Analytical units in federal and provincial governments: origins,functions and suggestions for effectiveness

Abstract: This paper presents an overview of the organizational entities (individuals and groups) within government which provide information, analysis, and advice to senior officials and politicians. These entities are referred to as analytical units. Much of the existing Canadian literature on such units has focused on policy units and evaluation units at the federal level. This paper extends the analysis to the provincial level and to a wider range of analytical activities. A major focus of this paper is on social policy ministries at the federal and provincial levels. A historical overview of the development of analytical units, based on the existing literature, is presented. As little has been written about these units in Canada since the early 1980s, the authors provide an update to the 1990s and project some possible future trends. The reasons for the development of analytical units are presented along with a discussion of their structural location and how they function within their host organizations. A considerable overlap exists in the analytical functions carried out by these units. A mapping of this overlap is presented and discussed. There appears to be a clustering of analytical activities into a three-part continuum of: forward-looking activities such as policy formulation/analysis and planning; ongoing activities to ensure organizational efficiency and effectiveness such as internal audit and operational review; and technical and evaluative activities such as research and evaluation. Based on their analysis, the authors present five suggestions regarding how staff in analytical units may be able to increase their contribution to their organizations and five suggestions, for the consideration of senior officials, regarding how they may be able to enhance the quality of the analysis they receive from their analytical units. Sommaire: Cet article présente un aperçu des entités organisationnelles (personnes ou groupes) situées au sein du gouvernement et fournissant renseignements, analyse et conseils aux hauts fonctionnaires et aux politiciens. On donne ici à ces entités le nom d» unités d'analyse «. Une forte proportion des articles et études existant au Canada à leur sujet porte sur les unités de politiques et les unités d'évaluation à l'échelon fédéral. Le présent article étend la portée de cette littéature à l'échelon provincial ainsi quà une gamme plus vaste d'activités d'analyse. Il présente un aperçu historique du développement de ces unités, basé sur la littérature existante. Puisque trés peu a étéécrit sur ce sujet au Canada depuis le début des années 1980, les auteurs offrent une mise à jour allant jusquaux années 1990 et présentent une projection de tendances futures possibles. Ils expliquent les raisons justifiant le développement de ces unités et examinent leur place ainsi que leur mode de fonctionnement au sein des organismes hôtes. Il y a un chevauchement considérable des fonctions analytiques exécutées par ces unités. Les auteurs délimitent ce chevauchement et l'examinent de plus prés. Les activités analytiques se regroupent dans un continuum comportant trois parties distinctes: les activités prévisionnelles telles que la formulation, l'analyse et la planification des politiques, les activités courantes visant à assurer l'efficacité organisationnelle, telles que la vérification interne et la révision opérationnelle; enfin, les activités techniques et d'évaluation telles que la recherche et l'évaluation. Les auteurs présentent certaines propositions qui permettraient au personnel des unités d'analyse d'améliorer leur apport à leurs organisations. En conclusion, l'article offre certaines suggestions à l'intention des hauts fonctionnaires, pour leur permettre éventuellement d'ameéliorer la qualité des analyses qu'ils reçoivent de leur propre organisation.     

当代西方社会融合研究的概念、理论及应用

尽管社会融合一直为社会学家、心理学家、政策分析家和政策制定者们所关注,但社会融合的定义还比较纷杂,其理论也缺乏一贯性,一般被视为多维度现象或多参数的潜变量.根据研究对象和目的的不同,将相关研究区分为实证研究和政策应用两个研究领域;依据关注层次的不同,将社会融合的研究归纳为个体层次、群体层次和整体层次等三个层次.以此为脉络,首先介绍了社会融合在社会学、社会心理学和政策研究中的概念;其次,对社会融合由来已久的"同化论"与"多元化"之间的争议进行了回顾,并评述了社会融合和社会网络理论之间的关系;再次,总结了社会融合的测量方法及其在实证研究和政策研究中的应用情况;最后指出社会融合时中国转型社会背景下相关研究的借鉴意义,并对其在中国的应用前景进行了讨论.     

Freedom of information and data protection law – A conflict or reconciliation?

The interface between the Freedom of Information and Data Protection Acts is complex and reconciling the two regimes has required considerable legislative contortion. The emerging body of jurisprudence relating to s.40 of FOIA demonstrates that assessing the operation of the exemption requires a degree of sophistication, balancing the rights of FOIA applicants and the public with the privacy rights of public officials.     

Du sollst nicht stören!

Natur und Recht - Das Urteil des EuGH vom 4.3.2021 hat große Aufmerksamkeit erlangt. Soweit grundlegende Klarstellungen zur Reichweite des die europäischen Vogelarten betreffenden...     

Kampf um Souveränität?

The article documents a panel debate held at the Kiel congress of the German Political Science Association (DVPW) in September 2009. With its Lisbon judgment passed in June 2009, the German Federal Constitutional Court delivered a groundbreaking decision on Germany’s involvement in the European integration process. The Court ruled that the German accompanying law (Begleitgesetz) violated the national constitution because it did not guarantee sufficient parliamentary involvement. Furthermore, the Court announced its intention to intensify the constitutional control of the national applicability of European legal acts (the ultra vires control and the identity control). Stephan Leibfried, Marcus Höreth, Martin Höpner, Fritz W. Scharpf and Michael Zürn discuss the judgment with respect to its implications for the further integration process, for the national and supranational capacities to act, for the democratic quality in the European multilevel system and for political-economic problems.     

BREACH OF HUMAN RIGHTS BY NIGERIAN POLICE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF ITS FUNCTIONS＂ NEED FOR A REFORM

Nigerian Police is charged with the responsibility of upholding the law and ensuring order is kept within the polity. It is however observed that the police in carrying out its functions constantly abuses the rights of the citizens which are considered as natural rights and very fundamental to every human existence. This study aims at examining the roles of the police in Nigeria and the various ways and the rights of citizens are being encroached upon by the said police. The legal standards prescribed for the operations of Nigerian police are measured against the international standards as a parameter in order to determine the weak points of the Nigerian standards. Suggestions are therefore made on how Nigerian police can be more humane in carrying out its functions.     

How can emerging powers speak? On theorists,native informants and quasi-officials in International Relations discourse

Emerging powers like China, India and Brazil are receiving growing attention as objects in International Relations (IR) discourse. Scholars from these emerging powers are rarely present as subjects in mainstream IR discourse, however. This paper interrogates the conditions for scholars in emerging powers to speak back to the mainstream discipline. It argues, first, that ‘theory speak’ is rare from scholars based in periphery countries perceived to be ‘emerging powers’. Despite increasing efforts to create a ‘home-grown’ theoretical discourse in China, India and Brazil, few articles in mainstream journals present novel theoretical frameworks or arguments framed as non-Western/Southern theory or even as a ‘Chinese school’ or ‘Brazilian concepts’. Second, scholars from emerging powers tend to speak as ‘native informants’ about their own country, not about general aspects of ‘the international’. Third, some scholars even speak as ‘quasi-officials’, that is, they speak for their country.     

Local Government in Tasmania: Reform and Restructuring

Tasmania has a long history of failed attempts at restructuring local government boundaries yet managed a major reform process of 'modernisation' between 1990 and 1993 that incorporated major changes to council operations together with a restructuring of boundaries and a reduction from 46 to 29 councils. This process can be compared with a recent attempt to reduce further the number of local governments. In April 1997 the Liberal Premier announced reforms ('Directions for Tasmania') that led to a further reduction in the number of councils. This process collapsed following legal challenges and the proroguing of parliament prior to the 1998 state election. The defeat of the Liberal government saw the abandonment of the proposed amalgamations and establishment of 'partnerships' between the new ALP state government and councils. This paper compares the 1990–93 and 1997–98 reform processes and evaluates the outcomes of the amalgamations in 1990–93. It argues that the success of amalgamation and reform in local government has been strongly influenced by the degree of local government involvement and support in the reform process, lessons that have wider application.     

ALTERNATIVE ARRANGEMENTS FOR COST EFFECTIVE POLLUTION ABATEMENT: THE NEED FOR IMPLEMENTATION ANALYSIS

After examining policies and proposals designed to achieve cost-effective pollution abatement, the authors argue that design of economically elegant solutions to pollution control problems needs implementation analysis if the policies are to be successfully carried out. They review some institutional obstacles to implementation and conclude that these impediments should not prevent adoption.