Enduring,ephemeral and emerging issues in public administration in Canada: Trends in Canadian Public Administration over fifty years (1958–2007)

Abstract: This issue of Canadian Public Administration marks two landmarks. It is the 50th anniversary issue of the Journal, and it is the last issue to be published by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. For this issue, we have not produced a “special issue” in the sense of commissioning particular articles. Instead, we have brought together a number of articles that were already in the “pipeline” but that the editors thought made a particular contribution to public administration in Canada. This introductory article, or editor's review, is a retrospective analysis of the content of the Journal. It would appear that while there has been a slight shift towards public policy and a greater concern with provincial and local administration, cpa has maintained an enduring interest in its core areas of administrative theory and political and legal institutions. The content is also compared with findings of the content of other journals and also other analyses of cpa . This review is followed by commentaries by former editors and associate editors on their experiences with the Journal.     

The Tragicomedy of Celebrity

Celebrity has an age-old appeal. In the Western tradition this appeal and its characteristic motifs can be traced back to the ancient Greeks. Celebrity populates the public stage with a range of larger-than-life actors who play out the human drama—for the edification and the entertainment of the audience. There is comic burlesque and there is tragedy. This article considers the example of the Tiger Woods scandal.     

Sex differences in the relative importance of self-esteem,physical self-satisfaction,and identity in predicting adolescent satisfaction

Theoretical discussions of adolescence tend to emphasize the importance of physical development, self-views, and a transitional aspect of adolescence. Few research studies examine these variables in combination. The purpose of the present research was to examine the interrelationships of physical self-satisfaction, self-esteem, and identity in addition to their ability to predict satisfaction with an individual's social milieu. Multiple regression analyses were conducted for six groups consisting of eighth-, tenth-, and twelfth-grade males and females. While the prediction patterns yielded no differences for grade level, differences between males and females were found. Self-esteem was the best predictor for males, while identity and physical self-satisfaction were the best predictors for females.This research is based on the author's dissertation.Received her Ph.D. in educational psychology from Temple University in 1978. Main interest is adolescent development, especially social-emotional development.     

Civic Networks, Legitimacy and the Policy Process

In ethnically divided developing countries, avenues permitting popular participation in the policy process seem essential if the state is to be viewed as legitimate. Frequently, however, mechanisms intended to build legitimacy by providing for popular participation fail to achieve this target. This article analyzes the policy process in Mauritius, and argues that it combines characteristics of both policy networks and civil society. We term this form of popular consultation on policy a "civic network," and we present research which suggests that it has been successful in building legitimacy. By comparing this civic network with other forms of popular participation, we are able to identify the characteristics which seem to make it more effective. The effects of popular participation on the policy capacity of a state are more mixed, but in the case of Mauritius, we conclude that by increasing legitimacy, the civic network also increased state policy capacity.     

Gaining Greater Access to Western European Decision‐Makers: a Motive for Australian Membership of the OECD

In weighing Britain's decision to seek membership of the European Economic Community Australian scholars have focussed attention on its adverse impact on Anglo‐Australian and EU‐Australian relations, and the emphasis that Australia thereafter placed upon economic relations with Asia. This article identifies a consequence of Britain's decision which has largely escaped attention: the part it played in stimulating Australia's successful 1969 application for membership of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Although Australia's interest in the increased access to West European decision‐makers that the OECD would provide dates to the latter 1940s and 1950s, the British application for membership of the EEC added particular weight to those arguing that Australia should seek OECD membership. It led to an extension of Australian activities in Western Europe which was not extinguished by the growing emphasis on relations with the Asian region.     

More Than a Just a Game: Video Game and Internet Use During Emerging Adulthood

The purpose of this study was to gain a clearer understanding of the pattern of video game and internet use among college students and to examine how electronic leisure was related to risk behaviors (i.e., drinking, drug use, sex), perceptions of the self (i.e., self worth and social acceptance), and relationships with others (i.e., relationship quality with parents and friends). Participants included 813 undergraduate students (500 young women, 313 young men, M age = 20, SD = 1.87) who were mainly European American (79%), unmarried (100%) and living outside their parents’ home (90%). Results suggested that (a) video game use was linked to negative outcomes for men and women, (b) different patterns of video game and internet use existed for men and women and (c) there were different relations to risk behaviors, feelings about the self, and relationship quality based on the type of internet use, and based on gender. The discussion focuses on the implications of electronic leisure on the overall health and development of young people as they transition to adulthood.     

The Federal Government's Response to the Banks Report: An Assessment of its Recommendations and the Government Response

The aim of this article is to assess the Report of the Commonwealth Government's Taskforce on Reducing the Regulatory Burden on Business (the Banks Report), released in April 2006, and the government's response to the Report ( AG 2006a,b ). It focuses on the report's recommendations in regard to the system for making regulation in regard to business, particularly the regulation impact statement process (RIS), contained in chapter seven. This focus is chosen since it is the chapter in the report that addresses the underlying causes of over‐regulation.