Book reviews Comptes rendus

Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in Civic American Life By THEDA SKOCPOL. Noram, OK: University of Oklalioma Press. Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations By BARRY DYM and HARRY HUSTON. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing. P17. Psychologie du travail et comportement organisationnel, 2^eédition Dr SHIMON L. DOLAN, ERIC GOSSELIN, JULES CARRIERE, gérald lamoureux. Current Directions in Financial Regulation: Proceedings of a Conference sponsored by the John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy, Queen's University Edited by FRANK MILNE and EDWIN N. NEAVE. Montreal and Kingston: McGill‐Queen's University Press. Almost Home: Reforming Home and Community Care in Ontario By PATRICIA M. BARANEK, RAISA B. DEBER, and A. PAUI. Williams. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Sisyphe et le financement de l'État Dr PIERRE P. TREMBLAY. Suinte‐Foy (Québec): Presses de I'University du Québec Governing Education By BENJAMIN LEVIN. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 2005.     

Book reviews Comptes rendus

Book reviewed in this article: Evolution, Revolution, Amalgamation: Restructuring in Three Ontario Municipalities: By Thomas R. Hollick and David Siegel Money, Politics and Health Care: Reconstructing the Federal‐Provincial Partnership: Edited by Harvey Lazar and France St‐Hilaire Minding the Public Purse: The Fiscal Crisis, Political Trade‐offs, and Canada's Future: By Janice Mackinnon Educational Regimes and Anglo‐American Democracy: By Ronald A. Manzer     

Public servants’ appreciation for themes in public administration scholarship

One of the defining characteristics of Canadian Public Administration is its singular coverage of topics. In this research, we extend Wake Carroll and Kpessa’s (2007) work to see if the themes found in Canadian Public Administration (CPA) for the 2008‐2016 period are in line with the topics published for the 2000‐2006 period. We also compare the contemporary topics published in CPA to the Australian Journal of Public Administration (AJPA). We then surveyed Canadian public servants about their interests. Our results show that they express more interest towards the themes published in CPA in the last decade than during 2001‐2006, and more interest than the ones published in AJPA in the last decade.     

Cities and places in provincial policy agendas

This article uses a new dataset of coded Alberta Throne Speeches from 1906 to 2017 to identify patterns of provincial policy attention to place and urban place across policy issues and time. We discuss three main findings. First, provincial attention to place and urban place is influenced by policy domain: place‐based attention is generally absent in some policy domains, such as macroeconomic policy, and prevalent in others, such as health care. Second, place‐based attention is patterned over time, with a noticeable peak in the post‐war “province‐building” years and distinct troughs in other periods. Finally, we discuss the related but distinct patterns of attention to place and urban place across policy domains and time.     

Book Reviews Comptes Rendus

Book reviewed in this article: The Future of Social Democracy: Views of Leaders from around the World: Edited by Peter H. Russell The Sixteen‐Trillion‐Dollar Mistake: How the U.S. Bungled its National Priorities from the New Deal to the Present: By Bruce S. Jansson Capacity for Choice: Canada in a New North America: Edited by George Hoberg Canadian Federalism: Performance, Effectiveness and Legitimacy: Edited by Herman Bakvis and Grace Skogstad Political Leadership. New Horizons in Public Policy series: By Howard Elcock .Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar Publishing Governing London: By Ben Pimlott and Nirmala Rao Local Government at the Millennium: Edited by Janice Caulfield and Helge O. Larsen Street Protests and Fantasy Parks: Globalization, Culture and the State: Edited by David R. Cameron and Janice Gross Stein     

Wildavsky on “rescuing budgeting from American administration” and Heclo and Wildavsky on “village life in British budgeting”

“Human nature is never more evident than when men are struggling to gain a larger share of funds or to apportion what they have among myriad claimants.”:Wildavsky “Money talks. It speaks to the purposes of men and nations. Government spending decisions not only affect the public's standard of living but also reflect the standards by which public men live.”:Heclo and Wildavsky The Politics of the Budgetary Process. By aaron wildavsky. Boston: Little, Brown The Private Government of Public Money: Community and Policy Inside British Politics, 2^nd edition. By hugh heclo and aaron wildavsky. London: Macmillan, 1981. Pp. 399.     

Books reviewed Comptes rendus

Canada's Video Revolution: Pay-TV, Home Video and Beyond: By Peter Lyman The Introduction of Pay-TV in Canada: Issues and Implications: Edited by R. Brian Woodrow and Kenneth B. Woodside Aquaculture: The Legal Frame Work : By Bruce H. Wildsmith Marketing Canada's Energy: A Strategy for Security in Oil and Gas: By I.A. Mcdougall Offshore Oil: Opportunities for Industrial Development and Job Creation : By Roger Voyer Traité de droit administratif : 2^eédition, tome 1 par René Dussault et Louis Borceat     

Book Reviews Comptes Rendus

Book reviewed in this article: Tableau de bord de gestion et indicateurs de performance:de Pierre Voyer2^eédition. Presses de l'Université du Québec Walter Gordon and the Rise of Canadian Nationalism:By Stephen Azzi Taking it to the Hill: The Complete Guide to Appearing before (and Surviving) Parliamentary Committees:By David Mcinnes Beyond the New Public Management: Changing Ideas and Practices in Governance:Edited by Martin Monocle, Charles Polidano and David Hume     

Michel Crozier et L'analyse stratégique du phénomène bureaucratique

Nous proposons d'appeler système bureaucratique d'organisation tout système d'organisation dans lequel le circuit erreurs‐informations‐corrections fonctionne mat et où il ne peut y avoir, de ce fait, correction et réadaptation rapide des programmes d'action, en fonction des erreurs commises. Le phéornène bureaucratique. Essai sur les tendances bureaucratiq ues des systèmes d'organisation modernes et sur leurs relations en France avec le système social et culturel. Par mictjel crozier. Poris: Éditions du Seuil, 1963. Pp. 413.     

La Prise de décision: de l'acteur rationnel à la politique bureaucratique

This study identifies the basic frame of reference used by most people when thinking about foreign affairs. It also outlines two alternative frameworks. Each frame of reference is, in effect, a ‘conceptual lens’. By comparing and contrasting the three frameworks, we see what each magnifies, highlights, and reveals as well as what each blurs or neglects. Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. (2^e‐ édition) Par GRAHAM ALLISON et PHILIP ZELIKOW. New York: Longman. 1999. Pp. 416.     

Book Reviews Comptes Rendus

Book reviewed in this article: New Players, Partners and Processes: A Public Sector without Boundaries?:MEREDITH EDWARDS AND JOHN LANGPORD The Trouble with Government:By DEREK BOK. Cambridge, Mass. Workfare: Why Good Social Policy Ideas Go Bad:By MAEVE QUAID Federalism, Democracy and Health Policy in Canada:Edited by DUANE ADAMS Whistleblowers: Broken Lives and Organizational Power:By C. FRED ALFORD Décentralisation, politiques publiques et relations de pouvoir:De VINCENT LEMIEUX Skyscrapers Hide the Heavens: A History of Indian‐White Relations in Canada:By J.R. MILLER World Public Sector Report: Globalization and the State 2001:By UNITED NATIONS DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS     

New public management: Just a “fashlon model on the runway”?

“Government reform has broad goals ‐ npm is more effective at the narrow end of measuring client satisfaction. [1]f fundamental public policy issues are not dealt with adequately then well‐managed policy implementation cannot lead to effective public policy.” The Global Public Management Revolution: A Report on the Transformation of Governance. By donald f. kettl. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution. 2000. Pp. vii, 87. Bureaucracy and the Alternatives in World Perspective. Edited by keith m. Henderson and O.P. dwivedi. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1999. Pp. xx, 330. The New Public Management: International Developments. Edited by david barrows and h. ian macdonald. Toronto: Captus Press. 2000. Pp. xiii, 225.     

Book Notes Resumes de livres

Ann L. Griffiths,Handbook of Federal Countries, 2002. Montreal and Kingston: McGill‐Queen's University Press for the Forum of Federations, 2002. Pp. xiv, 513. Catherine Frostis a member of fnculty, Department of Political Science and Communication Studies, McMaster University.     

Book Reviews Comptes rendus

Book reviewed in this article: Innovating with Integrity: How local heroes are transforming American government:Bysandford Borins Women's Organizing and Public Policy in Canada and Sweden:Edited by Linda Briskin and Mona Eliasson Le processus budgétaire au Québec:de GUY LACHAPELLE, LUC BERNIER et PIERRE P. TREMBLAY (sous la direction de) Governance through Social Learning: By Cues Paquet Lesbian and Gay Rights in Canada: Social Movements and Equality‐Seeking, 1971–1995: By Miriam Smith Local Government in Canada: By C. Richard Tindal and Susan Nobes Tindal Deliberative Democracy in Australia: The Changing Place of Parliament: By John Uhr Constitutional Construction: Divided Powers and Constitutional Meaning: By Keith K     

Book Reviews Comptes rendus

Book reviewed in this article: Quangos, Accountability and Reform: The Politics of Quasi‐Government:Edited by M. V. Flinders and M. J. Smith From Hope to Harris: The Reshaping of Ontario's Schools: By R. D. Gidney Public Attitudes towards Education in Ontario 1998: The Twelfth OISE/UT Survey: By D. W. Livingstone, D. Hart and L. E. Davie A Handbook of Economic Indicators: By John Grant Restructuring Societies: Insights from the Social Sciences: Edited by David B. Knight and Alun E. Joseph Time and Poverty in Western Welfare States: United Germany in Perspective: By Lutz Leisering and Stephan Leibfried Canada: The State of the Federation, 1998/99. How Canadians Connect: Edited by Harvey Lazar and Tom Mcintosh     

Book Reviews Comptes Rendus

Book reviewed in this article: Digital State at the Leading Edge. IPAC Series on Public Management and Governance By SANDFORD BORINS, KENNETH KERNAGHAN, DAVID BROWN, NICK BONTIS, PERRI 6 and FRED THOMPSON. Racing to the Bottom? Provincial Interdependence in the Canadian Federation Edited by kathryn harrison. Towards North American Monetary Union: The Politics and History of Canada's Exchange Rate Regime By eric helleiner Governing DeveIopment across Cultures: Challenges and Dilemmas of an Emerging Sub‐Discipline in Political Science Edited by r.b. jain. Law and Ethics in Biomedical Research: Regulation, Conflict of Interest, and Liability Edited by trudo lemmens and duff r. waring. The People's House of Commons: Theories of Democracy in Contention By david e. smith. Reinventing Canadian Defence Procurement: A View from the Inside By alan s. Williams.     

Understanding third‐party advertising: An analysis of the 2004, 2006 and 2008 Canadian elections

For approximately two decades, the federal regulation for third‐party election spending was the focus of repeated constitutional debate. However, with the 2004 Supreme Court decision in Harper v. Canada, a relative level of policy stability has been established. This stability permits us to evaluate the performance of spending limits according to the principles of the egalitarian model on which it is based. Using an original data set compiled from third‐party election advertising reports from the 2004, 2006 and 2008 federal elections, this article offers the first empirical analysis of this important election policy. A number of observations can be offered. First, third parties are not spending large amounts relative to spending limits. Second, despite legislative changes in 2006 banning all federal party contributions except those from individuals, there appears little strategic action by third parties in spending “around” contribution limits. During this three‐election cycle, third parties quite simply did not spend significant amounts. Current third‐party spending limits therefore appear to be situated comfortably within the expectations of the egalitarian model, though why third parties of all types spend so little remains in question.     

Aboriginal policy reform and the subsidiarity principle: A case study of the division of matrimonial real property on Canadian Indian reserves

Abstract: According to the Indian Act, aboriginal women in Canada do not have the same equality rights as aboriginal men living on‐reserve and non‐aboriginal women living off‐reserve. The Indian Act's provisions governing the division of matrimonial real property on Canadian Indian reserves have dispossessed many aboriginal women of their property entitlements during and after separation and divorce proceedings. Despite the existence of this problem for the last fifty‐five years, the Indian Act has proven highly resistant to reform. A number of First Nations, however, have recently been able to address this issue by developing local matrimonial property laws through the First Nations Land Management Act, a federal piece of legislation that is separate from the Indian Act. Not only have these local laws provided solutions to a policy problem left unaddressed by the federal government, they have also given aboriginal women greater equality rights during and after divorce proceedings while respecting local preferences. This article argues that government and aboriginal policy‐makers should consider making greater use of the subsidiarity principle when engaging in reforms to the Indian Act. Sommaire: Aux termes de la Loi sur les Indiens, les femmes autochtones au Canada n'ont pas les mêmes droits à l'égalité que les hommes autochtones dans les réserves et que les femmes non autochtones hors des réserves. Les dispositions de la Loi sur les Indiens régissant la division des biens immobiliers matrimoniaux sur les réserves indiennes canadiennes ont dépossédé de nombreuses femmes autochtones de leurs droits de propriété pendant et après les procédures de séparation et de divorce. Alors que ce problème existe depuis 55 ans, il se trouve que la Loi sur les Indiens a fortement résistéà la réforme. Cependant, un certain nombre de Premières nations ont réussi récemment à aborder ce problème en élaborant des lois locales sur les biens matrimoniaux par l'intermédiaire de la Loi sur la gestion des terres des premières nations, texte de loi fédéral distinct de la Loi sur les Indiens. Non seulement ces lois locales ont‐elles apporté des solutions à un problème de politique que le gouvernement fédéral n'avait pas réglé, mais elles ont également donné aux femmes autochtones de plus grands droits en matière d'égalité pendant et après les procédures de divorce tout en respectant les préférences locales. Le présent article indique que le gouvernement et les décideurs de politiques autochtones devraient envisager faire un plus grand usage du principe de subsidiarité lorsqu'ils entreprennent des réformes de la Loi sur les Indiens.     

Advising for impact: lessons from the Rae review on the use of special‐purpose advisory commissions

Abstract: Ontario's recent Postsecondary Review, led by former premier Bob Rae, was dramatically more successful than previous reviews by special‐purpose advisory commissions on postsecondary education conducted in Ontario. The authors argue that the success of special‐purpose advisory commissions ‐ defined as the extent to which a commission's recommendations are implemented in a timely way ‐ is dependent on environmental variables (such as the economy, fiscal situation and political cycle), process variables (such as reporting relationships, characteristics of the commissioners and stakeholder strategies) and the political acuity with which the commission develops recommendations that can command broad public support. The Rae review benefited from political conditions that favoured stronger investments in postsecondary education, despite a difficult fiscal situation. The report also benefited from a stakeholder community that was able to put aside most internal differences for the sake of a perceived common good. Within this environment, the review created a highly focused process that involved extensive consultation, the support of expert panel members and frequent interaction with decision‐makers. The review developed recommendations that were sensitive to long‐standing patterns of public opinion, articulated new public goals, recognized the important role to be played by each major stakeholder and proposed a new institution to entrench positive change in the long term. This experience offers lessons for governments, stakeholders and future commissions on how to manage special‐purpose advisory commissions in a way that maximizes their policy impact. Sommaire: La récente étude de l'éducation post‐secondaire en l'Ontario, menée par l'ancien premier ministre provincial Bob Rae, a remporté beaucoup plus de succès que les études antérieures entreprises en Ontario par des commissions consultatives spécialisées en éducation post‐secondaire. Les auteurs prétendent que le succès des commissions consultatives spécialisées ‐ défini par la mesure dans laquelle les recommandations d'une commission sont mises en œuvre de façon adéquate ‐ dépend de paramètres environnementaux (tels que l'économie, la situation financière et le cycle politique), de paramèrres de traitement (tels que les rapports hiérarchiques, les caractéristiques des commissaires et les stratégies des intervenants) et de l'acuité politique avec laquelle la commission élabore des recommandations qui peuvent susciter une forte adhésion du public. l'étude Rae a bénéficié d'un contexte politique favorable à de solides investissements dans l'éducation post‐secondaire, malgré une situation financière difficile. Le rapport a également tiré parti d'une communauté d'intervenants qui ont pu mettre de côté la plupart de leurs différences internes au profit de l'intérêt commun. Dans ce contexte, l'étude a donné lieu à un processus hautement focalisé qui a comporté de nombreuses consultations, l'appui des membres d'une commission d'experts, et de fréquentes interactions avec les décisionnaires. l'étude a mis au point des recommandations sensibles aux tendances ancrées dans l'opinion publique, a formulé de nouveaux objectifs publics, a reconnu l'importance du rôle à jouer par les principaux intervenants et a proposé qu'une nouvelle institution garantisse des changements positifs à long terme. Cette expérience offre des leçons aux gouvernements, aux intervenants et aux futures commissions sur la manière de gérer les commissions consultatives spécialisées afin de maximiser l'impact de leurs politiques.     

Collateral damage: The short and turbulent life of Quebec's agency for public‐private partnerships

This article seeks to explain the surprisingly short lifespan of the Quebec government's central unit for promoting public‐private partnerships (PPPs), the Agence des partenariats public‐privé du Québec (APPP). I used a theoretical framework based on neo‐institutional analysis informed by empirical research including interviews with key actors, a review of all briefs submitted to the Quebec legislature and pertinent parliamentary debates, and a partial review of the media coverage. The government severely underestimated the strength of the opposition to its plan. Electoral cycles and elements of the dominant political culture in Quebec also help to explain its demise. However, the prospects for PPPs may not be as negative as the rise and fall of the APPP might suggest.