Sacred ideals : the interpretation of Canadian public administration reforms (original) (raw)

Blueprint 2020: A Vision for Canada's Federal Public Service that Destroys Public Administration

SSRN Electronic Journal

Blueprint 2020, known also as Destination 2020, coined by the former Privy Council Wayne Wouter, was introduced with a big celebration. Public servants across the federal and provincial levels were excited and elevated as they participated in the exercise. It was introduced as a proposed way to remedy the chronic dysfunctionality condition of the government today. The exercise was so focused on the individuality and practical ideas that many became lost in this exercise. In a nutshell, Blueprint 2020 is about the destruction of the Canadian public service. No one sees its destructive impact because of its grand introduction and its practicality that suits the desires of young public servants who seem to have been bred to think in a short-term paradigm. This paper discusses the theoretical meaning of public administration, its meaningful application in the field of practicality, the impact of the Blueprint 2020, and a propose method to strengthen public administration, and the roles of scholars or what scholars can do to remedy the dysfunctionality of the public administration system of management and administration. Towne in his "Economic Engineers" stated that when there is dysfunctionality in the organization, never ask a business, an administrative clerk, or a social worker to fix it, but ask a person who is specially trained in the field. Public administration is an academic field, a field of science, and a field of managerial and professional application. It requires the scholars to play a significant role in the leadership and management of the public service.

Research workshop in Canadian public administration

Canadian Public Administration-administration Publique Du Canada, 1984

wishes to acknowledge with gratitude the financial assistance received from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for the organiaztion of this workshop.

Public administration: federalism and intergovernmental relations

Canadian Public Administration/Administration publique du Canada, 1982

Among other features in our constitution, the division of powers has provided the essential federal framework within which our public services have operated. However, as Professor Hodgetts has commented ".. . constitutions are notably rigid, and it has been largely within the public serviceslocal, provincial and federalthat we find the main Public administration : federalism and i nterg over nmental re la t i ons The author is associate dean of graduate studies, Simon Fraser University.

Governance Structures and Political Processes in a Public System: Lessons from Quebec

Public Administration, 2004

Debates about the form and nature of changes in the management of public systems have for some time now been articulated under the theme of governance. All definitions of governance are related to the problems of securing convergence among a diversity of actors and organizations, of redistributing power in an organizational or social field characterized by a high level of heterogeneity and of gaining sufficient legitimacy to act in the name of the collectivity. This paper concentrates on the dynamics involved in the emergence of new governing capabilities in public systems. More precisely we study the implementation of regionalization policies in the health care field (in this case of Canada) conceived as one major attempt to renew the governance structures in a large public system. Our study draws on the comparative analysis of empirical regulation in three health regions as contrasted with three ideal type models of governance in regionalized systems. The first model is inspired by an economic approach to organizational behaviour and focuses on mandate-giving, execution and control. The second model is based on a political interpretation of behaviours and focuses on negotiation processes between actors. Finally, the third model is based on the theory of deliberation as well as the institutional school of policy analysis and focuses on direct public participation in public affairs. Evidence for this article is primarily derived from interviews with key informants and documentary analysis. Our analysis shows that none of the three models is sufficient in itself to grant regional structures the authority and legitimacy they need to create added value in terms of regulation that could ensure their survival. Regional Boards are thus forced by environmental constraints to conceive and implement original mixes of these models. The two predominant logics in regional action are inspired by the first two models although the last one also has an influence. Overall, our study also suggests that the implementation of new sources of governing authorities in a public system is rather fragile because of dependence on existing institutions. Clearly, the attempt to modify the dynamics of governance in a given system must be conceived as a political exercise and not just as a technical problem consisting of the rational adjustment of policy instruments.