Departmental audit committees and governance: Making management and accountability the priority from the top down

Abstract: One of the key policies arising from the Federal Accountability Act 2006 was the requirement for deputy heads to establish “department and agency audit committees.” These committees comprise retired public servants, academics and leaders from the private sector. This policy requires deputy heads to take advice from “outside” advisers for the management of their departments or agencies. This is unprecedented. The author examines the reform antecedents of this policy, key implementation considerations, and what this is likely to mean for management in the federal public service.     

The composition of municipal associations and policy requests to provincial governments: Selected cases

Municipal associations lobby senior levels of government for legislative changes. This article tests how the composition and size of municipal associations affects such policy requests for provincial programs or funding transfers by examining four Canadian associations in BC, Nova Scotia and two in Alberta between 1999 and 2013. The findings suggest that associations with more homogeneous member populations lobby primarily for provincial programs; those with more heterogeneous member populations are more likely to lobby for funds to enact municipal programs. This suggests that the collective intergovernmental lobbying of local government associations is influenced by the internal composition of members as well as the political norms and the external environment.     

The provincial role in the Canadian welfare state: the influence of provincial social policy initiatives on the design of the Canada Assistance Plan

Abstract. Provincial social welfare programs are often treated as provincial government responses to federal initiatives establishing shared-cost programs in the welfare field. In this paper, this traditional viewpoint is reversed, showing that the federal government's Canada Assistance Plan of 1966 was the result of provincial social welfare initiatives. Federal policy is shown to have been designed to accommodate as cost-sharable those programs in which provinces (particularly Alberta and Ontario) were already involved. The federal government had to make considerable additions to, and concessions concerning, the proposed program in order to retain provincial support for the new national welfare program.     

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.     

Public policy: creativity and bureaucracy

Abstract. The development and implementation of a government policy by a single ministry is a greater stimulus to creativity than a collective and inter-ministerial approach. Starting from the principle that creation is an individual act which emanates neither from administrative structures, nor from committees, nor from manuals of instructions, the author affirms that the conditions which favour creativity in a public or other administration are precisely those which awaken and increase the creative impulse of the human mind. In the individual method, the ministry alone formulates the policies which are within its competence. The other ministries affected by them are asked for their views and the possible constraints which may result, but only on a consultative basis. This method has obvious advantages for the ministry in question. The author suggests, inter alia, that the ministry be allowed to retain 50 per cent of any economies realized through greater efficiency in the execution of its policies. On the other hand, if civil servants misread ministerial intentions or ignore constraints imposed by other policies, they should pay the price, which may, in the final analysis, involve the dismissal of the minister or his principal policy advisor. In the collective method, the policy is not worked out by the immediately responsible ministry but rather by a committee including all the interested ministries. The dynamics of such an approach are very different from the individual method. Being more prudent and bureaucratic, it stalemates individual creativity and is prejudicial to innovative thinking. The constraints and the various interests are so well represented within the committee that they tend to dominate the debate and cause the ministry in charge to be on the defensive. In an endless discussion, the other ministries are hoisted with their own petard of counter-arguments, and the proposing ministry cannot put forward the positive advantages of the new policy. The resulting loss of time and energy is harmful to creativity. At the level of policy execution too, the author favours the individual approach which is both efficient and economical. The ministry in charge of the policy is far better placed to determine its implementation within the constraints which delineate its scope. Here, too, the author reaches the conclusion that creativity is better served than in the collective approach.     

Reforming Alberta's municipalities: possibilities and parameters

Abstract: Like elsewhere in Canada, Alberta responded with significant local government structural adjustment in the immediate postwar decades. Incremental changes and legislative amendments have characterized the approach to local government development. Now in a period of self-exploration, including the matter of local self-governance, what are the possible options; how much is dictated by what is already in place; and to what degree is systemic reorganization to meet perceived future need curtailed by the realities of the political marketplace and their own future image? These are the questions addressed by the authors, in formulating an agenda for reform. Sommaire: Au cours de l'après-guerre, l'administration municipale de I'Alberta, comme celle du reste du Canada, a connu de profonds bouleversements, caractérisés par des changements graduels et constants mis en force par une série d'amendements législatifs. Audjourd'hui, en cette époque de grande remise en question, qui concerne aussi les gouvernements locaux, quelles sont les options possibles? Quelles sont les contraintes dictées par les structures en place? Dans quelle mesure la réorganisation du système capable de rencontrer les besoins futurs est-elle limitée par les réalités du jeu politique et par l'idée qu'on s'en fait? Voilà les questions abordées par les auteurs dans leur programme de réforme.     

Ministers of state to assist: weighing the costs and the benefits

Abstract: In 1970 the Ministries and Ministers of State Act established two kinds of ministers of state: the first presides over a Ministry of State, the second is specifically assigned to assist an existing minister or ministers in carrying out their statutory duties, This article examines some of the problems associated with the use of ministers of state to assist in the Canadian federal government. It lays out the models of government organization that have evolved with the adoption and increasing use of this type of minister. It then proceeds to set out some of the problems which can arise in the relations between the relatively junior ministers of state to assist, the senior minister, the departmental officials and the client groups. The present use made of many of these ministers of state is seen in the context of attempting to have one's cake and eat it too! That is, to have the necessary bargaining, accommodation and coordination take place within the bureaucracy while at the same time seeking to increase political control. In the face of mounting temptation to employ ministers of state to assist, it is posited that more thought be given to granting them greater authority over resources through legislation. This likely would entail modifications to the Ministers of State Act. In the absence of such measures, greater attention should be paid to the mandate, location and designated clientele of these ministers; in particular, the expectations that these relatively junior ministers can be employed as effective agents of interdepartmental policy coordination should be dispensed with. Finally, it is suggested that those officials working with the minister of state to assist ought to be given the greatest amount of autonomy possible from the hierarchy of the department in order to ensure adequate accountability to the junior minister.     

论现代社会条件下的政府政策评估

在现代社会条件下,政府政策评估具有重要的现实意义。一般说来,政策评估的责任化体制基础、制度化评估要求、技术性评估规范等,共同构成了现代政策评估的基本范式。因此,针对目前我国政策评估领域存在的主要问题,需要从理论体系、法律制度体系、组织体系和方法体系等方面构建中国公共政策评估的综合体系。     

我国上市公司会计政策选择探析

我国上市公司的会计选择主要是为了能在证券市场上市,能方便地向公众发行股票筹集资金等,但这种选择目前还不够规范,存在着利用会计政策选择进行盈余管理等普遍现象。所以会计准则的制定必须循序渐进,准则制定部门应谨慎赋予企业会计选择权,同时,创造良好的公司治理环境,从而规范会计政策选择。     

Perspectives on women's issues

Sommaire: La reconnaissance légale des femmes en tant que «personnes» il y a prèsde soixante-dix ans n'aura pas permis de s'assurer que les politiques et programmes gouvernementaux reflètent la perspective de la femme. Dans cet article, on discute de la nécessité d'une revue permanente et systématique des politiques et programmes pour s'assurer que l'on tient compte comme il se doit de cette perspective et pour encourager la participation feminine aux processus gouvernementaux. En se basant sur l'expérience pratique d'une ancienne députée provinciale qui fut aussi ministre responsable du statut de la femme en alberta, on donne des exemples indiquant la manière dont on pourrait procéder à la réforme. Celle-ci est tributaire d'un soutien politique existant au plus haut niveau ainsi que de la volonté politique de tenir ces engagements. Malgré les progrès réalisés au cours des années 1980, la période d'austérité budgétaire des années 1990 a souvent sabré davantage dans les programmes touchant les femmes que dans les autres. On en conclut que les gouvernements font monis aujourd'hui pour les femmes qu'il y a une décennie. Cependant, pour assurer la défense du rǒle de la femme dansnotre société, la Famous Five Foundation a été mise sur pied récemment à Calgary, pour assurer le maintien à long terme d'un institut vouéà l'analyse systématique des politiques et programmes sous une perspective féminini. Abstract: Legal recognition of women as “persons” nearly seventy years ago has not guaranteed that the perspective of women has been reflected in government policies and programs. This paper discusses the need for ongoing and systematic review of government policies and programs to ensure that adequate consideration is given to women's perspective and to encourage women's participation in government processes. Based on the practical experience of a former provincial politician who also served as minister responsible for women in the Alberta cabinet, examples are provided that demonstrate how reform may be brought about. Only through continuing political support at the highest levels, as well as political willingness to act on these commitments, can such reform be sustained. Notwithstanding progress made in the 1980s, the period of budget cutbacks in the 1990s often placed policies and programs that affected women in greater jeopardy than other programs. It is concluded that governments are doing less for women today than they were a decade ago. But, in the spirit of upholding the role of women in society, the Famous Five Foundation was established recently in Calgary, with the long-term objective of operating an institute dedicated to the systematic review of policies and programs from the perspective of women.     

服务型政府建设中的问题探析

服务型政府建设不仅仅是政府的事,也是民众的事,在服务型政府的建设过程中,政府需要与人民互动;完善政府体系内的立法机关、行政机关、司法机关三者之间的关系和行为模式要同步进行改革,才能建设一个完整的服务型政府体制;政府机关的内部行政管理也必须从管制转向服务,服务型政府建设需要做到内外兼修;建设服务型政府也必须要解决对政府职能、规模、技术及投入与产出观念上和实践中出现的各种问题,最后也必须认识到建设服务型政府将是一个长期性的过程。     

Style within the centre: Pierre Trudeau,the War Measures Act,and the nature of prime ministerial power

The notion that the prime minister of Canada wields autocratic power is common in popular and academic discourse. Donald Savoie's work on the subject implies that this is an inevitable result of centripetal forces in Canadian politics, combined with a process of centralization that began with Pierre Trudeau in the late 1960s. Peter Aucoin's analysis of the role of prime ministerial management styles, however, suggests that there may be more scope for individual agency than a narrow reading of Savoie implies. An investigation of the decision‐making process in the Trudeau government that led to the invocation of the War Measures Act in October 1970 lends credence to the view that, despite centralizing pressures, the exercise of prime ministerial power is significantly shaped by personal style. This suggests that the putative “elected dictatorship” of the prime minister is not an inevitable consequence of the current institutional configuration of power, as is sometimes suggested.     

Who pays the piper calls the tune? Comparing Canada's and the European Union's expansionary roles in pensions

Both Canada and the European Union (EU) have been active in developing pension policies despite the lack of formal mandates to do so. While the Canadian government used its fiscal powers to expand its role in pension programs when pension emerged as a policy issue, the EU has been strongly limited by its lack of resources, institutional complexities, and the maturity of public pension programs in its member states. The EU experience generates interesting lessons for Canadian policy makers who are dealing with increasingly complex pension issues.     

市场过程、信息协调与结构调整:产业政策分析的一个新思路

产业政策是政府干预微观经济的一种方式。在实践中 ,赶超型的产业政策往往被政府官员所偏好 ,但是这种政策忽视了市场过程中市场主体所拥有的信息实际上比政府官员知道的要多 ,因此在大多时候它们都是一厢情愿的。从市场过程的角度看 ,对于产业结构的调整 ,人们只能进行模式预测。因而产业政策必然是指导性的 ,且其作用领域也应是在市场无法协调的领域     

权威、权益、权衡：当代中国公民的政策参与

从长远来看,社会和经济的发展会带来公民政策参与的扩大。而从理论与现实考量,不适度的政策参与带来失序和无效,只有适度的公民参与才有利于政策过程的顺利实施。而这种适度的把握来自于公民政策参与,政府权威与公民权益的权衡,权衡的真正本意在于追求公民政策参与的有序性和有效性。     

广州市社会工作职业化过程的政策选择

广州市社会工作职业化过程的政策选择中,政府可以考虑各方利益主体,选择适应经济社会发展的间接经营的政策模式。而且,高等院校的倡导、社会服务机构的发展、政府部门的协调、服务对象的需要等各方是可以整合在一起的,这些都会推动社会工作职业化、专业化的发展,推动社会发展。     

The privatization of housing assistance: Are housing allowances eroding government accountability?

A major change in the low‐income housing sector across nations has been the introduction of housing allowances (or vouchers/benefits) typically used on private rental markets. This change is a fundamental shift from post‐war housing policy when government was a main provider through publicly owned housing. This “privatization” is usually associated with the New Public Management. This article addresses this policy change and discusses the implications for the accountability of governments in Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta. This article argues that the policy shift from in‐kind to in‐cash has not eroded accountability due to the distinctiveness of housing assistance, compared to other social programs. Actors involved in the housing community continue to challenge governments with regard to consumption subsidies, emphasizing their flaws and imperfections. The argument is empirically probed through a comparative analysis over 50 years, drawing on government archival records and housing advocates’ publications.     

关于高职教育过程性考核方式改革的思考

过程性考核方式是高职教育教学改革的一个重要环节。学校、教师、学生、教学管理职能部门对过程性考核方式改革的认识、态度、方法不同,采取的策略、路径、措施不同,均直接关系改革成效,四个方面方向一致、形成合力,方可获得最佳组合效果。     

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.     

海外高层次人才的政策工具选择配置及其功能实现分析——以深圳市为例

政策合理性与政策文本中隐含的政策工具紧密关联,人才政策文件中隐含诸多引进、激励、培育、使用人才的政策工具,合理及完整的人才政策内容包含保障型、激励型、发展型、服务型、评价型五种政策工具。人才政策“需求-过程”复合分析模型将五种政策工具嵌入到“人才政策过程”之中,贯穿于人才管理的“引、用、留、育”四个环节,高度融合了“人才需求”“人才管理过程”“人才政策工具”三个要素。深圳海外高层次人才政策须从以下几个方面进行完善:优化人才政策工具组合,挖掘人才政策的功能优势;嵌入“评价型政策工具”,保障人才发展政策的实施效果;优化升级高层次人才服务,提升人才政策工具使用效能。