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.     

GitHub use in public administration in Canada: Early experience with a new collaboration tool

GitHub is a web‐based digital project hosting service that facilitates collaboration. We introduce how GitHub works and assess how it has been used in the public sector in Canada based on interviews with federal government leaders and a survey of Canadian public service GitHub users. With little research to date on public sector use of GitHub, and none on its use in Canadian governments, we explore the early experience with this collaboration tool and consider the possible implications for collaboration in government.     

The politics of governance: Government—voluntary sector relationships

Abstract: This article examines the dynamics at play as national non‐government AIDS organizations engage in shared governance with Health Canada, where the allocation of power between them is disproportionate and periodically, where their perspectives are at odds. This study takes a qualitative approach in identifying some of the relations, discourses and institutional processes that shape the informants' experiences. Findings reveal how power disparities are managed in order to affect the distribution of resources and ultimately the governance process. Sommaire : Cet article examine les dynamiques en jeu lorsque les organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) nationales de lutte contre le SIDA participent à une gouvernance partagée avec Santé Canada, alors que la distribution de pouvoir entre ces parties est disproportionnée et que périodiquement leurs points de vue sont opposés. Cette étude adopte une approche qualitative pour identifier un certain nombre de relations, de discours et de processus institutionnels qui influencent les expériences des sujets interrogés. Les conclusions révèlent comment les disparités de pouvoir sont gérées afin d'avoir une incidence sur la distribution des ressources et, en bout de ligne, sur le processus de gouvernance.     

Comparing accountability relationships between governments and non‐state actors in Canadian and European international development policy

This article examines the alignment of different governance arrangements and alternative accountability mechanisms in international development policy making in Canada and the European Union (EU), with a particular focus on relationships between governments and non‐governmental organizations. The Canadian case illustrates an entrepreneurial mode of governance that aligns with fiscal auditing and performance management mechanisms, while the networked governance model of the EU relies more heavily on accountability instruments of public reporting and deliberation. The article concludes that the European accountability regime likely provides policy makers with more opportunities for social policy learning but would be difficult to implement in Canada given the underlying action logic of the federal government.     

舆论监督能代替司法监督吗？——从“躲猫猫”谈起

舆论监督是指新闻媒体运用舆论的独特力量，帮助社会公众了解政府事务，并促使其沿着法制和社会生活共同准则的方向运作的一种社会行为。司法监督，是指司法机关依据法定的职权和程序，对行政主体及其公务员的行为所实施的合法性监督。二者在和谐社会和法治建设中发挥的监督功能各有千秋，不能厚此薄彼，更不能相互越位。文章以云南晋宁县“躲猫猫”案件为切入点，探讨了如何辩证的看待舆论监督与司法监督二者的关系，以期为我国舆论监督与司法监督的良性互动提供点滴有益思考。     

Making the invisible public service visible? Exploring data on the supply of policy and management consultancies in Canada

The use of external policy and management consultants in government has been receiving increasing attention in many countries, including Canada. We explore new data on management consulting compiled from information released since the creation of the Federal Accountability Act to address the supply side of contracting. We find several large multi‐year contracts have taken up a larger percentage of contracting activity while the number of smaller contracts has declined. The data suggest a pattern of oligopsonic demand concentrated mostly in a handful of very heavy users and an increasingly oligopolistic supply pattern where less than 5% of companies accounted for 80% of total contract values and where repeat contracts are the norm. Measures of accountability and transparency need to extend to the “invisible” public service of contract consultants.     

Administration in a national aboriginal organization: Impacts of cultural adaptations

Abstract: The Aboriginal Healing Foundation, established in 1998, is a self‐governing organization that administers a $350‐million fund for community initiatives across Canada to heal the legacy of physical and sexual abuse in Indian residential schools, including inter‐generational impacts. The foundation is required to adhere to terms of a funding agreement with the federal government, reporting to Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Drawing on the Aboriginal Healing Foundation's final report on its first mandate, 1998–2005, this article details adaptations of administrative practice introduced by the foundation, with the objective of clarifying how respect for cultural context can be implemented while maintaining high standards of administrative practice. Modified approaches and their impacts are examined in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and accountability.     

Sondage auprès des fonctionnaires fédéraux : Synthèse des contributions canadiennes à la recherche

For about twenty years, Public Administration scholars have used the data from the Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) for their research. Two studies evaluated the uses of data, measurement models and internal validity of the U.S. government’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), and none on the use of PSES data. The article reviews studies that used Canadian PSES data to promote social science research and seeks to stimulate discussion of PSES's future and opportunities for strategic human resources research in Canada. [The table most useful for researchers is available here in English: Table 3. Aggregation of PSES Elements Assigned to Theoretical Constructs.]     

对一起中学生自杀案件的分析

由于各种原因，中小学生自杀后学校被告上法庭的事件屡见于各种新闻媒体。而在中小学学生自杀事件的审理结果中，学校可以说是只要做被告则败诉就几乎成了必然，都程度不同地承担民事赔偿责任。这种现象发人深思。本文对一起中学生自杀事件从学校责任、家属行为、公安机关行为、领导行为、新闻媒体对于司法和地方政府影响、法社会学等多个方面进行了分析。最后指出，对于涉及学校的案件处理时，应当力求达到个案的法律效果和良好的社会效果相统一，以利于推动教育事业健康有序的发展。     

Why electoral reform might improve representation and why it might make it worse

The debate over electoral reform has largely focused on representation in Parliament. However, the government largely controls policy‐making in parliamentary systems like Canada. This article shows that a more proportional system would increase the likelihood of coalitions. Because the dominant approach to studying representation in government, ideological congruence, suggests that reforming the electoral system would make no change to the level of representation, this article focuses instead on the representation of party preferences. It shows that multi‐party cabinets, common under proportional systems, involve a trade‐off between including more citizens’ preferred parties in government, while reducing the overall level of party preference representation.     

Public safety in private hands revisited: The case of Ontario's Technical Standards and Safety Authority

Delegated Administrative Authorities (DAAs) are widely employed for delivering public safety and consumer protection regulatory functions at the provincial level in Canada. Although strongly supported by governments, the model has been subject to considerable criticism from legislative committees and officers, non‐governmental organizations, and the media. This paper examines Ontario's DAA experience through the case of the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA). It finds that, like other jurisdictions pursuing similar new public management (NPM) reforms, the Ontario government adopted legislation significantly strengthening its oversight and control, indicating substantial concerns about the structure and performance of the TSSA and by implication Ontario's other DAAs. Even with these changes, significant gaps are identified in the TSSA's governance and accountability structures.     

Asymmetric decentralization of the administration of public safety in the Canadian federal political system

Canada's federal political system has to reconcile differences over the balance between shared rule and self‐rule concerning two bedrock principles of the constitutional government: the rule of law and democratic oversight of the exercise of the power of the state to ensure that it is not usurped. The hallmark of the administration of multilevel security governance in Canada is horizontal and vertical differentiation of diverse territorial and non‐territorial community values, preferences, interests and values has given rise to the asymmetric decentralization. This article maps the historical and constitutional roots, and then draws on examples in a survey of its institutional structure across three levels of government. It concludes by discussing the governance challenges that shared sovereignty and mismatched jurisdictional authorities pose for the effective and efficient provision of public safety in Canada.     

The role of citizens in the “soft law” of select social policy areas in Canada and the European Union

This article compares the role of citizens in public reporting exercises of Canada's National Child Benefit and health care service delivery to that of the European Union's open method of coordination (OMC) for social protection and social inclusion. It finds that the institutional infrastructure providing for coordination across social policy areas and possible roles for non‐governmental actors in policy development is more extensive in the OMC than in the “new modes of governance” in Canada. However, there are obstacles to developing such infrastructure in Canada, given the different histories and political contexts of the European community and the functioning of federalism in Canada.     

Cannabis legalization and the machinery of government

This study compares provincial and territorial approaches re‐organizing the machinery of government to promote efficiency, innovation, and continuous improvement in legalizing recreational cannabis. Based on interviews with government officials from across Canada, our research assesses the effectiveness of various models, which ranged from officials‐level working groups and task teams to cabinet committees and formal secretariats. Findings reveal that, while governments took more integrated, network‐style approaches to policy development, modes of policy implementation and evaluation involved more conventional modes of hierarchy and market‐based organization. This shift will impact governments’ ability to execute and evaluate the legalization process.     

The federal government's banks: Financial services and public policy

Internationally, interest in and research on state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) have increased significantly, particularly in the developing world, where they play a vital role in national economies. The evolution of Canadian SOEs is, for the most part, largely absent from this literature. This article analyzes and evaluates the performance of three SOEs in the financial sector owned and operated by the federal government: Export Development Canada (EDC), the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Farm Credit Canada (FCC). The article seeks to evaluate the performance of these commercially oriented hybrid entities which are policy (and politically) sensitive to the needs of their single shareholder. There is evidence that these firms take on higher‐risk investments than their private sector counterparts, in addition to performing other politically significant policy roles. There is also evidence that, as publicly owned entities, they enjoy some significant advantages over other actors in the sector.     

园区模式:社会组织发展的一种新路径——以浦东公益服务园为例

浦东公益服务园坐落于浦东新区峨山路613号,是内地首个公益组织集聚的创意、创业园区,它于2008年试运行,2009年12月正式开园,面积3200平方米,共有26家社会组织入驻.这里曾经是上海纺织集团的东星手帕厂,产业调整后,经过现代风格的再设计和改造的厂区被打造成一个创意和创业园区,而公益服务园是园区的一部分.浦东公益服务园秉持"创新、合作、成长"的理念,是浦东新区社会建设创新的实验田,是社会组织合作发展的公共平台,也是公益机构孵化和成长的家园.     

枢纽型社会组织建设与社会自主管理创新

这里试以近年来出现的枢纽型社会组织为案例,考察社会自主管理创新的迫切性及有效机制.一、枢纽型社会组织的提出及实践类型2008年9月,北京市社会建设大会上推出《关于加快推进社会组织改革与发展的意见》,提出构建"枢纽型"社会组织工作体系的新思路,并于翌年3月颁布《关于构建市级"枢纽型"社会组织工作体系的暂行办法》,被誉为地方社会组织管理体制创新的重要举措,亦在全国产生一定影响.     

中国社会组织发展的角色困境及其出路

社会组织的发育状况不仅是衡量一个国家和社会自由发达程度的标志,也是社会发展和公民权利的客观需要.根据发达国家的发展经验,只有大量的组织参与到公共服务和社会管理实务中,才能有效弥补公共服务及社会管理的"市场失灵"和政府"缺位",形成政府与民间"共同治理"的结构,从而推动传统政府向现代公共服务型政府转变.     

Co‐producing accountability? Drawing conclusions from non‐profit child care services in Manitoba

This article uses a case study of non‐profit child care in Manitoba to explore whether accountability is co‐produced. Co‐production is not a new concept, but is gaining attention particularly in Europe. Co‐production involves citizens directly in the development or delivery of public goods alongside government. Through key informant interviews with parents, non‐profit organizations and government officials, this article argues that accountability is not co‐produced because citizen co‐producers are overly burdened with a disproportionate share of risk and responsibility compared to government co‐producers with minimal support.     

Net debt in the Canadian public accounts: Its emergence,evolution and entrenchment

Abstract: “Net debt” is considered an important measure of the financial strength of a government and is currently a required line item on the “statement of financial position” in Canadian government financial statements. In this article, the authors look at the emergence, evolution and entrenchment of net debt in the public accounts of the Government of Canada. They trace the history of this financial indicator through a study of archival data from the Province of Canada and the Government of Canada and interpret the data using Klaus Lüder's contingency model of public‐sector accounting innovations.