The watchdog of Parliament: the centenary of the legislative audit

Abstract. August 1, 1978, marks the one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the office of the Auditor General of Canada. This article traces the development of the concept of the legislative audit from the time of its first application in Canada to the present day. The first legislation, modelled on the United Kingdom Exchequer and Audit Departments Act of 1866 and virtually unchanged in substance from 1878 to 1931, vested in the Auditor General the dual functions of comptroller of issue and auditor of the public accounts, with the emphasis on legality and conformity with appropriation requirements. In 1931 responsibility for issue control was removed from the Audit Office and transferred to a newly created executive officer, the Comptroller of the Treasury, who assumed responsibility for a pre-audit of expenditures, leaving the Auditor General his post-audit functions. The article describes the transfer in 1969 of responsibility for pre-audit from the Comptroller of the Treasury to departments in response to the recommendations of the Glassco Royal Commission on Government Organization; the development of the ‘value for money’ concept by the Independent Review Committee on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada; and the embodiment in legislation in the 1975 Auditor General Act of the ‘value for money’ concept in which the audit emphasis is primarily on economy, efficiency and effectiveness.     

Convergence in the Dutch Health Insurance: Possibilities and Obstacles in a European Perspective

Convergence in Dutch Health Insurance presents possibilities and obstacles considered from a European perspective. The idea is to converge the two existing systems of social and private health insurance. Private health insurers will be obliged to offer a minimum level of health insurance cover based on community rating. In this article consequences of the EC Treaty are in focus. Extensive convergence can be legally allowed in the interests of the common good. The European Court of Justice plays a decisive role in deciding whether convergence is approved according to the rules of the EC Treaty.     

Politics versus culture: Which is stronger?

This article examines the assertion that cultural factors, more than anything else, explain the rapid economic progress of Asian countries in recent years, as against the slow progress (and even retrogression) of African countries. In considering the relationship of politics to culture, it begins by examining various quandaries: the meaning of culture; the causes and manifestations of culture; the possibilities of rapid acculturation; and the importance of Westernization for development. Examples are presented to indicate that cultural barriers to development are often politically created and, as such, politically vulnerable. Political elasticity theory is introduced here to explain the capacity of leaders to influence and change culture, as shown in three case studies. The article ends with an examination of the implications of the propositions presented for World Bank lending programs, suggesting, not only the importance of taking culture into account, but going beyond it into the political requisites for changing culture. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Herb Werlin taught African studies in the political science departments at SUNY, Stony Brook and The University of maryland, College Park. From 1977 to 1984, he edited the newsletterThe Urban Edge for the World Bank. In 1993 he retired from the urban studies department at the University of Maryland. He is currently an independent consultant in urban development and development administration fields. This article is being adapted for a chapter of a book,Exploring the Mysteries of Development: Using Political Elasticity Theory.     

The Dimensions of Lawyer-Client Relations: Notes Toward a Theory and a Field Study

Recent research on lawyer-client relations has called into question the traditional image of the lawyer as the autonomous professional. This research note reviews this research and proposes a three-dimensional framework for interpreting lawyer-client relationships. The utility of the framework is illustrated using data collected through interviews with corporate lawyers and their clients in Toronto.