pp. 388. $34.95 (cloth)     

“In the shadows of hierarchy”: Intergovernmental governance in Canada and the European Union

The articles in this issue suggest that intergovernmental governance takes a different form in Canada and the EU, raising questions about the transference of practices and institutions from one to the other. In both systems, non‐hierarchical modes of governance provide coordination in social policy. Hierarchy also plays a role, though not in a manner that one might expect. In the EU, hierarchy is tempered by members' direct participation in policy formulation. In Canada, hierarchy is important, but within rather than between governments, resulting in executive dominance of the intergovernmental process at the expense of devolving power to civil society and sub‐provincial governments.     

联邦制与中国统一问题的历史回顾和现实分析

中国近代史上的联邦制主张及其实践的失败,表明联邦制在当时缺乏可行性;早期中国共产党由主张联邦制到放弃联邦制的转变,也表明中共党人对联邦制及中国国情的认识不断深化;当代台湾学者所提出的运用联邦制来实现海峡两岸统一的主张,仍不具有可行性。     

Public health and collaborative governance

Abstract: The nature of governance in Canada, both horizontally (between federal departments) and vertically (between federal and provincial governments) is changing. Or is it? Two distinct trends seem to have emerged over the past decade: one towards horizontal coordination and one towards vertical collaboration. These trends are perhaps best exemplified by the Public Health Agency of Canada, which depends very emphatically on integrated relationships both with other federal departments and with provincial and territorial governments. Yet in the past year, severe criticisms have emerged regarding the agency's ability to meet its objectives. To what extent are these problems due to the failure of collaborative governance? On a wider level, have decision-makers been too insouciant about making importunate public policy decisions on an assumption of the viability of collaborative governance? This article argues that problems in vertical collaboration in public health have occurred largely due to failures in horizontal coordination within the national government.     

公共治理视角中的“政党治理”

20世纪80年代以来,随着公共治理理论在各国改革实践的广泛运用,公共治理已经成为学界分析和研究中国问题的框架.中国共产党是长期执政的执政党,研究中国的公共治理问题就不能回避中国共产党在治理和善治中的责任和地位."政党治理"问题就是对公共治理理论及实践的积极正面回应.执政党必须在政党与政府、市场、社会关系中寻求各自的行为边界,并要遵循科学治党、民主治党、制度治党的原则思路,寻求科学的政党治理结构和方式.     

财政联邦主义理论及政府间关系分析模式概述

财政联邦主义理论体系根植于西方国家长期的民主政治和地方自治实践及经验总结,政府间关系分析模式业已突破传统单纯关注中央——地方二元结构的思维局限,逐渐发展成为多元主体相互影响下的网络体系,同时融入其他学科的理论假设进入分析框架。     

大学的文化使命及和谐大学文化构建研究

建设和谐大学需要培育和谐的大学文化。构建和谐的大学文化,对于提高大学教育的绩效、促进和谐社会的发展具有非常重要的意义。建设形式多样、特色突出、生命力强的和谐大学文化,重新确立大学文化引领社会潮流的地位,需要在精神理念、制度体系、校园环境、发展目标等各个层面力求突破。     

试析中央与地方在分税制问题上的博弈与改善

中央通过分税制改革掌握了绝对的收入管理权限,致使中央与地方之间以及地方政府之间的财政自给能力都出现方向变化。地方政府为了应对这一变化开始脱离正常的轨道寻求其它出路。因此分税制改革的实质便演变成了中央与地方之间的变相的博弈。目前只有通过调整收入管理权限、改进省以下分税制和完善转移支付制度,才能使博弈迈上正常的轨道。     

浅论大学教授与大学文化建设

大学教授是大学文化的传承者、创造者和引领者,大学文化对大学教授具有导向和规范、凝聚和激励、熏陶和感染的作用,两者是相互影响相互促进的。加强大学教授队伍建设和大学文化建设有助于推动大学持续、健康、协调发展。     

大学制度与大学精神

大学的运行机制是一套有形和无形的规则和意识,能够牵引大学趋向目标、整合与协调不同的人与任务。不同的大学及其发展的不同阶段,其运行机制会有较大的差异。但有形的大学制度与无形的大学精神是大学运行机制的基本要素。大学精神是大学活动的特质性要求,大学制度是大学活动的现代性要求,二者相伴相生、相互倚靠。好的大学制度一定是有精神的大学制度,而卓尔不群、历久弥坚的大学精神也一定是有制度的大学精神。     

The ombudsman and e-government in Canada

Abstract: In a 1966 issue of this journal, Sir Guy Powles drew on John Milton's 1644 book Areopagitica to remind us of the importance to democracy of the right to seek redress of grievances. Based on this premise, Powles introduced, described and justified the office of the ombudsman as a specialized institution for handling the public's administrative grievances that had become so commonplace in the modern administrative state of the mid-twentieth century. By logical extension, this article examines how the ten provincial and territorial ombudsman offices have adopted electronic communication technology in the early years of the twenty-first century to settle more effectively administrative grievances. Specific focus is on the contrast and analysis of the web sites of the ten provincial ombudsman offices to see if they fulfil the potential of this new technology.