PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION LECTURES

Lecture # 1: Introduction to Public Administration

1. Public Administration today

• an expansion of trade agreements which effectively reduce the powers of the state (Multilateral Investment Agreement)

• election of neoconservative governments in Britain, the US and Canada

• programs of de-regulation, privatization and reduced spending on social programs with greater attention to debt reduction

• the 'market' as a religion and ideology

• the gradual coup d-etat of corporatism (Saul)

2. Why Government: Adam Smith and the 'Modernity argument'

• it is appropriate to quote Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, who concluded his argument for free trade--A Society of Perfect Liberty--by noting three roles 'of great importance' for the state:

• 1. "the duty of protecting the society from violence and invasion"

• 2. "the duty of protecting, as far as possible, every member of society from the injustice of oppression of every other member of it"

• 3. " the duty of erecting and maintaining great public works and certain public institutions, which it can never be in the interest of any individual, or group of individuals, to erect and maintain, because the profit would never repay the expense, though it may frequent do much more than repay it to a great society"

3. Authority and Legitimacy

• legitimacy: the 'rightness' of powers exercised in the name of the state or government...coercion is very costly and no government can exist for long without some form of legitimate authority

• in modernity: the welfare state is created to stabilize the state whose legitimacy is threatened by disruptions caused by industrialization and urbanization

• from Max Weber, the classification of three 'ideal types' of authority: the feature of a person, role, office or government which authorizes (makes legitimate) the acts and commands exercised in its name

• 1. traditional authority (including custom and habit)

• 2. charismatic authority (acts are authorized by a belief in the extraordinary personal characteristics of the actor)

• 3. legal-rational authority (acts are authorized by normative rules)

4. Public Administration

• a subfield of poli sci which is a little over 100 years old

• many models of politics have little or no reference to public administrators or bureaucrats...although, clearly, public administration is as old as government and civilization

• the origins of democracy with the direct democracy of the Greek city states...public business was administered by elected officials

• various forms of representative liberal democracy

• in Canada democratic government is elite-dominated in a form which is either consociational or corporatist--this refers to an elite dominated political system in which elite political direction is generally accepted by the mass public--the consensus supporting consociation has largely broken down;

• in political science we have increasingly focused attention on the growth of bureaucracy and bureaucratic power within liberal democratic forms of government

• we now focus on a world in which the role of government as a provider of security, of goods and services is both (1) widely challenged and (2) rapidly being re-invented due to global forces including information technology, rapid social and economic change, declining public resources, demands for greater political participation and widespread criticism of the 'failure' of liberalism

5. Origins of Bureaucracy

• --the term is french/greek and literally means 'the rule of the office'--bureau itself means 'writing table' and the rule of the bureau or office refers to the place where people worked...the term was used as irony or sarcasm...its origins are negative

• in 1764 we see the first reference to bureaucracy as a classification of a type of government

• bureaucracy develops and dominates the age we call modernity; public administration has always existed wherever there have been formal governments

• modernity which is first characterized by the rise of liberal democracies and the economy of the industrial revolution now is dominated by information transmission and a global economy which demands a lesser role for the nation state

6. Characteristics of bureaucracy

• based on Max Weber's studies of the Prussian Army and the work organization experiments of Frederick Winslow Taylor

• Weber believed that bureaucratic organization of public administration triumphed because it was a more efficient system of administration in comparison to others and one which was required for large complex organizations

• it is important to note that 'bureaucracy' as such is likely to be found in any large organization (public or private)!

• broadly we can characterize bureaucratic organization by four features: Hierarchy, Impersonality, Continuity and Expertise (from Beetham, Bureaucracy)

• Hierarchy: each official has a clearly defined competence within a hierarchical division of labour and is answerable for its performance to a superior

• Impersonality:the work is conducted according to prescribed rules, without arbitrariness of favouritism, and a written record is kept of each transaction

• Continuity: the office is a fulltime salaried position with a career structure that offers the prospect of regular advancement

• Expertise: officials are selected according to merit, are trained for their function, and control access to the knowledge stored in files

7. 5 characteristics of Public Administration

• 1. the goal is to provide a public service:; the provision of public goods such as clean air, pensions, EI, health care, post secondary education;

• 2. public goods are to be provided effectively (that is widely distributed) even if this is inefficient

• 3. emphasis on accountability which is the principal that elected politicians are responsible for the acts of the public service and public administration must therefore behave in an accountable fashion

• 4. more rigid personnel management system due to 19th century reforms intended to eliminate patronage; due to the principle of hiring by merit; due to extensive unionization of the public service;

• 5. life in a goldfish bowl--public scrutiny--derived from the principal of accountability and influenced by the vast scope of activities (which are interlinked--unlike say GM which does not have to include the needs of other organizations in its planning) and by political considerations.

8. Conclusion

• bureaucracy has dominated due to its comparative efficiency as a way of organizing and controlling work in organizations; it exists in public, private and mixed organizations;

• public administration in modernity has usually adopted bureaucratic means as the preferred means of administration

Public Administration

Period

Pre-modern

Modern

Dominant Organizational Form

non-bureaucratic

bureaucracy

Comparative characteristics:

Direct, linear

Hierarchy

Favortism

Impersonal

Patronage

Continuity

Amateur

Expertise

Political Science 246: Public Administration

Lecture # 2: Legitimacy, Authority and Institutions

• Review:

• public administration

• bureaucracy, role of the state in modernity

• run check list of HICE

• This lecture: we examine the context in which legitimacy and authority became linked with the institutions of government.

1. Modernity

• provides the context for the development of the various theories of bureaucracy

• the early part of modernity is a period of tremendous change, upheaval, excitement, and the simultaneous generation both of great wealth and widespread poverty

• in modernity the source of social and political authority changes from the traditional and charismatic to the legal-rational form; the source of legitimacy changes from the divine right of kings to the consent of the governed

• other features of modernity: first, rapid economic, social and political change often driven by technological development; second, the rise of nationalism and the belief that a legitimate government is that of the nation-state; third, the extension of citizenship; and fourth, the development of mass culture and education.

2. Public Administration Expands to meet the challenges of modern life

• in early modernity there is a mass migration from rural to urban life; from craft work to industrial labour

• a feature of which is the lack of labour needed to grow food (2 % of all Canadians)

• migration and loss of economic independence introduces many new problems in: health, public transportation, education, policing, fire protection, social welfare, employment, defence

• traditional source of social welfare (churches, charities, individuals, noblesse oblige) are unable to meet expanded range of problems

• since the 1930's governments in Canada have move increasingly to address these problems but normally only when other means failed: until the 1980's we assumed that the tools of government were sufficient to solve many social and economic problems now we are asking the question can government solve these problems

• currently governments of all kinds in Canada spend nearly 50% of the GDP of the country; public sector employment is around 20% of the work force (however this figure is skewed by contracting out and the use of consultants); in economically depressed areas vast numbers depend on various forms of social programs for income and income maintenance

3. Legitimacy and authority in modernity

• in pre-modernity the divine right of Kings held that stations in life were assigned by God: God therefore was responsible for inequality; inequality was natural and right;

• in modernity individual freedom is assumed and consent of the governed is required as a precondition of legitimacy

• in modernity small political jurisdictions (villages, city states, principalities) are brought under the control of larger ones (nation states, federal states)

• direct democracy replaced by representative democracy; rural society by a vastly more complicated urban society

• the assumption of equality leads to demands for 1. equality of opportunity (classical liberalism) and 2. equality of condition (reform liberalism)

• sometimes freely but more often simply to maintain their legitimacy governments take on greater responsibility for the welfare of the public: successfully linking legitimacy with consent of the governed by providing public goods

• the fear however is that government legitimacy may depend too much on this exchange of public goods for consent to be governed to be maintained as pressures mount for reduced public spending

4. Modernity as the age of reason and science

• a broad sense of optimism in the future

• decline of religious domination in education, in social life and, to a lesser degree, in politics

• freedom of inquiry into all aspects of life: Galileo (tried in 1632 for heresy) and Voltaire persecuted throughout his life (1694-1778)

• development of scientific method and its application to social and economic life (eg. the McCormack reaper): typically things are vastly more efficient, the economy expands and grows but at tremendous cost to displaced, outmoded producers

• dominant beliefs include that man's essence is that of a reasoning being (Descartes 1596-1650) and that in principle it is possible to answer all questions, solve all problems

• rational methods/means dominate our search for answers and for means of problems solving as they appear to be value free

• the dominance of instrumental reason in which reason is stripped of religious, ethical or other considerations in order to more efficiently reach the desired conclusion; eg. the atomic bomb--the first question is how to build the bomb but this is divorced from the important questions should we build the bomb and should we use it

• WHAT IS IMPORTANT HERE IS TO UNDERSTAND THE MODERNITY IS A UNIQUE SET OF CONDITIONS BUT NOT THE ONLY SET OF SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, PHILOSOPHIC, POLITICAL CONDITIONS---IN FACT GIVEN THE EXTENSIVE HISTORY OF THE PLANET MODERNITY IS A RELATIVELY SHORT LIVED PERIOD--this may have important implications for liberal democracy, market capitalism and more

5. Public Administration and the Problem of Modernity

• increased demand for public goods has led to the expansion of government and the growth of public administration;

• a sufficient supply of public goods reinforce regime legitimacy

• as globalization progresses tradition econometric tools of the nation state either don't work as well or are negotiated away (NAFTA)

• economic stagnation and tax avoidance reduces governments ability to provide public goods

• in theory a legitimacy and authority problem is created when public institutions disappear unless the market replaces them.

Lecture # 3: Modernity, Public Administration and the Legal-Rational State

Review:

• In the first lecture this evening I attempted to set 'our era--our age' in the context of history as I describe the modern period and the characteristics which distinguish it from earlier ages.

• It is difficult for us to imagine the tremendous feeling of liberty which resulted from the decline of religion and the social and economic structures of the monarchies but this period was truly revolutionary.

1. Modernity and Bureaucracy

• it is difficult if not impossible for us to imagine the profound nature of changes to social, economic and political life which occurred as the modern age replaced the social, economic and political arrangements of its predecessor

• by modernity we mean that period of history dating roughly from 1750 in which changes which began in western Europe in social, economic and philosophic thought became more or less worldwide in their influence

• bureaucracy is fundamental to the process of modernization

2. Bureaucratic Power

• bureaucracy is at the center of the process of modernization due to its relative efficiency when compared to other forms of organization

• the source of bureaucratic power lies in its knowledge and organization

3. Liberalism and bureaucratic power

• liberalism fears bureaucracy because bureaucrats tend to expand and concentrate their power: liberalism begins as a set of ideas about political equality, individual freedom and the right to own private property

4. Solutions to the bureaucratic power problem

• four broad sets of answers provided by the following theorists or schools of thought:

• Marx and Engels

• Weber

• Wilson

• public choice/political economy

5. The Social and Economic Context of Modernity

• industrial revolution

• urbanization

• collapse of traditional support systems

• legal-rational authority replaces tradition

• as poverty and degradation arises the state's claim to legitimacy declines

6. The Expansion of the State

• Wagner's Law: German theorist AdolfWagner (1838 - 1917); noted that the public sectors of industrialized nations tend to increase in relative proportion to rises in per capita income: 1. industrialization and urbanization require more state administration and protection due to increasingly complex life; 2. increased expenditures are required on culture (education) and welfare; 3. rise of industrial monopolies will require regulation or government takeover.

• in Canada the embedded state where public and private sectors are linked in a series of co-ventures and dependencies

• in Canada the fragmented state: the vast scope of state activity and requirements for responsible government and accountability fragment authority and chain of command across and through levels of government making coordination and cooperation difficult, costly and time consuming

• reference: Fernand Braudel, Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th century, an outstanding review of the growth of capitalism and how it has prospered most in the context of a liberal democratic politics in states prepared to invest and regulate as required...

7. The Consequences for Public Administration

• what have we learned from an examination of 19th - 20th century public administration dominated by the bureaucratic form???

• 1. Pareto Optimality, Vilfredo Pareto, 1948 - 1923, the condition (often found in politics) in which no one can be made better off without someone else becoming worse off

• 2. Iron Law of Oligarchy, Roberto Michels, 1876 - 1936, 'who says organization, say oligarchy' by which Michels meant that despite its best intentions any organizations tends to be dominated by an elite which ultimately tends to serve its own needs, becoming conservative in nature

• 3. The Ruling Class, Gaetano Mosca, 1858 - 1941, Mosca argues that any society is rune by an elite or ruling class, in post-feudal societies the 'bureaucracy is not only a part of the ruling class but may be an important defining characteristic.

8. Elite Dominated Liberal-Democratic States

• elite:>that which has been chosen= (from the Latin eligeremeaning the elect or chosen or predestined for salvation

• fromScruton: >any body of people who act in concert, whether or not knowingly, to maintain a shared position of social and/or political privilege=

• normally elites are connected not by the possession of large amounts of capital but rather by education, profession, social position, family, moderate wealth

• C.Wright Mills, >the power elite= those who wield power within the ruling institutions of modern society and who act, sometimes collusively, and in any case from common interests, to preserve and enhance that power=

Conclusion: the expansion of the bureaucracy has tended to create institutions which can at least in part be characterized as elitist and self-serving; characteristics which are shared by political leaders and by business leaders

2. General Theory of Organization

• Weber's viewpoint is that of a liberal looking at the bureaucratic structure

• bureaucracy is characterized by:

• 1. the exercise of authority within a bureau

• 2. HICE

• 3. separation between paid officials (bureaucrats aka public administrators, public servants, civil servants) and those who control the making of policy (politicians)

3.

AUTHORITY

OBLIGATION

LEGITIMACY

Right of command

Sense of duty

Belief in rightness

-the concepts of authority and legitimacy are linked by our sense of duty or obligation...we accept the authority of the state, its governments and its public servants because we feel a duty to obey a state which we believe to be legitimate

4. Social Domination

• every state (and every state's governments) worry about legitimacy and the maintenance of social stability and law and order: hence every state is concerned with maintaining a certain amount of social domination: the imperative

coordination or control of society

• the probability that certain specific commands or all commands from a given source will be obeyed by a given group of people

• politics is about challenges to authority

5. Ideal Types

• Weber's development of Ideal Types enables us ( as social scientists) to develop and use generalizations to depict pure/abstract concepts based on our observations of consistent human behaviour

• in reality ideal types do not exist and examples of ideal types are found in combination though one often dominates: for example a Prime Minister may have charisma (as Pierre Trudeau did) and a certain amount of authority flowing from the tradition of respect for Prime Ministers but the greater part of Prime Ministerial authority blows from the legal-rational process of federal elections

6. Ideal Types: Traditional, Charismatic and Legal-Rational Authority

• traditional: resting on an established belief in the sanctity of immemorial traditions and the legitimacy of the status of those exercising authority under them

• Charismatic: resting on devotion to the specific and exception sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person

• legal-rational: resting on the belief in the legality of patterns of normative rules and the right of those elevated to authority under such rules to issue commands

7. Inevitable Expansion of Bureaucracy and Legal-Rational Authority

• Weber wrote when Europe was still in transition from pre-modern to modern society

• the transition required that governments make provisions for welfare and economic regulation as 1. smallorganisations were replaced by large; 2. capitalismcontrolled more of the economy; 3. 'industrial' wars were fought and public debt was created; 4. demands for social justice led to government expansion

8. The Iron Cage

• bureaucratic structure promotes certain values: discipline, following rules, respective for authority, routine

• progress in liberal democracies depends on a different and conflicting set of values: creativity, experimentation, innovation, risk taking

• these 'liberal values' would (according to Weber) have to be advanced by the political elite

• hopefully these would be sufficiently strong to counterbalance the 'iron cage' of bureaucracy

9. Conclusion

• Weber stressed the role played by values (norms) in the development of society--eg the bureaucratic values

• the relative efficiency of the bureaucratic structure

• feared bureaucracy might overwhelm liberalism by producing a rigid, conformist, rule-following society

• identified the characteristics of the bureaucratic form

• he is criticized for two things (at least): 1. overestimating the efficiency of bureaucracy; and 2. (perhaps, wrongly) identifying the role of values in capitalism

Lecture # 5: Marx and Engels: The Withering Away of The State

1. Marxism and Modernity

Marx and Engels wrote their provocative work, The Communist Manifesto, in 1848 as Europe seemed on the brink of revolution due to the turmoil of industrialization, the urbanization of the rural peasantry, the loss of independence based on craft work being replaced by machines, the collapse of traditional support structures (charities run by the Church and nobility),

Legal-rational authority as expressed in the liberal capitalist state replaces the traditional authority of the monarchs and the political turmoil which results de-stabilizes the state.

As poverty and degradation increase in the cities the state's legitimacy declines.

• Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

• Engels, a factory owner, co-author with Marx and sponsor of Marx's work

• Marx as a modernist was not nostalgic for the return of simpler, more pleasant days (as were many other socialists and critics of the industrial revolution, modernity and capitalism)...he admired the productive capacity of industrial capitalism and saw as a solution the takeover of the ruling class of capitalists (the bourgeoisie) by a revolution of the working class (the proletariat)...he believed that bureaucratic power was not a problem in and of itself. For Marx bureaucratic power was evil when it was wielded by the capitalist state.

• Marx's quarrel was not with the means of production but with their ownership

2. Marxism

• Marx sees all history as the history of a series of class struggles between old ruling classes (such as the feudal aristocracy) and rising new classes of powerful individuals (such as the financiers and industrial capitalists of modernity)

• for Marx economics explains politics because all political struggles are economic in nature (eg in a democracy the poor will demand more social services while the middle class - who are highly taxed - demand lower taxes)

• capitalism according to Marx and Engels will ultimately destroy itself by creating the conditions for its destruction: by so reducing the situation of the working class that members of the working class (proletariat) become conscious of their joint interests and unite in a revolution to overthrow the bourgeoisie.

3. Capitalism and Production

• Marx's analysis of the productive power and capacity of capital began with a discussion of the role played by the detailed division of labour which enabled capitalists to reduce the overall value of labour by breaking formerly highly skilled jobs into a larger number of less skill operations (thereby rendering the labourer with less bargaining power)

• Marx's analysis of the creation of surplus value through the division of labour is still taught as a basic principle of business: example: pay people $ 8.00 per hour to work and get them to do work which is sold for $ 20.00 per hour of value: the surplus value is $ 20.00 - $ 8.00 = $ 12.00 per hour....multiply this by many working people and many hours per year and you may get a great fortune

• Marx argued that industrialization caused alienation: a separation of working people from their true selves which was ultimately dangerous and degrading

• Eventually Marx believed the proletariat would develop a sense of class consciousness: identifying each other as having common problems and goals

• Class consciousness would, Marx hoped, lead to political action, revolution and state capitalism where the state owned (on behalf of every) all of the means of production

4. After The Revolution

• Marx thought that a successful revolution would eliminate the negative aspects of the oppressive capitalist state (including bureaucratic power) leading eventually to what Engel's called The Withering away of the State where the oppressive bureaucracies (including the military, the police, the courts) either disappeared or played benign roles in a society in which bureaucratic power was replaced by the mere 'administration of things'

• the end of bureaucratic power did not come in the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China: the state did not wither away it became more powerful, more oppressive as its ostensibly Communist governments struggled to remain in power....probably Marx and Engels would have been appalled by the developments in the 20th century Communist states of Europe and Asia

Lecture # 6: Woodrow Wilson and PA as Techne

• Review:

• Weber and the iron cage of bureaucracy; Marx and Engels and the advent of 'pure administration' and the 'withering away of the state'--key issues of freedom vis a vis the power invested in administration addressed in two different ways.

MAJOR THEME

• Wilson believed public administration as a problem was different in the United States than in Europe due to the nature of this federal society and to its democratic institutions. He argued that 1. the US political system 'solved' the bureaucratic power problem; and 2. a 'broad consensus' existed on 'what ought to be done'--the real problem thus was a problem of 'techne' acquiring the right skills and installing those with them in administration.

• Politics was separate from public administration. Please note that this view is a departure from Weber and Marx and Engels all of whom agree that politics and administration are connected.

1. Special character of US Liberal-democracy

• 'the liberty problem' for Wilson is solved by the special character of the US form of government which since its inception has focused on using a constitutional separation of powers and a system of checks and balances to prevent the concentration and abuse of power; this system creates a competition between three separate and more or less equal branches of government and effective action requires some level of cooperation or consensus between the executive and legislative branches

• there also exists what Wilson calls a 'broad consensus on what ought to be done' in American public administration what he suggests is largely a problem of acquiring and providing the right 'administrative skills' for the job;

• the public administration problem then is a 'how to do it' problem not (as in Europe) a problem of concentrated power and how to control it.

2. Context of the special nature of US government and administration

• European solutions are geared to compact, central states with limited or no history as liberal democracies...poor comparatives for the US situation

• US government (with its separation of the executive and legislative branches and its system of checks and balances) provides a greater role for political executives in the appointment of public administrators unlike Europe

• there is a tradition in the US government of elected officials performing administrative tasks

• eg Pittsfield's selectmen: village of 400 in 1761 has 3 selectmen; city of 12,000 in 1890 still has 3 selectmen

• the nature of US democratic machine politics means a tradition of patronage in which elected executives appoint supports to administrative jobs

• at the turn of the century in the US (and in Canada) movements arise to 'reform the civil service'--with two goals: 1. to change local politics from a machine dominated struggle (in the US) to a local regime politics; and 2. to place in the civil service qualified and properly trained people who would fairly administer legislation and policy--in other words--bureaucratic efficiency

3. The Politics/Administration Dichotomy: Separating Politics and Administration

• Wilson is taking a pragmatic approach which assumes that public administration is basically a matter of providing services

• the first task is to separate politics and public administration

• politics in Wilson's view is a matter of 'public trust' in which politicians are the chief servants of the state...the removal therefore of the politics of administrator serves to improve democratic politics by eliminating corruption

• the job of politicians is 'state activity in things great and universal' a definition from Bluntschli a German theorist while the job of administration is state activity in 'individual and small things'

• Wilson proceeds to argue that the creation of policy is political while the application of policy is administrative

• argues that public administrators while applying technical, 'businesslike' skills must maintain 'steady, hearty allegiance' to the state; be 'intimately connected with popular thought' and not display 'arbitrariness or class spirit'--in other words Wilson is calling for bureaucratic impersonality and expertise

4. Assumptions in Wilson's idea of public administration

• 1. businesslike (efficient, based on merit); 2. pragmatic; 3. scientific/impartial; 4. American; 5. sensitive to public opinion.

• businesslike: the field of administration is the field of business

• pragmatic--this isn't an issue of liberal-democratic politics, simply a technical problem to be corrected with as little waste as possible

• the values of public administration are those of science which are impartial

• American--the iron cage is not a threat nor is class regulation due to the unique (and perfect) character of the American system

5. Conclusion

• Wilson established a strong belief that politics and public administration were separate spheres

• Wilson's views were widely adopted...only challenged in the past 25 years but with increasingly greater success

• criticism can be directed at a number of his conclusions:

• 1. efficiency is not necessarily the best or only criteria for administrative acts: administration is more than mere service provision;

• 2. American liberalism is less impressive as a sufficient anchor for democracy not has it been 'in control' of the iron cage

• 3. ignores the role administration places in formulating and promoting legislation and policy

• 4. missed the unresolved conflicts evident in American politics; 'science' is not impartial and carries its own values as does 'business'.

• 5. in some ways the patronage/machine system was more egalitarian and democratic

Lecture # 7: Public Choice and the New Public Management (NPM)

Major Theme

• This lecture seeks to conclude our initial unit of the study of public administration by making some tentative links between the post-Weber/ Marx and Engels/ Wilsonian concepts of public administration and the current neoconservative (public choice) critique of public administration as it relates to globalization and Canadian liberal democracy.

Public Choice and the New Public Management

1. Public choice

• the branch of political science which analyzes politics and public administration as if political choices are made by individuals acting in rational economic self-interest

• two problems: 1. difficult to account for complex decision making (eg choosing political party platform); 2. has no workable concept of the 'public/collective good'

• examples: a politician uses polling results to construct policies likely to 'buy' votes; voters choose policy packages which maximize personal gain; public administrators expand program spending to maximize personal power

2. The New (Neo) Conservatives

• first political success: Margaret Thatcher; taken up by Reagan et al

• ostensibly seeks to control the expansion of bureaucratic power: goals: 1.privatize; 2.contract out; 3.de-regulate; 4.private public partnerships (PPPs); 5.reduce the size of government; supported by private sector middle class taxpayers

• actually the corporatist agenda of an international elite; goals: reduce political power of trade unions; provide new very low risk business opportunities for the economic elite;

• has appealed to the finance sector and high-income wealthy Canadians; finance and venture capitalists; their suppliers; and those looking for low-risk capital ventures

3. The Social Compact

• government is based on the consent of the governed which is obtained (in part) by redistributive measures (many of which most heavily benefit the middle class)

• after WW II a social compact developed in the US, Canada and elsewhere; it was a tacit understanding among business, government, finance and unions that everyone would benefit from policies which promoted: 1. reduced domestic competition; 2. low unemployment and high wages

4. The Global Economy

• the deliberate negotiation of widespread reductions in tariff barriers to benefit transnational corporations (eg WTO, Mastricht, NAFTA)

• the deliberate weakening of the public sphere: the role of national governments; the political power of the citizenry; the role of public administration in providing public goods and services

• massive redistribution of wealth upwards to a tiny, largely international economic elite; reduction of the middle class

5. The New Public Management

• confronted with the practical problems of eliminating public administration (eg it is necessary, often very effective and meets the demands of the public) neoconservatives have opted to focus on the apparent deficiencies of public administration as a form of management practice

• from doing more with more to doing less with less

• since 1963 improving management in the Canadian public service has been a persistent theme

• public administration criticized as:

• 1. provides poor-quality, unnecessary services

• 2. prevents 'managers from managing'

• 3. doesn't measure or reward performance achievement

• 4. not providing resources appropriate to the task

• 5. ignores the potential of market/private sector answers

6. Responding to the Critique

• so far, public management advocates have had little actual success in demonstrating the superiority of public management over the alternative incremental improvement traditionally part of public administration

• we still need both accountability and ministerial responsibility...although the standards for both have been much relaxed

• the superiority of private management is an unproved assumption

7. New Public Management Values

Public Administration

New Public Management

equity

efficiency

fairness

responsiveness

due process

service quality

Theories of Bureaucratic Power in Liberal Democracies

Weber

Marx & Engels

Wilson

Public Choice

Determining Factor

Values & Beliefs

Economics

Popular Sovereignty

Rational Self-Internest

Function of the Bureaucracy

Produces Powerful State

Class Regulative

Responsive, Businesslike Management

Larger Public Sector

Political Power

Elite

Ownership of the Means of Production

Liberal Democracy

Return to Liberalism

Significance of Power Problem

Primary

Secondary

Secondary

Primary

Solution to Power Problem

Vibrant Political Elte

Revolution

Reform public administration

Privatization and new public management

8. Conclusion: The Bureaucratic Power Problem

• Wilson erred: the United States was not 'above' bureaucratic power.

• Marx erred: bureaucratic power increased under state capitalism.

• Public choice errs: bureaucratic power is not simple 'deficient' public management.

• Linking Pareto, Michels and Mosca: elites tend to dominate; in matters of re-distribution elites favour themselves.

• Braudel and Wagner concluded: Western capitalism succeeded due to the state -social services, favourable regulation and infrastructure.

• Canadians are now less accepting of elite dominated consociational /corporatist pseudo- democracy. Is the elite political agenda moving from a focus on the bureaucratic power problem?

9. Tutorials: This week Tutorial Group(s) >B= meet(s) to discuss: The Four Million $ Typo

Lecture # 8: Public Administration and Politics: The Presidential System and the Parliamentary System

1. Introduction

In March, 2003 Gary Carr, the Speaker of the Ontario Legislative Assembly publicly complained that the Premier of his own party was allowing the Province to be run by >high-priced political consultants= including co-chairs Jaime Watt and Leslie Noble and longtime Tory strategist Paul rhodes. Carr=s criticism of Premier Ernie Eves was voiced after Eves decided to bring down a pre-election budget on television instead of in the Legislature. Critics note that this may constitute a violation of the Constitutional convention that requires Premiers and Prime Ministers in a parliamentary system to present important items in the Legislature where they can be subject to criticism and debate. Gary Carr said this proves that the legislature has become irrelevant.

2. Responsible Government

• a linked series of concepts in which public policy making helps hold together the legitimacy chain which gives government legal authority and by virtue of its provision of public goods helps hold the country together (the glue function)

• both accountability (for public administrators) and responsibility (for politicians) refer to the requirement that legitimate government is based on the properly authorized and competently executed acts of whose who serve it.

• accountability is found in any hierarchical organization in which people are required to report to their superiors

• in a responsible parliamentary system: >responsible government means that the political executive is not able to act without the support of a majority of elected officials in the democratic decision making legislature (House of Commons)

• the history of the development of responsible government is that of people struggling to control and reduce the power of the Crown by forcing the executive to behave responsibly

• in the parliamentary system the political executive is held accountable by the doctrines of

• individual ministerial responsibility and collective ministerial responsibility

• individual ministerial responsibility: the principle which states that individual ministers are responsible for the actions of their departments and accountable for their departments to Parliament and the Canadian people

• collective ministerial responsibility: the principle that members of the cabinet (the executive branch of government) are responsible for the policies and management of the government as a whole

• as the welfare state developed it became more difficult to insist on individual ministerial responsibility due to the greater complexity of departments and programs

• in Canada the principle of collective ministerial responsibility is also a weak form of political control due to the eminence of the Prime Minister and his/her control of the party

3. Responsibility Traditional

• responsibility is a feature of parliamentary government

• Lord Durham=s Report 1839 addressed the political unrest in the British colonies by recommending: responsible government

• responsible government = parliamentary government = Westminister model

• initially this meant that the colonial governors appointed by the British would have to >retain the confidence of the elected assembly or legislature=

• this principle eventually led to a system of responsible government based democratic principles which assumed a broad though rough political equality

4. Institutions of Parliamentary Government

• parliamentary institutions evolved: 1. The head of stateBthe King or QueenBbecame a figurehead and in the colonies was represented by a Governor-General; 2. the executive branch evolved to centre on a Prime Minister and Cabinet; 3. The popularly elected legislature the House of Commons is a representative body largely controlled through the device of party discipline by the Prime Minister; 4. The appointed legislature, the Senate, is a chamber full of party loyalists and business lobbyists; 5. The Supreme Court with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has become a potentially powerful arbiter of parliamentary decision making;

5. Democracy

• in many respects the past century has been the most democratic century in history

• most if not all states speak respectfully about democracy; many use the term to justify or legitimate their policies even if they have few democratic features

• therefore in a democratic country it is assumed that the system of public administration will reflect, respect and preserve basic democratic equality; safeguards are built into the political and administrative systems in an effort to preserve and enhance equality; against these systems and safeguards there are persistent pressures to give preferential treatment to some individuals, groups, regions and so on

6. Responsible Government and Public Administration

• initially responsibility meant that: elected representatives and the political executive are responsible to the citizenry for the behaviour and actions of all who are employed by or who act on behalf of government. Collective responsibility rests in the PM and cabinet; individual ministerial responsibility (for departments and agencies in his or her portfolio) with the Minister

• elected representatives and executives must accept the consequences for the unacceptable, foolish, ill-advised, incorrect or illegal behaviour and actions of those employed in a department or agency for which they are formally responsible.

7. Contemporary Responsibility:

• less stringent interpretation of the doctrine of responsibility based on the recognition that ministers cannot possible know everything that is going on in their departments due to: 1. increase in scope of government; 2. complications caused by interprovincial negotiations and other settlements (executive federalism); 3. human resource management and collective bargaining; 4. the monopoly on expertise enjoyed by the public administrators; 5. a shifting moral ground; 6. increase in distrust of public administration (eg that it is un-businesslike)

• now we use the word >answerability=

8. Delegated Responsibility

• delegated legislation (where authority is downloaded from the legislature to the Privy Council; to Ministers and DMs, to bureaucrats, to boards and commissions; or from the federal government to the provinces and through the provinces to the municipalities...who then is responsible for the maintenance of health care standards across Canada when provincial health ministers, self-regulating professions and local hospital boards all have significant authority?

9. Objective versus subjective responsibility

• calls for more responsible government usually focus on two ideas of responsibility: objective or subjective

• objective responsibility: the formal process of legitimate government: were appropriate steps followed through the hierarchy to Parliament (example: did the Minister misinform the House about the behaviour of the Canadian Airborne Regiment in Somalia)...the legal and constitutional interpretation of responsibility

• subjective responsibility: focuses on the idea of a public interest in policy (even if inferred rather than formally approved) and asks whether the public interest has been met (did the previous government lose sight of the public interest in approving the Pearson Airport privatization?)...asks the civil servant to decide 'to whom do I feel or believe myself to be responsible?--this is a psychological or subjective idea of responsibility

10. Accountability

• not always easy to distinguish from responsibility however it may be helped to remember that chains of responsibility run 'downward by delegation' which chains of accountability run upward

• in public administration we distinguish accountability to demonstrate the extra costs (financial and administrative) involved in a system where political responsibility is required

• public goods often are more expensive to deliver because we are expected to deliver them effectively (until recently this meant universally) and where possible in an economic and efficient manner...

• like responsibility it is increasing difficult to establish and maintain; increasingly rare to find that chains of responsibility and accountability coincide

• the stronger accountability is the less likely we are to deliver public goods in an economic, efficient and effective manner

• accountability is both internal (to superiors in the hierarchy) and external (to the politician responsible for the ministry)

• accountability of the most senior public servants (eg. deputy ministers - DM) is questionable indeed for two reasons: 1. they must assume a position of independence in order to function effectively (eg the Bank of Canada governor should resign if ordered to change policy) and 2. the deputy minister is not clearly accountable to a single superior and in the course of reaching a decision is influenced by and requires the approval of many nominal superiors

The Presidential System

1. Liberalism and the Principle of Limited Government

• the American revolution was essentially an elite-led revolt which developed into a rebellion against the government of George III

2. The Path to Independence

• British soldiers and colonial citizens fought together in 1759 - 1763 to bring an end to French government in the northern Americas and, also, to defeat the France=s Indian allies

• Britain continued to govern its 13 American colonies and to impose taxes and garrisons upon them (the taxes were intended to pay for the cost of the war and for the continuing protection provided by the military garrisons

• in Dec. 16 1773 citizens of Boston disguising themselves as Indians dump 342 chests of tea into the Boston harbour

• in 1774 delegates from the 13 colonies meet in Philadelphia to petition the Government of Britain for the redress of grievances

• 1775 the Second Continental Congress adopted measures of resistance

• a skirmish at Lexington on April 19, 1775 marked the opening of armed hostilities

• 1776 the Declaration of Independence was drafted by Jefferson, Franklin, John Adams and others; adopted July 4, 1776

• Articles of Confederation were adopted June 11, 1776 and subsequently ratified by all the states; however they left the federal government with no powers of taxation or of compelling states to support the war effort against the British

3. The Conflict

• under the command of George Washington a colonial army was unable to defeat the professional English army until a wider conflict broke out involving France and the Netherlands

• French soldiers, her navy and substantial aid brought about the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, VA on October 19, 1781

• peace negotiations were concluded Nov. 30, 1782; formally signed on Sept. 3, 1783 and ratified by Congress on January 4, 1784.

4. The Constitution

• in 1787 a secret meeting of all the states (except Rhode Island) succeeded in resolving the outstanding issues regarding powers of the federal/central government

• by 1789 this had been ratified by the required minimum 9 states

• a presidential election was held

• however to get the agreement of the remainder of the states Congress agreed to adopt 10 amendments which addressed concerns of those states who feared powerful governments

• these first 10 amendments are now referred to as the Bill of Rights

5. The Principle of Separation of Powers

• in the first Presidential System the three >natural= branches of government: the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary are separated: reflecting the desire of the framers to use constitutional and institutional means to limit the power of government

6. The System of Checks and Balance

• in the first Presidential System the three branches of government are intended to >check and balance= the powers of each other

• none can function independently

• the Executive and the Legislative branches both compete for control of the government; unless the President has a majority of supporters in the Senate and the House of Representatives he/she finds that cooperation is necessary in order to govern

7. The President as Head of State

• the President is both the chief political executive and the chief formal executive

• Presidents are accorded special respect by even their most bitter adversaries because the President is not only the political leader but also the Head of State

8. The Cabinet

• no member of the executive (or Administration) may be a member of Congress

• the President is free to chose Cabinet members (Secretaries) from the most talented people in the land

• the President, Vice-president, Cabinet and appointed officials are often referred to as the Administration

9. Nominating a President

• American politics features a system of primary elections in which voters who are registered as supporters of the main political parties vote in an initial election to choose the candidate for their party...this applies at every level of American government

• someone with aspirations to the office of the President must first win sufficient primary elections to gather enough votes state-by-state to win the nomination of his/her party

10. The President as Head of His/Her Party

• following the primary victory and nomination the President becomes the head of the Party and a campaign organization develops

• Presidents are actually elected by an Electoral College

• the Electoral College represents each of the fifty states; each states has a number of Electoral College votes based on population

• the campaign for president is in effect a series of campaigns in each of the fifty states; states with large populations are very important

Lecture #9: The Impact of Parliamentary Government and Party Discipline on Canadian Public Administration

Review:

In a democratic country it is assumed that the system of public administration will reflect, respect and preserve basic democratic equality; safeguards are built into the political and administrative systems in an effort to preserve and enhance equality; against these systems and safeguards there are persistent pressures to give preferential treatment to some individuals, groups, regions and so on.

1. Accountability and Democracy

• the context of Canadian public administration is 'administrative accountability within a system of responsible parliamentary government'

• democracy is an idea grounded in the concept of equality including equal opportunity for employment with/by governments and their agencies

• democracy does not mean >the market= nor is it necessarily linked with liberalism

• bureaucracies are very good at delivering public goods in a democratic fashion as they function most efficiently when they are dispensing equal portions of goods or service

• >the democratic principle that all public officials are accountable to the people and can rule only by their consent=

2. Responsible government in a Parliamentary System

• in the parliamentary system the political executive is held accountable by the doctrines of individual ministerial responsibility and collective ministerial responsibility

• individual ministerial responsibility: the principle which states that individual ministers are responsible for the actions of their departments and accountable for their departments to Parliament and the Canadian people

• collective ministerial responsibility: the principle that members of the cabinet (the executive branch of government) are responsible for the policies and management of the government as a whole

• as the welfare state developed it became more difficult to insist on individual ministerial responsibility due to the greater complexity of departments and programs

• in Canada the principle of collective ministerial responsibility is also a weak form of political control due to the preeminence of the Prime Minister and his/her control of the party

3. Democracy

• in many respects the past century has been the most democratic century in history

• most if not all states speak respectfully about democracy; many use the term to justify or legitimate their policies

• therefore in a democratic country it is assumed that the system of public administration will reflect, respect and preserve basic democratic equality; safeguards are built into the political and administrative systems in an effort to preserve and enhance equality; against these systems and safeguards there are persistent pressures to give preferential treatment to some individuals, groups, regions and so on

• distinguishing between the private and public sectors may be easier if one bears in mind OP Dwivedi=s words regarding the uniqueness and significance of the public sector:

o Public service exists to satisfy certain needs of the community. Its existence depends upon the trust, confidence and support (both financial, through taxation, and legal, through obedience to laws and regulations enforced by public servants) it derives from the public through their representatives. Unlike the private sector, it cannot (as expected) become too self-seeking and obscure. Its every action and inaction are subject to thorough scrutiny. The community expects public servants to be fair, ethical and dedicated in administering public policies and programs. And public trust and confidence are assured when public servants are found managing public programs soundly, and are found to be accountable for their actions.

4. Preeminence of the Prime Minister

• as leader of the Party in power the Prime Minister can assert effective control over his members in the House of Commons: he has the right to call an election if he wishes; he can refuse to sign the nomination papers of Members of Parliament at election time (thereby depriving them of the party label and party support); he can offer or refuse to offer appointments and other perks during the sitting of Parliament; he decides who enters the Cabinet which for almost all MPs is an enticement for good behaviour....the Prime Minister appoints a Whip (and Deputy Whip) to supervise the MPs and enforce party discipline

• in the parliamentary system power is said to be fused: the fusion of power due to the fact that the Prime Minister can control the legislature through the use of party discipline

5. Patronage

• Preferential treatment to individuals is what we call patronage: the awarding of favours in exchange for support, service, loyalty....since the development of the merit principle and the reform of the public service most public administration jobs are filled by civil service competitions...patronage is no longer available to most Canadians and has evolved to the higher levels of public administration

• patronage rewards are now mostly available only to elite Canadians (eg. contracts for professional services, etc.

• since the advent of the new public management many government services formerly provided by permanent public servants have been converted to contract: opening an avenue for patronage for contractors, consultants and other professionals

• individual members of parliament (from all parties) have difficulty in intervening due to the preeminence of the Prime Minister

Lecture # 10: Work, Its Meaning and Organization

Review:

In section 1 we looked at the rise of use of bureaucratic means in public administration in modernity (HICE) due to its comparative efficiency. Weber, Marx and Engels and Wilson all offered explanations about the nature of the 'problem of public administration'. Currently we have a new group of definitions of the 'problem of public administration' part of which reflects issues raised by the expansion of the public sector and part which reflects a loss of support for distributive issues such as social welfare. Will public administration become the new public management?

1. Work, its meaning and organization

• we now move to consider what work is and what roles it plays both in public administration and life itself

• this section of lectures focuses on these issues:

• 1. what work is and how this impacts on public administration

• 2. how work is organized in the public service

• 3. the relationship between organization and productivity

• 4. the relationship between organization and motivation; and the significance of organizational design

• its been said that if work didn't exist we would invent it because it is essential to human health and happiness

• however we often treat 'work' as if work is to be avoided and will only be performed when necessary for survival

• for a very long period of time public administrators organized work on a bureaucratic structure modelled both on the armed forces and on industrial applications; however during the past 20 years with the advent of electronic communications and a global economy there has been a shift from the bureaucratic industrial model

2. The Industrial Model/Fordism

• characterized by 1. wage labour 2. centralized production; 3. a belief in the economies of scale; 4. minute division of labour; 5. extreme discipline with adversarial labour relations.

• problems: diseconomies of scale; lack of flexibility; inhibited productivity; managerial control at the expense of innovation.

3. Work and Society

• pre-modern society in Europe: work days and feast days in roughly equal numbers

• economic problem is scarcity and subsistence is the goal; craft/artisan skills produce essential goods--80+% of work goes into the production of food

• the medieval market is a place of exchange between locals and of trade with the rest of the world--centred on the town and the medieval church--the market is simply a means of exchange

• modern, industrial society: urban society with 85% of the week aimed at work

• economic problem is cycles of boom and bust and accumulation is the goal; industry produces essential goods and most capital goes toward increase productivity

• wage labour is paid either for production or efforts expended per unit of time

• division of labour replaces craft/artisan skills

• control of the economy passes first to the hands of industrialists and from them to managers and financiers

• post-modern, post industrial, Post-Fordist: communications technology permits de-centralization

• economic problem is distribution of work; accumulation continues to be the goal; capital directed toward financing and communications;

• an interdependent and interconnected world in which cottage industry is again important; flexible, non-centralized production

4. What is work?

• consider the following opposites:

• work vs play (unpleasant, not fun)

• work vs leisure (arduous, exhausting)

• work vs labour (labour is the expenditure of energy where work is distinctly human)

• work as self-definition: what do you do? I am what I do!

5. The Industrial (Fordist) Work Model

• widely copied by governments for public administration

• one consequence is that work is perceived as a negative and a second is that labour relations are adversarial

• division of labour in social, detail, sexual and racial modes

• detail division of labour allows the use of machinery and the reduction of the cost of labour as an input and limits the bargaining position of the providers of labour

6. Division of Labour and Surplus Value

• definition of surplus value (Marx)

• in theory rational economic explanations confirm that both capital and labour should try to limit the gap between value and cost of labour (the degradation of labour)--too big a gap is inefficient for capital and will lead to new competitors or market resistance

• in the private sector struggles between capital and labour are unequal (capital can close or move production or be overrun by the market)

• in the public sector more equal struggle (no market pressures, more difficult to close, move production)

7. Thoughts on Work

• Braverman: work degraded by the industrial process and any blame for productivity goes to capital

• Arendt: work is uniquely human Homo faber man the maker and must be equally shared as a condition of democratic equality

• Huizinga: play and work are different: there is no profit motive in play, may be deliberately wasteful, not serious Homo ludens, man the player

• Russell: leisure is essential to culture and civilization and is a separate activity from work

• Bell: character of work changes with society: in post industrial society work takes on a new meaning because it is now organized differently and relies on different technology

• Morris: we are all inherently creative: work must be organized to allow for the expression of creativity and for the use of physical strength which we all desire

8. Conclusions, Issues, Problems:

• industry talks about adopting workplace democracy, profit-sharing, and empowerment to increase productivity...but is it just window dressing?

• work qua public administration is in transition from the industrial model to the post-industrial model despite difficulties this creates for accountability

• in the public sector there is a virulent anti-union movement

• note Machiavelli's warning about the difficulties of making change: It must be considered that there is nothing more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success than to take the led in a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order and only lukewarm defenders in all who would profit by the new.

Lecture # 11: Taylorism, Fordism, Post-Fordism

1. Industrialization as the dominant model

• the industrial process is a very old one

• it dislocated and disrupted social, economic, political relations

• in history look to the US Civil War: see how long it look people to recognize the process and adapt to it

• remember also that the process will not vanish...but it has become less significant in Canada and the United States:

o ( see Bluestone and Harrison, the De-industrialization of America)

2. The Fullers and the Fulling Mill

• early industrialization: 1085 - 1215

• four stage process of making cloth from wool: carding (comb); spinning (the wheel); weaving (the loom); fulling (the trough)...fulling is a process for compacting cloth in water to make it more dense and more durable

• early on--possibly knowledge from the Crusades--a mill is developed mimicking the human foot and powered by water

• the powers of the day--the church and the nobles--seize control of the mills and develop monopolies

• expansion of fulling mills is limited by: 1. availability of water power; 2. supplies of woven material--difficulties of transportation; 3. 'political' tradeoffs with the local economic powers--the local 'tariff'

• nevertheless, much large scale industry by 1540 throughout England and elsewhere

3. Taylor and Scientific Management

• the growing domination of the industrial method led to a new and important question: how to ensure maximum productivity?

• the answer to this--scientific management--was supplied by Frederick Winslow Taylor...said by Peter Drucker to be A...the most powerful as well as the most lasting contribution America has made to Western thought since the Federalist papers.@

• initial experiment was conducted at the Bethlehem Steel Company; Henry Ford adapted and improved Taylor's methods which were also widely copied elsewhere (the USSR)

• Fordism is an outgrowth of Scientific Management; Post-Fordism refers to post-industrial work and work management

4. Taylor at Bethlehem Steel

• Schmidt and the pig iron gang...pg. 45 in Inwood

• Braverman, pages 102 - 108

• workers discover the fast and best methods of doing any job but they use these shortcuts with discretion...workers tend to 'soldiering'--which means two things: 1. a workers natural lazy tendencies to do as little as possible; 2. work was often arranged in a manner which made jobs hard to do.

5. Three Principles of Scientific Management:

• 1. management must observe how exceptional workers actually complete their tasks; and discover the one best way to perform an actual task (look at rhythm and movement)

• 2. the study and planning of work must be firmly in the hands of management--control cannot rest with the workers as they cannot be trusted to contribute to productivity or production enhancement--work control is an exclusive right of management

• 3. scientific management depends on the proper systematic pre-planning, pre-calculating of all elements in the work process--workers must follow the written instructions for performing their tasks: they must work to the rule

6. Ford

• Henry Ford modified Taylor's approach: his moving assembly line set a pace of work which employees had to meet; it enabled the development of a detail division of labour; and it required strict discipline

• initially Ford attracted employees with relatively high wages

• he argued through the 1930's that government and industry had to solve the unemployment problem because he recognized that his success was based on consumers of moderate income

7. Post-Fordism

• interconnected & interdependent--opposites: connected/unconnected; independent/dependent

• the labour problem (conflict between management and labour) is downloaded by transnationals through outsourcing and/or by reorganizing core business developments (GE & GM are now essentially 'banks' and credit granting institutions

Lecture # 12: Work: Motivation and Productivity

1. Overview:

• a 'humanistic response' to Taylor's mechanamorphicview

• characterized by 1. respect for workers as complex human beings; 2. distrust of simple, one-dimensional motivation; 3. recognition of informal rules of work

2. Stage One:

• Mary Parker Follett-emphasizing the importance of exercising leadership rather than wielding power

• the Hawthorne Experiments--Western Electric's Chicago Plant in 1924--workers singled out for attention will experience an improvement in morale leading to greater productivity

• Chester Barnard--the significance of cooperation as an essential part of a human group/organization (it is not enough just to give orders to a group/organization...one must also secure their cooperation)

• Maslow's hierarchy of needs: once our most urgent needs are met (for food, clothing, shelter, safety) we then seek satisfaction of other needs which Maslow argued were arranged in a hierarchy --physiological, safety, belonging/love, esteem, self-actualization

3. Stage Two:

• participatory management (creating responsibility by sharing responsibility and reducing conflict)

• Drucker and MBO--anti-HICE--argues that emphasizing organizational objectives helps to overcome bureaucratic misdirection of resources and internal politics

• OD--Organizational development--organizations tend to become rigid/frozen...so OD aims to unfreeze through a journey of self-development (eg. IBM--the white shirt and blue suit versus Apple--the t-shirt and jean brigade)

• W. Edwards Deming, Total Quality Management (TQM), asks what results in success and answers: quality....focuses on individual internal responsibility for quality products including work processes; relationships with suppliers and feedback from customers

• a sad tendency for these to be quick fix solutions to larger problems which are utilized without any substantial commitment by the organization (public or private) to empowerment, participation, individual responsibility, 'unfreezing' and so on

4.Communications

• interrelated: communications, Leadership & Motivation

• communications are the lifeblood of organizations: the transfer and reception of information, emotions, ideas and orders

• formal and informal communications

• downward and upward (feedback)

• lateral communications versus proper bureaucratic flow...lateral communications are essential though they may violate the heirarchical chain of command in a standard bureaucracy

• obstacles: territoriality and organizational tensions; language differences; communications overload; noise or distortion

5. Leadership

• managers (who simply exercise authority) and leaders (beyond the call of duty)

• 3 kinds of skills: technical, human and conceptual

• their importance depends on your place in the hierarchy

• styles of leadership: authoritarian, democratic, laissez-faire

• situational or continency theory: organizations and leadership vary and the ideal structure depends on environmental/situational conditions, nature of decision making, and the characteristics of the leader and group

• Maturity-Immaturity Theory, Motivation-Hygiene Theory, Job Redesign Theory, and Expectancy Theory all assume a well-motivated worker will be more productive

• Theory Z--Japanese: lifetime employment, non-specialized career paths, slow evaluation and promotion, bonuses on company performance; slow-collective decision making; quality circles on a volunteer basis....these are all effective as ways of organizing work but it must be remembered that Theory Z works within the subset of a specific corporatist culture with an emphasis on trust and collective good

• empowerment--driving responsibility down into the organization

6. The dominant organizational model of public administration

• is undergoing change however we must not underestimate the strengths of that system and the level of support for maintaining the status quo from those who benefit from it

• B.B. Kymlicka: one rarely improves things by reorganizing them

• Herbert Simeon: for almost every principle one can find an equally plausible and acceptable contradictory principle:

• Administrative efficiency is supposed to be enhanced by limiting the number of subordinates who report directly to any one administrator to a small number---say six

• Administrative efficiency is enhanced by keeping at a minimum the number of organizational levels through which a matter must pass before it is acted upon

Lecture #13: Organizational Design and Public Administration

• A reminder about the difficulty of making successful change in organizational design:

B.B. Kymlicka: one rarely improves things by reorganizing them

• Herbert Simeon: for almost every principle one can find an equally plausible and acceptable contradictory principle:

• Administrative efficiency is supposed to be enhanced by limiting the number of subordinates who report directly to any one administrator to a small number---say six

• Administrative efficiency is enhanced by keeping at a minimum the number of organizational levels through which a matter must pass before it is acted upon

1. Federalism and Public Administration

• fragmentation increases in a federal system as the system divides responsibilities and powers through several levels of governments including the federal level; the provinces and territories; the local and regional levels

• the embedded state produces barriers and hostility to change: private sector organizations will always defend the subsidies, rights and privileges they now enjoy

• federalism in Canada and the US means 1. territory: administration of huge areas; 2. administration of diversity; 3. Conflict between federal and provincial governments; 4. Cooperation necessary between feds and provinces

• three or four levels of government create coordination and cooperation problems; conflicts on policy objectives and implementation; public administration requires inter-governmental cooperation

• choices are centralization (dispersal of real authority) or deconcentration(dispersal of service but not authority)

• 2. The Silo

• a silo is: a pit or tall cylindrical structure that can be made air-tight for storing grain (or guided missiles)....a shelter (a Spanish term)

• government departments are like silos: they shelter careers, programs and budgets...within the silo/department bureaucrats tend to act in their departmental interest

• the downside: public $s and the resources of the public service may be used to duplicate work and to work at cross purposes

• citizens who want to access services or to make policy inputs may encounter barriers and experience frustration

• 3. Horizontality and Coordination

• coordinating the activities between silos at the federal level was once a relatively simple job which could be accomplished by the joint efforts of Deputy Ministers and the Cabinet

• federal, provincial and local silos did not prevent or discourage coordinated efforts provided governments were not too complicated and the services they provided were fairly limited

• the principle of horizontality: ...encouraging interaction among departments, across levels of government, and even between governments and non-governmental actors...with the intention of improving service to the client or customer...but horizontality exposes the department's knowledge and information (or departmental unit as silos can exist within silos) to other units/departments which compete for money, resources and influence....one must trust the occupants of other silos before this can produce improved horizontality

4. Basic organization choices:

• recognize two or three types of functions

• 1. line--directly involved in producing and distributing goods and services

• 2.staff--aids, advises, supports line function staff (eg. legal counsel, policy advisors)

• 3.auxiliary--housekeeping functions such as personnel, accounting.

• spans of control--refers to # of subordinates reporting to a superior...narrow (tighter immediate control but increase the number of levels in the bureaucracy); wide (less control but reduced

5. Control and motivation: why do people work?

• the neoconservative view is pessimistic: work is awful and necessity must force people to work

• Maslow's Hierarchy of needs: 1. Physiological; 2. Safety; 3. Belongingness; 4. Esteem; 5. Self-actualization

6. Theory X

• people have an inherent dislike of work and are intrinsically lazy: they will avoid work unless coerced, controlled, directed and threatened;

• the average person has little ambition but wants security and derives this from theory X management (average people prefer this)

7. Theory Y--the expenditure of physical and mental effort is natural

• self-direction and self-control is a better form of getting employees to commit to objectives

• achievement and recognition contributes to meeting organizational objectives

• average person learns to want responsibility

• imagination, ingenuity, creativity is widely distributed in the population;

• industrial organization and theory X management is wasteful; only partially utilizes human potential

8. Choosing a management philosophy:

• theory X at work: Scientific management: theory X view of employees; combined with Taylor's time and motion study and Gulich and Urwick's work on choosing the ultimate spans of control and designing the organization to produce highest efficiency MANAGEMENT IS A POWER RELATIONSHIP

• theory Y at work: humanistic management: theory Y view of employees: Hawthorne experiments (effect of praise); Mary Parker Follett (importance of networks, change) Drucker, management by objective MANAGEMENT IS A LEADERSHIP FUNCTION

Lecture # 14: The Search for Peace, The Trilateral Commission and The Iron Lady

1. The New World Order:

The neoconservative movement led by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (the Iron Lady) brought with it the New Public Management (NPM/NPM) and the demand for a more limited less-social welfare oriented state. This occured as other major changes happened: end of the Cold War, the end of History, reduced power of individual states, peace and prosperity. Braudel describes the great problem of retaining the advantages of the market (freedom, choice, growth) with the concentration of social and political power which it brings and the decline in competition which inevitably reduces the benefits of the market.

2. The Search for Peace

Assuming that economic conflict was the underlying cause of both World Wars and that governments could use their control of national economies to smooth out the booms and busts of capitalist economies Keynes proposed the judicious use of fiscal and monetary instruments by government to manage national economies. The basic principle was that governments wouldspending during depressions to trigger economic recovery and pay for recovery by raising taxes during economic booms. Toward the end of the Second World War Lord Keynes unveiled an economic plan intended to provide an 'international framework' for the management of the ups and downs of national economies without resorting to tariff barriers. This plan recognized the key role played by trade in generating economic growth. Keynes proposed a World Bank, International Trade Organization, an International Monetary Fund and a world currency Bancor.

3. Technology and Globalization

Improvements in communications technology made advantageous, necessary and possible for transnational corporations to move their funds throughout world markets to maximize returns and protect themselves from the damage which could be wrought by overexposure to one economy (egUS/Canada)...and at the same time disadvantageous to insist on the protection of tarries and barriers when so much more might be earned by a barrier free trading world with an expanding economy.

4. Neoconservatism

• known as conservatism in the United States; as neoliberalismor neoconservatism in Canada and Britain...it is derived from classical liberalism

• emphasis on limited government, individual rights and private property

• two forms: 1. moral neoconservatism (the new Victorians) which is often based in fundamental Protestant Christian belief which recoils at abortion and pornography; 2. economic neoconservatismwhich is based on beliefs in private enterprise, individual initiative and personal self-reliance

• the intellectual roots of neoconservatism go back to Frederick von Hayek (The Road to Serfdom) and to growing disenchantment with the apparent inability of the welfare state to solve major social and economic problems...for example, in the United States Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs failed to deliver a Great Society

5. Do Politicians Always Follow?

Politically, we usually cite Margaret Thatcher (1979 - 1990); Ronald Reagan (1980 - 1988) and Brian Mulroney (1984 - 1993) as examples of neoconswho sought power under a neoconservative agenda; achieved electoral success; and implemented neocon policy...open hostility to the public sector and public servants...a theme continued in Canada by Premiers Ralph Klein, Mike Harris and, arguably, PM Jean Chretien

6. General Themes of the Neoconservative Agenda:

• 1.the welfare state has failed

• 2.bureaucratic power threatens our freedom

• 3.economic decline is due to big government

• 4.public management is incompetent management

• 5.individual preferences must outrank collective choices

• three targets: 1. reduce power of organized labour; 2. reduced welfarism (redistribution); 3. reduce governments role as a economic manager

7. Politics and the Resonance of Neoconservatism

• the significance of devastating culturally specific ideas which resonate with the voting public...ideas or approaches to the identification and definition of problems and the policies which will solve them

• in Britain--The Empire Strikes Back--impotence, failure, loss of face

• post war decline, economic decay, social unrest and the class antagonism which underlies British society; the rise of the EU; the emergence of the new Germany; the end of British Imperial power

• in the United States--Ronald Reagan and the government versus the people, from Apocalypse Now to Independence Day

• the built-in fear of government; economic losses due to de-industrialization; the legacy of military defeat in Vietnam; and the failure of the Republic in the Nixon Presidency

• in Canada--Brian Mulroney--an agenda which had to be sold to Canadians who were unconvinced that the national debt was a problem--finally sold as a threat to our future

8. Privatism and the New Public Management

• privatism refers to the preference for the use of private means

• privatism holds that it is superior to strategies using public means

• is (a) an instrument of policy; (b) a strategy of regeneration; and (c) a standard of community performance

• privatism has two policy objectives:

• 1. to improve the delivery of goods or services by the use of market mechanisms (building in competition among service providers)

• 2.the withdrawal of government from 'its role as a buyer, regulator, standard setter or decision maker...'

• in practice:

• 1. some services can be delivered more cheaply provided they are 'straightforward, immediate, measurable, monitorables and technical in nature'

• 2. 'complex, long-range, holistic, difficult-to-measure outcomes' are very difficult to deliver by privatism

• 3.privatism tends to creaming--service only to easy and profitable customers

• 4.naive to expect businesses which must remain profitable to deliver more cheaply: eg. the US defense industry, highway construction, US medical care

• reduce the emphasis on accountability...empower employees...create market-like conditions to enhance consumer rights

9. Neoconservatism: The Real Agenda

• Guy Peters: in office the neocons often spend more and centralize decision-making

• we can however identify four clear changes in policy direction:

• 1.reduce/eliminate state barriers to global economic activity (trade, fiance, services)

• 2.redistribute income by reducing transfers to lower income groups and reducing taxation on capital gains, foreign investment and upper income

• 3.reduce cost of labour (political power of unions, collective bargaining rights and the social safety net)

• 4.preserve important state services and subsidies to business (regulation, tax incentives, credit assistance, grants and subsidies, direct state investment, services such as export promotion, geological surveys, labour mediation and conciliation

The Iron Lady and Administrative Reform

10. Mrs. Thatcher and British Public Administration

• open hostility to the public sector and public servants

• no grand design for the reorganization of British public administration...for example she admitted that her planned reduction of the number of public servants from 720,000 to 630,000 was 'just a number'

• an 'unwitting' program: "not dealing with philosopher kings or queens here'

• with Sir Keith Joseph established the Centre of Policy Studies in 1974...supplying free-market options and challenging established views

• a feeling that "the State takes too much of the nation's income, its share must be steadily reduced'

• ideological driven programs of privatization, deregulation, contracting out and trade union reform

• trade union reform clearly aimed at her main political opponents in the Labour Party

• she was also opposed by the 'Wets'...Tory members committed to the welfare state and its programs

11. The Junior Minister

• Mrs. Thatcher was Minister (Secretary of State for Education and Science) in the Heath government from 1970-1974

• experience with civil servants did 'nothing to lighten her dim view of permanent officials'

• patronizing, less than straightforward in giving advice, not very competent

• after the defeat of the Heath government Mrs. Thatcher won the leadership of the party and planned for her return

• her appeal to the electorate was made on the basis of neo-conservative reforms

• post war decline, economic decay, social unrest and the class antagonism which underlies British society; the creation of the EC; the emergence of the new Germany; the end of British Imperial power

• these resonated with the electorate who had seen a decline on average in incomes during the 1970s

• andthere was a partial consensus in Britain and elsewhere from the left to the right that bureaucratic power had grown beyond effective control

12. The Problem with governance

• after elections governments have 'the maximum energy to govern and the minimum knowledge'...here governments are often captured by their senior advisors

• the 'Yes Minister' Syndrome: public servants take hold of the agenda and direct the scope and pace of change

• 'most perceived inefficiencies in government operations are simply a function of poor management'

13. Appointment of Permanent Secretaries

• long-standing practice allowed Whitehall (the home of the British bureaucracy) to nominate successors for the position of all Grade 1 public servants

• for all intents and purposes the nomination amounted to a faitesaccomplis

• regardless of changes of government Whitehall got to appoint its own

• Mrs. Thatcher changed all of this and subsequent analysis shows that while she preferred even more than the Mandarins to draw from the elite groups in British society she did substantially change the appointment practice

14. Administrative Policy Goals

• diminish the role of the state in social and economic affairs

• reduce the influence of permanent officials on policy and the policy process

• make government managers emulate the private sector

15. Implementation

• reducing the emphasis on accountability...empower employees...create market-like conditions to enhance consumer rights

• in Britain, Next Steps...the creation of arm's length Executive Agencies; the use of market testing to see if private sources can provide public services;

• John Major and the Citizen's Charter

• the creation of a Citizen's Charter (John Major) to guarantee consumer rights such as prompt service is, in effect, an admission that little was achieved by Mrs. Thatcher in terms of any advances made by emulate private sector management techniques

• Major announced the need to release 'the well-spring of talent and energy in our public service' which was supposed to happen under the NPMG

16. Lessons learned

• 1. Political Will is important: a determined politician with a preset goal can succeed in controlling public service growth and restraining public spending;

• 2. Improvements come from modest tactical reforms not from fads or grandiose schemes

• 3. Outside scrutiny of department operations will produce savings provided civil servants are in on the process...a research lab in Reading was raising rats for experiments at a cost of thirty pounds each when they were available from private sources for two pounds

• 4. Politicians must also 'feel the pain' if they expect public servants to carry out efficiency programs...the rapid shuffling of ministers from portfolio to portfolio works against improved efficiency Mrs. Thatcher plays Athens to Mr. Reagan=s Rome

. 5. Institutions are important: neoconservativism and the movement for a free trading global world owe much to the Trilateral Commission (founded in 1972) to promote freer trade: founder was David Rockefeller, Chairman of the Chase Manhattan Bank - said by many to be the single most powerful person in the United States during the 1970s...the Trilateral Commission encouraged rising 'movers and shakers' to join its ranks (including many aspiring politicians and business leaders) to carry the message of free trade and a reduced social welfare state....without this institution we might not have had globalization and the attack on the social welfare state.

Reagan

17. Administrative Policy Goals

• diminish the role of the state in social and economic affairs

• reduce the influence of permanent officials on policy and the policy process

• privatism: government managers must emulate the private sector - managerialism

18. Mrs. Thatcher and British Public Administration

• Mrs. Thatcher held extensive discussions with both Reagan and Mulroney sharing experiences and advice

• supported by a public opinion in Britain, US and Canada that bureaucracies may have become too powerful

19. Mr. Reagan Goes to Washington

• although he'd been governor of California Reagan had no experience with Washington or with federal politics...his campaign used the theme "Morning in America" and he actively portrayed government as part of the problem facing Americans...most important Reagan understood how to use TV in campaigns and communications and, on television, he appeared as a strong, honest and effective leader

• Reagan rode a groundswell of popular support for reducing the size and cost of government in the US: California Proposition 13, Mass Two and A Half

• he brought a 'hands off' approach where he limited his time to a few hours a day in the Executive Office and left the details of governing to a large staff

20. Results, if Any

• Reagan's transition team was in itself a vast bureaucracy of office-seekers: he spent over $ 4 million dollars on a team of 132 transition workers and created over 100 task forces filled with 'good Republicans'

• his budget director (Office of Management and Budget) David Stockman found he was allotted only 6 hours of Reagan's time for the massive job of deconstructing the federal administration

• in 1981 his budget contained massive spending and tax cuts but thereafter spending reverted to politics as usual in Washington

• under Reagan military spending rose to massive heights (including the unbelievable Star Wars plan) and government debt increased to new heights

• eventually Stockman resigned in disgust and spilled the beans on Mr. Reagan in articles in a variety of academic and popular journals

21. American Federalism: Separation of Powers

We must remember that the US system is itself radically different: Congress controls the purse strings and is structurally biassed in favour of spending provided the proceeds are distributed relatively equally; the President appoints many administrators directly and the permanent bureaucracy is consequently less powerful; American governments generally spend less than British and Canadian governments so there is less room for 'improvement' or change

22. Reinventing Government

• Osborne and Gaebler argue that good government is managerial: good governments simply establish good contracts and ensure that they are fulfilled!

• Clinton and Gore picked up the theme in 1992

Lecture # 15: Canadians and Ontological Security

Major theme:

In a democracy people must believe there is a need for important changes. Unlike Americans and Britons, most Canadians did not lose their faith in the social welfare state. In Canada it is the Canadian elite (5% of the population) who want to end the social welfare state. Eventually the public debt was found to be the >tempest in a teapot= necessary to bring neoconservative government, privatism and managerialismto the Canadian welfare state.

1. Mr. Mulroney and the Climb to Power

• he had never held political office until he was elected in 1983 as Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party

• in speeches he warned Ottawa bureaucrats of the coming 'pink slips and running shoes'...his intention to control the public service and drastically reduce its numbers

• what Mr. Mulroney actually did was imitate the 'politicized administration of American Presidents' installing a large political bureaucracy in Ottawa

2. The Critique of Public Administration

• in Canada:

• 1.the triumph of process over product...accountability as process: too much attention to the demands for accountability and responsibility...focus on form-filling and procedure rather than the needs of the client

• 2.too much rowing, not enough steering...too much attention to the direct delivery of services instead of the careful examination of outcomes and priorities

3. Mr. Mulroney and the Public Service

• in Canada--Brian MulroneyBhad difficulty convincing Canadians that the public debt was more important than social programs: finally sold as a threat to our future (please, don't shoot the Hippo!)

• the New Public Management...IMAA and the SOAs

• in Canada, Public Service 2000 and the newSpecial Operating Agencies, with reduced central agency control and partnerships.

• the new institutional values: service, quality, teamwork, innovation, openness, excellence: 1. the new public management requires 'excellence in contracting'...contracts which correctly anticipate major problems and properly provide for adaptation to social, economic, political change; 2. problem: managerialismworks fairly well in 'production-like' bureaucracies...these are already likely to be well-administered; 3. the 'real' problem lies in policy-making areas and in complicated administrations such as foreign affairs...here 'managerialism' is likely to be a drawback

• under Mr. Mulroney's regime the cost of government and the size of the public debt increased dramatically (doubling during his tenure)...some civil servants lost their jobs to be sure but only to be replaced by consultants and contracted-out people

4. Mr. Martin leads the government of Mr. Chretien

• elected in 1993 on the promise of jobs, jobs, jobs the government of Jean Chretien under Finance Minister Paul Martin moved to implement the neoconservative reduction in the power of the state as a provide of social welfare and as a manager of the economy...today he waits on the sidelines presumably to be elected Leader of the Party when Mr. Chretien retires in February, 2004.

• in 1995, two weeks prior to the budget Moody's Investors Service Inc. 'stunned financial markets and the federal government...by announcing that Canada is in imminent danger of losing its treasured Triple-A credit rating on most of its debts.'

• But its a manufactured crisis: the timing was 'fortuitous...being done before the budget to give Mr. Martin the firepower he needs to be tough' (Robert Edge, Wood Gundy in London).

• The following Monday, John McNeil of Sun Life Assurance complained that Moody's action would repercuss on 'some of Canada's best-rate enterprises' and linked it to a refusal by Sun Life to purchase Moody's rating service. The Globe notes that such raters 'live chiefly on fees paid by companies they rate, an arrangement that can be awkward at times'. Moody is owned by Dun and Bradstreet. As a sidenote California state Senators are asking why Moody's (and chief competitor Standard and Poor's) continued to rate Orange County debt as triple-A right up the day Orange County defaulted on $ 2 billion in debt and filed for bankruptcy.

5. Rethinking Government in Canada

• February 25, 1995 Ekos Research released a study showing that 'while Canadians have lost much of their confidence in politicians and government...they generally retain their faith in...astrong and active government'...along with a belief that government has not been as effective or efficient in its use and management of money to deliver public services.

• Ekos compared two studies, one of the general population and one of 1,000 members of the Canadian elite(MPs, MPPs, Mayors and Reeves, senior public servants, municipal clerks and corporate leaders). The elite group no longer support tradition elite policies such as culture, foreign aid and a just society. Their preferred policy goals are competitiveness, prosperity and minimal government. In comparison the general population survey ranked these goals among 3 of the bottom 4 for Canadians.

• Ekos also found that: 1. the country is increasingly driven by social-class differences which are replacing regional and linguistic differences as the main cleavage in Canadian politics; 2. the middle class is split into 2 groups, one secure and often unionized, the other less secure--frequently employed in 'mature' industries; 3. an overall decline in altruism which has been replaced by self-interest and material issues.

6. Ontological Security

• this term ( from Anthony Giddens) refers to the need of human beings to feel secure (from famine, pestilence, war, crime, the elements and so on) and to know how and why they feel secure

• hundreds of years ago we derived out sense of ontological security from family, kinsmen and clan or tribe; from religion; from community, medieval city or principality; from traditional work or craft

• in modernity religious belief was overturned; family life disrupted; clan power destroyed; community rendered obsolete; craft and labour replaced by industry and the machine

• eventually in modernity the state provided ontological security: beginning in the last century in Germany, completed in this century through Western Europe and North America

• we came to know this as the welfare state because the state assumed much of the responsibility for the wellbeing or welfare of its citizens

• welfare programs were created to legitimize the state

• Keynes and others (including Schumpeter) argued that state intervention could be extended to bolster capitalism by levelling the negative effects of its regular cycles of boom and bust

7. The New World Order

The end of the Cold War, the end of History, reduced power of individual states, peace and prosperity. Braudel describes the great problem of retaining the advantages of the market (freedom, choice, growth) with the concentration of social and political power which it brings and the decline in competition which inevitably reduces the benefits of the market.

Lecture # 16: Tools and the Choice of Governing Instruments

1. The Toolkit and Its Limitations

Hood, Christopher, The Tools of Government--Hood argues that government's choice and use of governing instruments should be thought of as a toolkit in which each of which can be used in two ways (as a detector to gather information or as an effector in influence behaviour); Hood further argues that we must recognize that this toolkit in itself constrains government: implementing public policy is effectively limited by the functions the toolkit can perform...therefore, what may seem like an ineffective effort by government to resolve some public issue may in fact be the best result which can be achieved with the tools at hand.

2. Free Choice of Governing Instruments?

• --K & S point out that a major assumption underlying three significant and conflicting explanations of how governments choose instruments all share a significant fault: the assumption that governments have free rein to make more or less conscious decisions about which instrument to use.

• what forces influence governments in their choices of governing instruments???

• Kenneth Woodside legislation, tradition and level of experience with particular instruments tends to constrain the choice

• Atkinson and Nigol argue that Ontario's decision to regulate auto insurance rather than operate a government insurance scheme was made because the Ministry had 'more experience in using regulation than in operating Crown corporations'

• Hood: 1. instrument choice is rarely made consciously, in full recognition of existing alternatives, not a separate step in the implementation process nor is it one defined by guidelines or criteria

• Hood: principle of substitution: governments frequently substitute new tools for existing ones based on three problems: 1. first tool not effective (example: seat belt legislation after an education program proved inadequate); 2. fiscal problems require search for a cheaper tool (example: Ontario/Canada aid to students goes from a grant program to a loan program to a loan program within the private banks); 3. government is tackling a problem indirectly because of the political costs of tackling in directly and openly (example: the Canadian Firearms Registration System is actually intended to make it more difficult to own guns rather than to reduce crime caused by guns; the OMB removes contentious land use questions from the political sphere and the cost of OMB proceedings reduces the likelihood that small people will protest; Ontario land use regulations force small developers from the property business...the German 'pure beer' laws--a law already on the books but now used for a different purpose.

3. The application of 'tools' or governing instruments

• ideally tools/instruments should be applied on the following basis:

• the tool or mix of tools should be selected after some examination of alternative possible tools for the job

• the tool should be matched for the job and the selectors should understand: (1) there is no general tool which works for every job; (2) tools work better in the correct circumstances

• 'barbaric' tools may be self defeating and should satisfy certain ethical criteria such as justice and fairness

• effectiveness is not enough: the desire effect must be achieved with the minimum possible drain on government's bureaucratic resources

4. Detectors and Effectors

• possession of information is of critical importance to any organization; it has always been a source of power and is increasingly so in the information age

• governments are nodal at the centre of social and economic life and able to collect information by many of their activities...governments are able to benefit from their access and accumulation of knowledge unavailable to others

• Hood distinguishes between the use of tools or governing instruments as detectors (gatherers of information) and effectors ( all the tools that governments can use to act upon the world)

5. Coercion Theory

• Doern and Wilson governments will move from the least coercive on a continuum to the most coercive instrument based on 1. acceptability to the public and 2. public more likely to accept persuasive than coercive measures.

• example given: the issue of women's equality started with a Royal Commission; proceeded through job training and exhortation to employers; then passed equal pay legislation and finally forced equitable hiring criteria (but only in the public service)

• other text examples: bilingualism, inflation & foreign ownership

6. Neo-Marxist

• Nicolas Baxter-Moore argues that the choice of governing instruments depends on whether 1. the state is attempting to influence a dominant or subordinate class; and 2. whether the policy is aimed at accumulation or legitimation

• Specifically: 1. less intrusive instruments are used on the dominant class; more intrusive instruments on subordinate classes; 2. less intrusive and less visible instruments will be used to foster capital accumulation; more intrusive or obvious instruments when pursuing policies aimed primarily at legitimizing the rule of the state

7. Public choice theory

• derived from Michael Trebilcock

• politicians choose governing instruments not for rational or efficiency reasons but to improve their electoral position

• example: the use of independent agencies for tasks which impose significant costs on voters so that these costs are not as easily associated with politicians (the LCBO; the CRTC; benefits are conferred on a concentrated group of uncommitted voters while costs are spread as widely as possible (eg. tax cut of 30% aimed at Yuppies, DINK's)

• growing use of tax expenditures which tend to be a preferred policy instrument for encouraging certain kinds of investment (eg. ACOA and the Atlantic Canada hotel industry)

8. Problems

• Coercion theory--it must be remembered that coercive methods are always the most expensive and it follows that applications of coercion are always restrained by cost

• Neo-Marxist--some issues are difficult to distinguish on a class basis such as national referendums on issues like Canadian unity

• public choice--public administrators tend to resist public choice governing instrument selections; choice of instruments also is limited by cost of instrument

• 1. Policy makers and policy analysts must understand the significance of the choice of instruments of governing as they are more than just means to an end;

• 2. Substitutability of governing instruments provides a certain degree of flexibility to achieving desired ends.

• 3. The choice of organizational form (operating department, crown corporation, regulatory agency) is heavily influenced by the character of governing instruments.

9. Active Learning Exercise

• Policy goal: to eliminate ??????? .

• Policy Implementation: use each of the governing instruments to try and achieve the policy goal:

• Traditional: Exhortation or symbolic outputs; Expenditure; Taxation; Public Enterprise;

• Regulation; 2. New Public Management: Privatization; Contracting Out; Partnering.

• Which Measure: specific application of a governing instrument?

• Parallel/Analogy: example of how this application has worked in other situations?

• Problems: is the measure effective? efficient? does it eliminate all ?????????.

Active Learning Exercise: Use of Governing Instruments

Example: to eliminate __________________________.

Governing Instrument

Primary Instrument

Parallel/Analogy

Is It A Success

Exhortation/ symbolic ouput

Smoking: advertise “It=s not cool to smoke”

Expenditure

Stop fishing: The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy ... pay fisherpeople not to fish

Taxation

Save for retirement: RRSPs

Public Enterprise

Create a public enterprise: air travel and Air Canada

Regulation

Save lives: Require motorcyclists to wear helmets

Privatization

Pass the job to the private sector: Sell Air Canada

Contracting Out

Save $$$: replace Custodians with Servicemaster Employees

Partnership

Replace UWO Food Services coffee with Tim Horton=s

Lecture # 17: The New Public Management and the Use of Governing Instruments

Governing Instruments in the future:

(a) 0verload: a sense that the toolkit is overloaded with (a) demands of effectors and (b) with high expectations which often greatly exceed what the toolkit can actually deliver.

(b) A movement from expenditure to regulation?: expenditure varies from country to country (consider the level of public goods provided in the US vs Canada;

(c) A movement from expenditure to exhortation/symbolic policy?: symbolism may lead to the preemption of substantive discussion of public issues;

(d) Resistance/reduced compliance may occur: sources include the apparent failure of governing instruments (the liberal failure in the US) or the greater intrusion of instruments into daily life; --overall few signs of overload.

Political Science 246 E – Public Administration

Street Level Bureaucrats

Introduction: Street Level bureaucrats refers to the fact that at the service delivery end of every bureaucracy bureaucrats(public servants) make decisions which may alter the original intentions of policy formulators/developers.

Policy may have been poorly formulated in terms of : 1. communication…a clear indication of exactly what the goals and objectives are; 2. resource allocation…resources sufficient to achieve the goals and objectives may not have been allocated; 3. inefficient policy instruments may have been chosen by policy makers; 4. policy makers may have intended a largely symbolic or exhortative outcome; 5. street-level bureaucrats may find organizational culture conflicts between their culture and the values espoused by policy-makers.

“ This phrase was coined by Lipsky as he examined what happens at the point where policy is translated into practice, in various human service bureaucracies such as schools, courts and welfare agencies. He argues that policy implementation in the end comes down to the people who actually implement it: the practitioners or ‘street level bureaucrats’. Thus it is not enough for research to influence formal policy formulation without also paying attention to policy in practice. In order to impact on ‘what policy does’, research must be able to relate to the situation of the street level bureaucrats.”

Through the use of their discretionary powers and subject to their ability and/or need to meet informal or formal performance measures, street level bureaucrats have the ability to allocate resources in a fashion that may contradict the intentions of policy framers.

This may be exacerbated in times of ‘do more with less’ as bureaucrats at all levels realize that deadlines, accountability standards and other elements may have to be set aside.

“Lipsky examines what happens at the point where policy is translated into practice, in various human service bureaucracies such as schools, courts and welfare agencies. He argues that in the end policy implementation comes down to the people who actually implement it (e.g. teachers, lawyers, social workers). They are the 'street-level bureaucrats', and they exercise a large amount of influence over how public policy is actually carried out. Lipsky suggests that they too should be seen as part of the policy-making community.”

He discusses several pressures that determine the way in which street-level bureaucrats implement policies. These include the problem of limited resources, the continuous negotiation that is necessary in order to make it seem like one is meeting targets, and the relations with (nonvoluntary) clients. Some of the patterns of practice that street-level bureaucrats adopt in order to cope with these pressures are different ways of rationing the services, and ways of 'processing' clients in a manageable manner.

Lipsky concludes that potentially there are means of changing street-level bureaucracies to become more accountable to 'clients' and less stressful for the 'bureaucrats'. One of the ways of doing this, he suggests, is to move research from the ivory tower and onto the street, for example through conducting research while running a social work centre at the same time.

Also from ODI: Lipsky, Michael (1980) Street-level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services.

Political Science 246 E – Public Administration

Street Level Bureaucrats

Introduction: Street Level bureaucrats refers to the fact that at the service delivery end of every bureaucracy bureaucrats(public servants) make decisions which may alter the original intentions of policy formulators/developers.

Policy may have been poorly formulated in terms of : 1. communication…a clear indication of exactly what the goals and objectives are; 2. resource allocation…resources sufficient to achieve the goals and objectives may not have been allocated; 3. inefficient policy instruments may have been chosen by policy makers; 4. policy makers may have intended a largely symbolic or exhortative outcome; 5. street-level bureaucrats may find organizational culture conflicts between their culture and the values espoused by policy-makers.

“ This phrase was coined by Lipsky as he examined what happens at the point where policy is translated into practice, in various human service bureaucracies such as schools, courts and welfare agencies. He argues that policy implementation in the end comes down to the people who actually implement it: the practitioners or ‘street level bureaucrats’. Thus it is not enough for research to influence formal policy formulation without also paying attention to policy in practice. In order to impact on ‘what policy does’, research must be able to relate to the situation of the street level bureaucrats.”

Through the use of their discretionary powers and subject to their ability and/or need to meet informal or formal performance measures, street level bureaucrats have the ability to allocate resources in a fashion that may contradict the intentions of policy framers.

This may be exacerbated in times of ‘do more with less’ as bureaucrats at all levels realize that deadlines, accountability standards and other elements may have to be set aside.

“Lipsky examines what happens at the point where policy is translated into practice, in various human service bureaucracies such as schools, courts and welfare agencies. He argues that in the end policy implementation comes down to the people who actually implement it (e.g. teachers, lawyers, social workers). They are the 'street-level bureaucrats', and they exercise a large amount of influence over how public policy is actually carried out. Lipsky suggests that they too should be seen as part of the policy-making community.”

He discusses several pressures that determine the way in which street-level bureaucrats implement policies. These include the problem of limited resources, the continuous negotiation that is necessary in order to make it seem like one is meeting targets, and the relations with (nonvoluntary) clients. Some of the patterns of practice that street-level bureaucrats adopt in order to cope with these pressures are different ways of rationing the services, and ways of 'processing' clients in a manageable manner.

Lipsky concludes that potentially there are means of changing street-level bureaucracies to become more accountable to 'clients' and less stressful for the 'bureaucrats'. One of the ways of doing this, he suggests, is to move research from the ivory tower and onto the street, for example through conducting research while running a social work centre at the same time.

Lecture # 18: Public Policy and Policy Communities and Networks

Review:

Generally public servants are charged with acting in the public interest. However the public interest is difficult to define and it is not clear what it means to serve the public interest.

Along with the difficulty in finding a working definition of 'public interest' is the fact that since legitimacy insists that the public interest be served in liberal democracies all demands are structured on the basis that they serve a 'public interest'.

Consequently we have the public interest currently defined in a series of conflicting statements such as the public interest is served by:

• 1. a limited government with very low taxation

• 2. an active government which taxes and redistributes wealth fairly

• 3. a utilitarian government which provides what most people want.

Also stress the decline in the practice of public service: what was once an elite and respected practice based on ideas of duty and public service

Our questions: what is public policy; why is it important; who makes it?

1.Public Policy

• whatever governments decide to do or not to do (Dye)

• ... a course of action derived from some general vision

• ... the most important choices (Lasswell)

• ... policy-making is rule-making

2. The policy process

• ...the expectation of intelligent decision making

• ...policies are deliberately constructed...but not necessarily on rational grounds

• rational policy making

• satisfycing (Herbert Simon)

• incrementalism (Lindblom)

3. Three stages:

• formulation or development of policy

• problem definition and the identification of general policy goals and specific-policy goals as derived from the general policy (eg from 'good health for Canadians' to $ 185 million on anti-cigarette advertising)

• implementation

• the selection of appropriate government instruments and the appropriate of means to achieve the goals

• evaluation and feedback to the formulation stage

4. Characteristics of the policy process

The policy process is conflictual and driven by interests, values and causal assumptions.

It is not necessarily a logical, coherent or genteel process (eg like making muffins)--it is a process fraught with conflict over interests; values; and causal assumptions:

(a) Interests...the preservation, extension or creation of circumstances which will maintain or further one's goals--usually defined in economic terms either openly or hidden--usually call the interests in a given policy the stakeholders not all interests are economic--eg neighbourhood aesthetics; symbolic policies

(b) Values, moral principles, what we ought to do...often disguise 'interests' --eg tenured professors and academic freedom as a protection for careers and the incompetent--the key is to distinguish between genuine values and interest arguments cloaked in values for political reasons

(c) Causal assumptions...beliefs about how the world works empirically--which causes lead to which effects: eg. will lower taxes lead to higher investment in the" Note: causal assumptions may support opposite sides of the policy conflict: eg. both pro-choice and anti-abortion sides may agree on increased number of abortions from liberalized abortion laws.

5. The Policy Community

• the work of Paul Pross...who first tackled the difficult question: who makes policy?

• groups of government agencies, pressure groups, media people, and individuals, including academics, who for various reasons, have an interest in a particular policy field and attempt to influence it

• the key players are in the subgovernment sphere where actual decision making takes place

• the attentive public generates ideas and discussion (including lobbying)

• drawbacks to this model: 1. suggests the relationships are static; 2. doesn't accurately represent all policy fields (eg pressure is greater in some from the attentive public); 3. fundamental assumptions about governance are now raised; 4. the impact of globalization.

6.Policy Networks

• the desire of Canadian for greater participation in governance

• the advantage of broadening participation: consensus reduces the need for coercion

• 'those webs of relatively stable and ongoing relationships which mobilize dispersed resources so that collective or parallel action can be orchestrated toward the solution of a common policy problem'

• policy networks offer the advantage of variety:

7. Conclusion: the jury is still out (and is likely to be for a long period of time on the question: who makes public policy?

Major Theme

Public policy is defined by Dye as whatever governments decide to do or not to do. Policy-making is a course of action derived from some general vision. It reflects governments most important choices. It is a rule-making activity which is assumed to be a rational process.

The closed nature of the Canadian parliamentary system makes it more difficult to 'see' who makes policy.

Lecture # 19: Public Policy: Problem Definition and Policy Design

Our questions: how and why are policy problems defined as they are; what is the impact of policy design?

1. Problem definition (issue framing)

• 'a problem definition is a statement of a goal and the discrepancy between it and the status quo'

• society faces a constant barrage of crises and problems generated by the media, interest groups, experts, pundits, analysts, think-tanks and political parties

• both the political agenda (the list of things which can be discussed) and the policy agenda (the list of things which can be considered for action) are limited

• most 'problems' will not get on the agenda...accident and luck play a great role

2. Problem indicators

• governments are receptors (or detectors) of information

• examples: unemployment rates; death rates; mortgage defaults; bankruptcies; prices; immigration rates; per capita income; regional economic indicators; crime statistics

• indicators must be interpreted but normally the range of interpretation is narrow (eg everyone agrees the federal deficit was too high but many dispute the areas where program cuts were made)

• indicators can be contrived through research or through routine feedback mechanisms

• focusing events also call attention to problems (eg catastrophes or crises)

• three fundamental questions:

• 1. what are the numbers

• 2. what caused the problem

• 3. can the problem be solved and, if so, by whom

• the production of a public 'policy image' which capsulate the problem and justify the response...a mix of facts and emotions

3. Issue framing

• two dimensions of problem definition

• 1. the analytical dimension: what makes up the claim or statement or argument; is it logically sound? (eg Mel Lastman...there are no homeless people in North York)

• 2. the rhetorical dimension: what language and structure are used to describe the problem and how does rhetoric shape public perception of the problem (eg using redemption stories to argue for a change in public support for the welfare state)

• Down's issue attention cycle

• periods of policy stability are marked by substantial consensus over policy issues

• 'policy windows'...unpredictable factors in the agenda-setting process including regular events such as cabinet shuffles; fundamental characteristics of a community (eg Quebec, our relationship with the US); economic change; technologic change;

4. Problem solutions

• squishy problems...either politically controversial or difficult to quantify (eg increasing parental responsibility; ethnic groups and crime)

• root causes...health, poverty

• issue clusters...related issues often of a complex nature:

5. Problems with problems

• globalization...how to solve international problems without international governance

• the perceived failure of the welfare state

• neoconservatism and the new climate of ideas

• in Canada: finance to the front: Mr. Martin as the real PM...the Liberals undercut the Reform Alliance

6. Policy Design

• once a policy issue has been framed and a broad sketch made of how it might be tackled (eg. the public debt is our most important issue; it must be addressed by cutting expenditures) much more must be done

• specific policy design must detail: 1. what policy or governing instruments to use and in what combinations to achieve a given end and 2. what organizational means will be used to put the instruments into effect

• efficiency, effectiveness and cost are normally important considerations

7. Policy/Governing Instruments

• many ways of categorizing these

• expenditure; taxation; regulation; public enterprise; exhortation/symbolic outputs; private-public partnerships; privatization; contracting-out

• usually a mix of instruments (eg. all governance requires some expenditure and some exhortation

8. Organizational means

• departments tend to choose the means and mixes with which they are familiar

9. New Directions

• a switch from expenditure-based instruments

• an increase in exhortation or information-based policy

• user charges and other fees substituted for taxation

• international agreements and standards

1. Problem definition is influenced by the forces of culture, demographics, class conflict, institutional routines, group strategies and individuals: it is crowded and not all potential policies can be accommodated.

2. It is difficult to evaluate current policies and to measure their success: Cal Stiller and the 60% of medical procedures are not proven to be successful.

3. It is difficult to compare the value of competing programs: not only within a Ministry but against other Ministries.

4. Federalism complicates the budget process and the first reaction of budget policy makers is to 'download or upload' their problem.

5. The costs of getting rid of a program often outweigh the benefits.

6. Ministers are functioning in a difficult environment where they have vast responsibilities and minimal knowledge.

7. If rational decision making explains relatively little about the budget process does it follow that rational defence of government policy has relatively little to do with the truth?

Lecture # 20: Policy Implementation

1. Communication

It is difficult to avoid slippage and distortion from the making of policy (statements of intent) to its actual delivery: 1. policymakers may be imprecise or conflicting in their instructions; 2. policy establishes general goals but leaves operational goals to PA; 3. communications problems are causes by differences in norms, perspectives and jargon.

2. Program Delivery

Program delivery is always complicated by the problem of coordination: almost every program requires some level of joint action from which it follows that the greater the interdependent nature of the system the more likely the program will be poorly delivered (eg delivery of a program may be a priority for Agency A; of middling importance for Agency B and of little importance for Agency C: example of cutting the cheque for the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre.

3. Monitoring of success or failure and feedback

• how do we measure success (can we agree on what constitutes success--or failure?)

• direct impact the effect a policy has on self-selected targets: eg is the CPP adequately funding the retirements of Canadian seniors

• political impact how is the popularity of the governing party and the legitimacy of the political system affected by the policy; does it reflect basic beliefs relating to freedom and equality

• economic impact what effect has the policy on the economy as a whole (be it national, provincial, regional or local economy)

• is its effect visible or invisible (eg EI may have the invisible effect of subsidizing certain industries

• social impact how does policy effect social structures, mores, perceptions, bonds...EI may weaken work ethics...welfare may permanently debilitate long-term recipients

Lecture # 21: Evaluating Public Policy

1. Communication

It is difficult to avoid slippage and distortion from the making of policy (statements of intent) to its actual delivery: 1. policymakers may be imprecise or conflicting in their instructions; 2. policy establishes general goals but leaves operational goals to PA; 3. communications problems are causes by differences in norms, perspectives and jargon.

2. Program Delivery

Program delivery is always complicated by the problem of coordination: almost every program requires some level of joint action from which it follows that the greater the interdependent nature of the system the more likely the program will be poorly delivered (eg delivery of a program may be a priority for Agency A; of middling importance for Agency B and of little importance for Agency C: example of cutting the cheque for the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre.

3. Monitoring of success or failure and feedback

• how do we measure success (can we agree on what constitutes success--or failure?)

• direct impact the effect a policy has on self-selected targets: eg is the CPP adequately funding the retirements of Canadian seniors

• political impact how is the popularity of the governing party and the legitimacy of the political system affected by the policy; does it reflect basic beliefs relating to freedom and equality

• economic impact what effect has the policy on the economy as a whole (be it national, provincial, regional or local economy)

• is its effect visible or invisible (eg EI may have the invisible effect of subsidizing certain industries

• social impact how does policy effect social structures, mores, perceptions, bonds...EI may weaken work ethics...welfare may permanently debilitate long-term recipients

4. Evaluation

• at a basic level all government programs are evaluated

• evaluation is influenced by political, social and economic considerations

• administrative evaluation: are government programs delivered efficiently

• judicial evaluation: are programs delivered as required by constitutional and administrative law

• political evaluation: formally: in Parliament, through Royal Commissions; informally: interest groups and lobbyists; the media, clients, the attentive public

5. Development of Program Evaluation

• in the 1960's as governments expanded program evaluation developed as the periodic, independent and objective assessment of a program to determine its adequacy and success

• the creation in 1978 of the Office of Comptroller General of Canada: broader authority than the Auditor General

• central agencies: since 1994 the Treasury Board has conducted program evaluations as part of its function of control and coordination of spending and human resource management with five criteria for evaluation

• 1. to foster and support policy development

• 2. to modify programs to meet strategic demands re: productivity, cost recovery or increased service

• 3. to measure program performance

• 4. to determine client satisfaction

• 5. to improve programs

6. Goals of evaluation:

• an evaluation should determine three things:

• 1. relevance--consistent with priorities and meets an actual need

• 2. successful--within budget with few unwanted outcomes

• 3. cost-effective--appropriate, efficient and effective delivery of public goods/services

• attempts to introduce quantitative evaluation have not proved to be the answer to date: PPBS, Zero-base, etc.

• budget time is the primary political evaluation time for most programs with obvious limits due to obvious constraints

7. Problems with evaluation:

• 1. Measuring success

• 2. Methodology: difficulty of establishing linear connections; intangibles, experimental and control groups, causal links and changes

• 3. Objectives may be unclear or inconsistent; there may be many targets

• 4. Resources may be limited: evaluation is expensive

• 5. Some programs serve several masters: they are inherently difficult to manage and therefore difficult to guide toward success

• 6. Answers to things we don=t want to know: defence policy, ethnic crime statistics

• 7. A dog will not bring the stick with which it is to be beaten

Efforts to evaluate the success or failure of public policy are influenced by political, social and economic considerations. Evaluation has many difficulties, including the problem of measuring results and linking them to clearly identified goals.

Lecture # 22: Accountability and Democracy

Review:

In the first term our goal was to locate Canadian public administration in a larger picture: one in which we discuss the development of the modern welfare state; the links of state legitimacy, state authority and the services provided by state institutions. We have discussed work and its organization and the impact of bureaucratic organization on the work force and the work place. We have drawn distinctions between the public and private sector and their administrative structures and investigated the values found in and promoted by various organizational cultures. We have discussed obstacles to the promotion of ethical and public-spirited behaviour not the least of which is the contradictions found in apparently straightforward directions such as 'act in the public interest' or 'maintain confidentiality'.

We've looked at the limited 'took kit' of governing instruments and investigated the practical difficulties faced by policy-makers in a variety of environments. Finally we attempted to trace the development of the 'new public management' from the reforms of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Brian Mulroney and others. The key, it is argued, is to copy the managerialism of the private sector. However there are problems including accountability and the initialassumption that the private sector somehow 'manages better'. In Canada support for neoconservatism and the new public management has come from our political-social-economic elites: by consistent measurements non-elite Canadians prefer the status quo of the Canadian welfare state.

Introduction:

Public opinion polls continue to indicate a strong preference among Canadians for an >active welfare state=. We also want >fiscal prudence= from governments who deliver services more effectively. We also tell pollsters that we are not necessarily committed to the delivery of welfare state services by the state itself.

Federalism is a system in which a Constitution divides powers and responsibilities between at least two levels of government. In Canada federalism gives some powers to the federal government, some to the provinces and some (concurrently to both). The original distribution of powers in 1867 could not and did not anticipate changes in technology, social, economic and political life: things changed and governments grew to respond to these changes.

Relations between the federal and provincial governments have passed through three distinct periods since 1945: Cooperative Federalism, Competitive Federalism and Contested Federalism. In each of these periods many civil servants have worked in both governments to ensure that formal and informal communications are maintained and problems of control and coordination are recognized and dealt with.

Cooperative Federalism refers to the period leading up to the late 1970's when the federal government provided money for a broad array of programs and the provinces developed and administered the programs more or less according to federal guidelines.

A period of Competitive Federalism followed. Federal funds began to be cut back and federal-provincial conflict ensued. At the administrative level informal links were maintained as civil servants continued to deal with the complexities of hundreds of federal - provincial programs.

We appear to have entered a third stage: Contested Federalism. Since Meech Lake and the Charlottetown Referendum the power of the federal government itself has been under attack. Critics want fundamental change including expanded provincial rights and responsibilities and greatly reduced federal power. Others demand a return to the generous funding patterns of earlier years. Yet others demand reduced federal taxation. Despite the turmoil in Ottawa and provincial capitals across the country public administrators continue to toil, arranging formal conferences to discuss federal - provincial matters and exchanging information and ideas informally on a day-to-day basis.

In summary we could say that federal - provincial conflict like much political conflict is focused around the questions of >who will pay for programs= and >who will get credit for them=.

1. Accountability and Democracy

• the context of Canadian public administration is 'administrative accountability within a system of responsible parliamentary government'

• democracy is an idea grounded in the concept of equality

• democracy does not mean >the market= nor is it necessarily linked with liberalism

• bureaucracies are very good at delivering public goods in a democratic fashion as they function most efficiently when they are dispensing equal portions of goods or services

• >the democratic principle that all public officials are accountable to the people and can rule only by their consent=

2. Responsible Government

• in a responsible parliamentary system: >responsible government means that the political executive is not able to act without the support of a majority in the legislature (House of Commons)

• the history of the development of responsible government is that of people struggling to control and reduce the power of the Crown by forcing the executive to behave responsibly

• in the parliamentary system the political executive is held accountable by the doctrines of individual ministerial responsibility and collective ministerial responsibility

• individual ministerial responsibility: the principle which states that individual ministers are responsible for the actions of their departments and accountable for their departments to Parliament and the Canadian people

• collective ministerial responsibility: the principle that members of the cabinet (the executive branch of government) are responsible for the policies and management of the government as a whole

• as the welfare state developed it became more difficult to insist on individual ministerial responsibility due to the greater complexity of departments and programs

• in Canada the principle of collective ministerial responsibility is also a weak form of political control due to the eminence of the Prime Minister and his/her control of the party

3. Democracy

• in many respects the past century has been the most democratic century in history

• most if not all states speak respectfully about democracy; many use the term to justify or legitimate their policies

• therefore in a democratic country it is assumed that the system of public administration will reflect, respect and preserve basic democratic equality; safeguards are built into the political and administrative systems in an effort to preserve and enhance equality; against these systems and safeguards there are persistent pressures to give preferential treatment to some individuals, groups, regions and so on

• distinguishing between the private and public sectors may be easier if one bears in mind OP Dwivedi=s words regarding the uniqueness and significance of the public sector: Public service exists to satisfy certain needs of the community. Its existence depends upon the trust, confidence and support (both financial, through taxation, and legal, through obedience to laws and regulations enforced by public servants) it derives from the public through their representatives. Unlike the private sector, it cannot (as expected) become too self-seeking and obscure. Its every action and inaction is subject to thorough scrutiny. The community expects public servants to be fair, ethical and dedicated in administering public policies and programs. And public trust and confidence is assured when public servants are found managing public programs soundly, and are found to be accountable for their actions.

4. Punishment and Reward

• the concept of liability is linked with those of responsibility and accountability: those who are irresponsible or unaccountable must be subject to some form of punishment if only to deter their future behaviour

• in recent years politicians have tried to avoid responsibility by diverting public attention and scrutiny from the responsible minister to the public service (see the Al-Mashat Affair, pgs. 352-3 in Inwood)

• public servants have an overlapping and complex set of accountability criteria; each of which has the potential for liability:

• 1. Accountability to superiors (as part of a bureaucratic hierarchy)

• 2. Political Accountability: to the Legislature and Ministers

• 3. Legal Accountability: to the enabling Acts and Regulations under which they operate and through which they get legal authority

• 4. Professional Accountability: to standards, codes of ethical and professional behaviour

• 5. Public Accountability: to individuals, groups for the quality of service

• the strengthening of the office of Auditor General (1977) enabled a broader mandate

• the problem under the New Public Management (NPMG) is that accountability becomes much more problematic: how does one hold >accountable= contract employees? Privatized public services?

• what happens when a public good (such as Highway 407) is operated by a private company which underprovides certain services?

5. Eva Etzioni-Halevy: The Two Dilemmas

• in Bureaucracy and Democracy (directly quoted from Kernaghan and Siegel)

• 1. Bureaucracy threatens democratic political institutions because it is increasingly powerful and independent and difficult to control...yet an independent bureaucracy is necessary to prevent political corruption and to safeguard democratic processes

• 2. Democracy generates a dilemma for bureaucracy: bureaucrats are expected to be independent and subservient; responsible for their own actions and subject to ministerial responsibility; politicized and non-political at the same time (plus neutral in policy development yet deeply involved)

• (3.) a third problem: these dilemmas produce greater strains between ministers and senior public servants

• Etzioni-Halevy: Bureaucracy is thus a threat to, but, also indispensable for, democracy.

1. The Silo

• a silo is: a pit or tall cylindrical structure that can be made air-tight for storing grain (or guided missiles)....a shelter (a Spanish term)

• government departments are like silos: they shelter careers, programs and budgets...they tend to act in their departmental interest

• the downside: public $=s and the resources of the public service may be used to duplicate work and to work at cross purposes

• citizens who want to access services or to make policy inputs may encounter barriers and experience frustration

2. Horizontality and Coordination

• coordinating the activities between silos at the federal level was once a relatively simple job which could be accomplished by the joint efforts of Deputy Ministers and the Cabinet

• federal, provincial and local silos did not prevent or discouraged coordinated provided governments were not too complicated and the services they provided were fairly limited

• the principle of horizontality: >...encouraging interaction among departments, across levels of government, and even between governments and non-governmental actors...@ (K & S, pg. 301) with the intention of improving service to the client or customer

3. A review of the Treasury Board Initiative

4. Obstacles

• building trust

• sharing

• cooperating with your adversaries

5. Success in horizontality?

• Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA): an SOA which combines the food inspection and quarantine services formerly run by 3 federal deparments: Agriculture and Agri-Food, Health and Welfare, and Fisheries and Oceans

• regulated industries no longer have to deal with three departments

• as an SOA CFIA can open dialogues with provincial and local governments

• Canada Customs and Revenue Agency

• previously the silos prevented Revenue Canada GST tax collectors from accessing information about tax returns of GST liable tax payers

• responsible to the Minister for Policy Matters

• will collect most federal taxes

• board of governors to include provincial reps

• 44,000 employees who are unenthusiastic about the changes

• distinct lack of provincial enthusiasm

6. Horizontality

• to succeed horizontality has to overcome the incentives to individuals and organizations to maintain their shelters

• it must also demonstrate real savings

Lecture # 23: The Executive and the Legislature

Parliamentary and Extra-Parliamentary Actors

1. The Problem of Control and Coordination

• the control problem: bureaucratic power

• the coordination problem: avoiding duplication, inefficiency, waste, counter-productive measures

2. The Parliamentary Actors:

• the Executive: Prime Minister and Cabinet: key decisions markers; initiate policy making and legislation; control money and spending; organized into a committee system which is coordinated by the central agencies and supported by many civil servants

• the Legislature: the Senate (home of privilege and patronage - the lobby from within-; The House of Commons - a democratically elected, representative law passing legislature; weakened by party discipline; utilizes the committee system; Question Period and the power of the caucus to control the executive

• the Judiciary: Supreme Court and Federal Court...essentially the courts have two kinds of power when it comes to control and coordination: 1. To interpret the constitution and rule either ultra vires (outside the power) or intra vires (within the power) regarding the government=s action; 2. To determine if acts conform to administrative law: has government acted lawfully? Have citizen rights been protected?

In March, 2003 Gary Carr, the Speaker of the Ontario Legislative Assembly publicly complained that the Premier of his own party was allowing the Province to be run by >high-priced political consultants= including co-chairs Jaime Watt and Leslie Noble and longtime Tory strategist Paul Rhodes. Carr=s criticism of Premier Ernie Eves was voiced after Eves decided to bring down a pre-election budget on television instead of in the Legislature. Critics note that this may constitute a violation of the Constitutional convention that requires Premiers and Prime Ministers in a parliamentary system to present important items in the Legislature where they can be subject to criticism and debate. Gary Carr said this proves that the legislature has become irrelevant.

2. The Parliamentary Actors:

• the Executive: Prime Minister and Cabinet: key decisions markers; initiate policy making and legislation; control money and spending; organized into a committee system which is coordinated by the central agencies and supported by many civil servants

• the Legislature: the Senate (home of privilege and patronage - the lobby from within-; The House of Commons - a democratically elected, representative law passing legislature; weakened by party discipline; utilizes the committee system; Question Period and the power of the caucus to control the executive

• the Judiciary: Supreme Court and Federal Court...essentially the courts have two kinds of power when it comes to control and coordination: 1. To interpret the constitution and rule either ultra vires (outside the power) or intra vires (within the power) regarding the government=s action; 2. To determine if acts conform to administrative law: has government acted lawfully? Have citizen rights been protected?

Lecture # 26: The Choice of Organizational Form: Departments, Central Agencies

Coordination and control are important challenges for every complex organization. In an age when we sharply question the function of government, its expense and its relative efficiency it is necessary for us to consider the kinds of coordination and control challenges faced by government. If government faces extra-ordinary challenges of coordination and control then it is likely that government will be more expensive, less efficient even though it is doing the best job which can be done in the given circumstances.

Major Theme:

Canadian governments face a particularly complicated set of problems in terms of the difficulties of coordinating and controlling government activities. Organizational form is a strategic choice by government of how a function will be carried out and by whom. A government department provides the most direct political control. Central agencies are intended to control and coordinate the many other departments of government. Public enterprise or regulatory agencies may be preferred as the forms for implementing public policy due to their 'arms length' isolation from requirements for government accountability and Parliamentary responsibility.. Both politics and comprehensive rationality are factors in the choice.

1. The Economy and Organizational Structure

• in terms of political equality and rights Canada is a formal parliamentary democracy which means that the political system and the legitimacy of the state is linked with the fundamental of all citizens

• Canada=s economy is a liberal capitalist system..liberalism is primarily concerned with the economic rights of individuals...liberal capitalism is based on the private ownership of property and the means of production

• this poses at least two sets of challenges for governments: 1. Maintaining some rough level of political equality; 2. Maintaining a favourable investment climate to sustain revenues, employment, economic growth and so on

2. Strategic Choice

• a government department provides the most direct political control; the downside is that operating departments tend to the relatively narrow objectives as defined by departmental policy-makers

• strategies.

• central agencies are intended to control and coordinate the many other departments of government; the downside is that central agencies can severely reduce efficiency if they demand a thorough and ongoing review process

• public enterprise or regulatory agencies may be preferred as the forms for implementing public policy due to their 'arms length' isolation from requirements for government accountability and Parliamentary responsibility; but again there is a downside: at arms-length both public enterprise and regulatory agencies are independent and less subject to control by the political executive

• both politics and comprehensive rationality are factors in the strategic choice of organizational form

3. Legislature, Executives & the Departments

• the cabinet and PM (the political executive) are responsible to the legislature for the operation of government departments

• orders in council are used to carry out the decisions of the cabinet...the GG's signature is a formality;

4. A Department is:

• administrative unit under direct ministerial control & management based on constitutional convention

• Doern argued that it was better to classify departments based on their relative power according to size of budget, responsibility for coordination and knowledge or research capacity: identifying ( three types: horizontal policy coordinative (central agencies plus Foreign Affairs & International Trade and Justice); Vertical Constituency; and Horizontal administrative coordinative

5. Horizontal policy coordinative

• central agencies--Finance, TB, PCO, Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Justice

• politically influential though small in numbers and budget yet strong in responsibility for coordination and research

6. Vertical constituency

• direct service providers...they are often high profile; with large budgets and large constituencies...but they usually can't intervene in the affairs of other departments

• due to the large constituencies the central agencies often have difficulty intervening

7. Horizontal Administrative Coordinative

• least influential but also important

• potentially problematic: eg. tax collection problems of the National Revenue department; purchasing policy of public works and government services

8. The Legislature & Control

• created by legislation--an act of parliament gives initial control over the departments and agencies..though this tends to be broad and ambiguous (eg veterans affairs)

• secondary legislation may also influence (eg the Financial Administration Act, the Public Service Employment Act)

• annual budget approval enables Parliament to exert some control and influence

• Parliamentary committees have some ability to force change (eg C68)

• daily constituent problems represent most of the impact that MPs can have...as can public opinion

• the doctrine of individual ministerial responsibility means that ministers still are responsible and can be held accountable

9. Organization

• the Minister has line authority over all public servants in the department...he/she is assisted by a small staff of political assistants (often functioning as gate keepers)

• Ministers can issue internal, department regulations; cabinets can make regulations consistent with legislation through orders in council

10. With as many as 40 federal departments plus other agencies and crown corporations it is clear that there is a formidable 'span of control' problem. Canadian federal governments are expected to have a representative cabinet based in part on geography, ethnicity, religious, linguistic, gender and other criteria. A large cabinet is required to represent everyone. But the larger the cabinet the greater the problem of control and coordinate: enter the central agencies

11. Definition

• a central agency (or a horizontal policy coordinative department) is any agency with a substantial amount of continuing, legitimate authority to direct and intervene in the activities of departments

• central agencies get their power either from legislative authority or from their proximity to power...they have evolved since the Trudeau years when greater attention was given to developing new policies; addressing new issues; and bringing in more rational methods

• the need is created both by federalism and by the scope of government

12. Prime Minister's Office-PMO

• Trudeau created this office to provide him with an alternative, independent and politically sensitive source of policy advice

• specific duties include planning and coordinating new policy; liaising with the party; media relations; speechwriting; advising on appointments and Question Period briefing

• competing sources of advice but no statutory authority

• The PMO is overtly political and partisan

13.Privy Council Office-PCO

• the Clerk (Clark) is the chief civil servant--officially recognized as the head of the public service; the full title is the Queen's Privy Council. Career civil servants who provide policy advice and administrative support. Goal is to be non-partisan, operationally oriented yet politically sensitive.

• main activities: support for cabinet and committees; monitoring of federal-provincial relations and advice on machinery of government

14.Treasury Board

• a cabinet committee consisting of the President of the Treasury Board, the Minister of Finance and four other ministers appointed by the PM

• it is the only cabinet committee under legislation: Financial Administration Act and the only one with a large bureaucracy: TB Secretariat

• controls expenditures(prepares expenditure budgets) & management practices...recently the Increased Ministerial Authority and Accountability (IMAA) system has been used with a Memo between TB and each department to provide some flexibility in spending and program delivery within agreed upon limits and at agreed upon targets.

15. Department of Finance

• advises on economic policy including fiscal policy, trade & tariffs, domestic industrial policy, tax policy and the preparation of revenue and expenditure budgets

• broad mandate to intervene in any department although this is normally at strategic points in the policy process (specially during formulation)

• important role as the budgetary gatekeeper and the tradition strongest opposition to new spending--hence frequent conflict with operating programs.

16. In The Provinces

• less complicated due to less complex nature of provincial government; handled in different ways however Ontario uses both a 'circle' around the Premier (close advisors and Ernie Eves) and the formal device of a Cabinet Board of Management (actually a position of great power)

Lecture # 27: Public Enterprise and Regulatory Agencies

Canadian governments face a particularly complicated set of problems in terms of the difficulties of coordinating and controlling government activities. Organizational form is a strategic choice by government of how a function will be carried out and by whom. Public enterprise or regulatory agencies may be preferred as the forms for implementing public policy due to their 'arms length' isolation from requirements for government accountability and Parliamentary responsibility. Both politics and comprehensive rationality are factors in the choice.

1. Public Enterprise (Crown Corporations)

• Public enterprise: a corporation owned by the state and mandated to serve the public interest through industrial, commercial or financial activities or to perform administrative duties including economic and social regulation, management and consultation.

• Public enterprise = Crown Corporation

• Why? 1. nation/province building...the role of Ontario Hydro in the development of Ontario as an economic powerhouse is frequently cited as the use of a Crown Corporation for development of a Province.....both railroads (CNR) and airlines (Air Canada) - both now privatized - played key roles in nation building

. 2. economic development...again Ontario Hydro is a great example...by creating a government monopoly Ontario was able to ensure that hydro prices (particularly for commercial and industrial uses) were stable...this provided many long-term benefits including substantial competitive advantages over the US auto industry;

. 3. less political control...means less political interference and, hopefully, fewer demands for patronage and pork-barrelling;

. 4. diverse board...the Board of Directors of a Crown Corporation does not have to reflect political realities in making its appointments (eg considerations of language, region, gender, ethnicity);

5. window on the private sector...here think of Hood's effectors and detectors....a Crown Corporation operating in a functioning market often provides government with critical up-to-date information on important segments of the economy...this was one of the considerations in the creation of Petro Canada;

6. freedom from central agencies: Crown Corporations operate at arm's length and are often free from interference (exercise of control and coordination efforts) of central agencies...though PM Chrietien was able to use the PMO to ;

7. attract business experience...business experience may be directly appointed to the Board without violating conflict-of-interest provisions or requirements for political responsibility;

8. low visibility taxation...the nearly billion dollar contribution to Ontario's net revenues by the LCBO

9. joint undertaking...Crown Corporations originally provided the avenue for public and private cooperation though under the New Public Management this is now acceptable for operating departments and agencies as well

• Criticisms: 1. proliferation; 2. inefficient; 3. unfair competition; 4. financial power; 5. profits or public interest; 6. accountability; 7. mandate and reporting

2. Regulatory agencies;

• Regulatory agency: a statutory body charged with responsibility to administer, to fix, to establish, to control, or to regulate an economic activity or market by regularized and established means in the public interest and in accordance with government policy

• Functions: adjudicate; legislate; research; advise; administrate

• why:

. 1.remove from politics...political interference may reduce the ability of a regulator to establish and monitor performance...as was arguably the case in the Walkerton water tragedy

. 2. impartial....which means divorced from political partisanship

. 3. apply expertise.....expertise usually comes in the form of people trained in the issue or industry under regulation....this is a two-edged sword: energy regulators often went to the energy industry to get staff who, not surprisingly, were trained to think in a pro-industry manner (eg. putting a former oil company executive on the board of an energy regulator);

. 4. unforseen conditions...in theory a regulatory agency can responsible rapidly to unforseen conditions and change...unencumbered by the political system....if indeed this is a problem

. 5. natural monopoly...hydro and telephone services were long considered natural monopolies...telephone service was only de-regulated when changes in technology made the system less dependent on the use of actual telephone lines and poles by a single operator

. 6. smooth market....an unstable market (if it is a significant player in the economy) may jeopardize the entire economy....this is another reason why our governments are tempted to regulate airlines, energy supplies and other sectors where unstable market conditions (rapidly rising and/or falling prices) may cause economic and political problems.....Ontario deregulated the supply of natural gas a few years ago....and, what has happened?

. 7. end discrimination...without regulation the market may not supply everyone or even most people based on economic and, perhaps, other conditions....when Bell Canada enjoyed a monopoly on telephone service the CRTC had to establish regulations to ensure that isolated rural customers could get service;

8. control externalities....externalities are costs paid neither by the producer or consumer....left to their own devices producers (businesses) and consumers may prefer to externalize the cost leaving the true cost to be paid (perhaps in the future) by everyone....environmental issues often fall into this category;

9.low cost instrument...provided compliance is not a problem and monitoring is not too difficult or expensive regulation can be a very effective low cost instrument....perhaps CANCON regulations of the CRTC are a good example: it is pretty easy to establish whether TV networks are meeting CANCON requirements

3. Political Control

• exercised by: 1.accountability or autonomy; 2.enabling legislation; 3. regulation scrutiny; 4. appointment; 5. policy directives; 6. prior approval; 7. appeal

• Judicial Control: proper process only

4. Problems:

• 1.cost.....regulation may simply add a tremendous burden to goods

• 2.competitiveness....a regulated industry operates under near-monopoly conditions which tends to encourage inefficient practices....see Ontario Hydro's commitment to nuclear power as an example

• 3.compliance....high rates of compliance depend upon accurate monitoring (more difficult in some cases than others) and in the willingness to enforce penalties for non-compliance...often difficult in environmental issues

• 4.the consumer...is often left out of the decision-making picture (remember that market pressures - the consumer's ally- are absent or reduced in a regulatory situation)...the absent chair at the table: the consumer's place

• 5. captive agencies...often agencies become 'captured' by the industry or element they are created to regulate...it is often argued for example that the CRTC is a captive of the TV networks and the cable industry

• 6.federalism

Lecture # 28: Deputy Ministers

1. The Role of Deputy Ministers

• the senior civil servant in any department is normally called the Deputy-Minister, DM, Deputy, in Britain the term is )Permanent Secretary....at the Privy Council Office the most senior position is not DM but The Clerk of the Privy Council....The Clerk (once pronounced Clark in deference to English bureaucracy and practice and tradition) is the senior Public Servant in Canada and therefore the most senior of all those at the DM rank

• unlike other civil servants Deputy Ministers serve >at pleasure= ... they are appointed and can be dismissed by the Prime Minister

• in practice they are powerful individuals: they have continuous experience in government and they are experts in administration in a parliamentary system of ministerial responsibility and administrative accountability

• they have been known to dominate governments

• modern practice sees Deputy Ministers rotated through a number of departments during their careers

• modern practice also removes the mask of ministerial responsibility and civil service anonymity and a Deputy may be called to task or asked questions by the media

2. 2. The IPAC case, The Deputy Minister a Fictional Sketch, is intended to expose students to a sample of daily activities in the life of a senior executive responsible for an important government department

-in reality the daily life of executives in the private sector is somewhat similar

-some things to consider as you read the case:

1.What is the scope of responsibility of the DM? What kinds of decisions is he called up to make?

2. In terms of policy issues where does his Department stand? Are they on top of everything?

How many things are happening simultaneously?

3. Is the DM an effective executive and leader? What are his strengths? Weaknesses?

4. What important qualities does the DM bring to the job?

5. Accountability is a particularly difficult issue for Deputy-Ministers....why?

6. What else impacts the DM in the performance of his job?

7. Does he work effectively with the Minister?

8. What have we learned from a day in the life of......the DM?

Lecture # 29: Political Parties

1. The Problem of Control and Coordination

• the control problem: bureaucratic power

• the coordination problem: avoiding duplication, inefficiency, waste, counter-productive measures

2. The Parliamentary Actors and the Extra Parliamentary Actors:

• the Executive: Prime Minister and Cabinet: key decisions markers; initiate policy making and legislation; control money and spending; organized into a committee system which is coordinated by the central agencies and supported by many civil servants

• the Legislature: the Senate (home of privilege and patronage - the lobby from within-; The House of Commons - a democratically elected, representative law passing legislature; weakened by party discipline; utilizes the committee system; Question Period and the power of the caucus to control the executive

• the Judiciary: Supreme Court and Federal Court...essentially the courts have two kinds of power when it comes to control and coordination: 1. To interpret the constitution and rule either ultra vires (outside the power) or intra vires (within the power) regarding the government=s action; 2. To determine if acts conform to administrative law: has government acted lawfully? Have citizen rights been protected?

3. Political Parties

• they exist to win elections and have other kinds of influence

• many party supporters expect a reward (patronage) for their support of the governing party: a constant conflict within the bureaucracy between the bureaucratic rationality and political favouritism

• to win an election a party must win Ontario and some of Quebec: policy making tends to favour central Canada (to the dismay of the West)

• programs may be structured to reduce regional disparity

4. Interest Groups have largely replaced parties as policy-influences

• attempt to influence policy-makers within government and to win >hearts and minds= of public opinion

• two basic kinds: institutional and non-institutional

• institutional: stable membership; well-financed; professional staff; established links to politicians and bureaucrats...NCBI, CCC, AMEC

• non-institutional: temporary or single-issue groups hoping to influence a specific policy or set of policies (made more powerful by the internet); often aims campaign at the media with the intention of influencing public opinion...confrontational tactics may be used

5. Interest Groups

• attempt to influence policy-makers within government and to win >hearts and minds= of public opinion

• two basic kinds: institutional and non-institutional

• institutional: stable membership; well-financed; professional staff; established links to politicians and bureaucrats...NCBI, CCC, AMEC

• non-institutional: temporary or single-issue groups hoping to influence a specific policy or set of policies (made more powerful by the internet); often aims campaign at the media with the intention of influencing public opinion...confrontational tactics may be used

Lecture # 31: The Media

1. The Media

• includes television and radio (both subject to regulation) and print media (primarily newspapers and magazines)

• much of the media (excluding the CBC and provincial TV) is privately owned: function is to make profits...it=s a business

• a secondary role for media is as a link between governments and their citizens: 1. Provision of information; 2. Watchdog on governments; 3. Purveyors of opinions and values.

The potential value of non-commercial radio can be perceived in sections of the country where stations such as Pacifica Radio offer a view of the world, depth of coverage, and scope of discussion and debate that is generally excluded from the major media. Public radio and television, despite having suffered serious damage during the Reagan years, also represent an alternative media channel whose resuscitation and improvement should be of serious concern to those interested in contesting the propaganda system. The steady commercialization of the publicly owned air waves should be vigorously opposed. In the long run, a democratic political order requires far wider control of and access to the media. Serious discussion of how this can be done, and the incorporation of fundamental media reform into political programs, should be high on progressive agendas.

The organization and self-education of groups in the community and workplace, and their networking and activism, continue to be the fundamental elements in steps toward the democratization of our social life and any meaningful social change. Only to the extent that such developments succeed can we hope to see media that are free and independent.

Furthermore, while there have been important structural changes centralizing and strengthening the propaganda system, there have been counterforces at work with a potential for broader access. The rise of cable and satellite communications, while initially captured and dominated by commercial interests, has weakened the power of the network oligopoly and retains a potential for enhanced local-group access. There are already some 3,000 public-access channels in use in the United States, offering 20,000 hours of locally produced programs per week, and there are even national producers and distributors of programs for access channels through satellites (e.g., Deep-Dish Television), as well as hundreds of local suppliers, although all of them must struggle for funding. Grass-roots and public-interest organizations need to recognize and try to avail themselves of these media (and organizational) opportunities.' Local nonprofit radio and television stations also provide an opportunity for direct media access that has been underutilized in the United States. ln France, many local groups have their own radio stations. In a notable case, the progressive cooperative Longo Mai, in Upper Provence, has its own 24-hours-a-day Radio Zinzine, which has become an important community institution that has helped inform and activate many previously isolated farmers.

A massive Reagan-era disinformation and propaganda effort, reflecting in large measure an elite consensus, did succeed in its major aims of mobilizing support for the U.S. terror states (the "fledgling democracies"), while demonizing the Sandinistas and eliminating from Congress and the mass media all controversy beyond tactical debate over the means that should be employed to return Nicaragua to the "Central American mode" and "contain" its "aggressiveness" in attempting to defend itself from a murderous and destructive U.S. assault on all fronts. But it failed to win public support even for proxy army warfare against Nicaragua, and as the costs to the U.S. mounted, and the proxy war accompanied by embargo and other pressures succeeded in restoring the "Central American mode" of misery and suffering in Nicaragua and aborting the highly successful reforms and prospects for development of the early years after the overthrow of Washington's ally Somoza, elite opinion too shifted-quite dramatically, in fact-toward resort to other, more cost-effective means to attain shared ends. The partial failures of the very well organized and extensive state propaganda effort, and the simultaneous rise of an active grass-roots oppositional movement with very limited media access, was crucial in making an outright U.S. invasion of Nicaragua unfeasible and driving the state underground, to illegal clandestine operations that could be better concealed from the domestic population-with, in fact, considerable media complicity.

In sum, the mass media of the United States are effective and powerful ideological institutions that carry out a system-supportive propaganda function by reliance on market forces, internalized assumptions and self-censorship, and without significant overt coercion. This propaganda system has become even more efficient in recent decades with the rise of the national television networks, greater mass-media concentration right-wing pressures on public radio and television, and the growth in scope and sophistication of public relations and news management.

This system is not all-powerful, however. Government and elite domination of the media have not succeeded in overcoming the Vietnam syndrome and public hostility to direct U.S. involvement in the destabilization and overthrow of foreign governments.

Lecture # 32: Fiscal Federalism

A Reminder: Money Talks!!!

• "Money doesn't talk, it swears" (Bob Dylan before he sold out to the Bank of Montreal)

• what governments value, what they decide to do or not to do (Dye's definition of policy) are truly priorized in their budget decisions...therefore the allocation of monies deserves our rapt attention

Major Theme:

After 30 years of increases it was inevitable that fiscal federalism would change due to fiscal management problems; globalization and neo-conservatism. It remains to be seen if the remaining 'patchwork quilt' of federal-provincial programs is sufficient (or even essential) to hold this federal state together.

1. Fiscal Federalism

• federalism is a form of governmental structure intended to bring the benefits of a larger state to peoples divided by at least one significant cleavage: language, region, ethnicity, economic resources, economic disparity

• what binds federal states together includes: 1. history; 2. geography; 3. flags, symbols and myths; 4. institutions, including social policy and programs

• fiscal federalism describes the financing relationships between the federal and provincial governments including the evolutionary pattern which led to the current relationships; changes in the relationship; and suggestions of its next destination

2. Origins of Fiscal Federalism:

• in the Constitution the federal government received a much larger and more significant capacity to generate cash for spending

• in the Constitution the provincial governments received responsibility and legislative authority for social programs which ultimately became much more important and expensive!!!

3. Types of fiscal transfers

• conditional grants--provinces must meet federal standards in order to receive the grant

• unconditional grants--provinces prefer this form

• shared-cost/matching grants--the federal government provides funds (often on a 50/50 basis) if the province and/or municipality will match the federal spending

• block grants--no conditions attached to the grant, the province may spend as it wishes

• transfers may be in the form of cash, tax points or a combination of cash and tax points

4. Evolution of Fiscal Federalism

• 1957...Equalization program appears with unconditional grants to the poor provinces to help provide public services; hospital grants appear as a 50% shared cost or matching program

• 1960s...financing of universities...Quebec holds out for tax points and avoids direct federal aid to its universities

• 1966/67...three sets of programs: 1. Canada Assistance Program (CAP) replaces previous welfare programs with equal cost-sharing; 2. medicare with conditional payment of 50 % of medical care; 3. 50 % of colleges and universities on a combination of cash and tax points;

• an unforseen problem was that provincial spending now had a major impact on federal budgeting

• 1977...Established Programs Financing (EPF)...replaces health and post-secondary funding with a block grant (cash and tax points) tied to increases in provincial populations and economic growth...shortly thereafter the feds added the Canada Health Act: with a condition that direct patient charges were banned

• by 1985 federal transfers were costing $ 23 billion

• federal financial position deteriorating due to globalization; demand of neo-cons for change

• 1985...EPF,CAP & Equalization limited to GNP minus 2 points

• 1989...EPF linked to GNP minus 3 points

• 1990...freeze on transfers; CAP 'capped' to 5% for Ontario, Alberta and BC

• now provincial deficits grew rapidly; federal action was unilateral; burden falls on post-secondary institutions and health care system

• 1995: Axworthy (the social program review) versus Paul Martin

• Axworthy loses the fight for social program overhaul; Martin presents a neo-con budget combining CAP and EPF in a new CHST (Canada Health and Social Transfer) with conditions on health care (must be universal) and social programs (no residency requirements)

• 1996...feds child care proposal gets few takers on a shared-cost basis

• Food for Thought: 1. CHST...diverts welfare funds to middle-class subsidies for health care and post-secondaryeducation; 2. CHST...the unity blanket becomes a patchwork quilt; 3. CHST...promises more flexibility for provinces for creative social policy; 4. CHST...less federal money ultimately means less federal control; 5. high demand for social programs will continue...due to the nature of Canadian society and the demands of globalization for a healthy, well-educated workforce; 6. globalization may also force a standardization of programs; 7. provincial standards may become more diverse

• Federal-Provincial Agreements:

• over 700 listed (1992-3 edition)

• Samples:

• 1.Can-Ontario Potato Diversion Program

• 2. Can-BC Memorandum of Understanding on Surrey, BC Radioactive Soil

• 3.Can-Ontario Agreement Great Lakes Water Quality

• 4. Can-Saskatchewan Partnership on Forestry

• 5. Can.-Newfoundland Agreement on Plant Workers Adjustment Program

• 6. Justice Canada Native Courtworker Program

• 7. Canada Student Loans Program

• 8. Veterans Independence Program

• 9. Hydro Quebec Research Institute

• 10. Alberta Woods Products Overseas

Lecture # 33: Budgets

Major Theme:

Ideally, any public sector expenditure budget aims at four important objectives: control; coordination; management; planning and policy choice. Over time budget systems have evolved. Each system has merit in specific applications. None, though, is perfect or ideal. Budgeting is presented as a rational process; in fact it is a highly politicized process.

1. Purposes of budgets

• remember that budgets are a form of policy so think of a budget in terms of the policy cycle

• purposes: 1. control and coordination; 2. sound management; 3. planning and policy choice

• control: to ensure that managers do not overspend budgets or direct monies to programs which have not been properly approved or authorized (hierarchy/authority)

• coordination: to place spending in the context of a larger set of budget items and priorities and to ensure that conflict and duplication is minimized

• management: subordinates follow orders; work is organized to achieve efficiency and effectiveness

• planning and policy choice: presumably a rational process in which objectives are determined; alternatives evaluated and the best course selected and authorized

2. Major explanations of increases in government spending

• Wagner's Law...expenditures by modern states will always rise with per capita income (economic growth) as there are direct links between levels of development and the level of social spending required to support development

• bureaucratic budget maximizers...bureaucrats will force the growth of government expenditure in order to maximize the size of their budgets thereby increasing their individual salaries, status and power

• politicians...will increase government spending in order to attract electoral support

• the attentive public...will demand governments spend money on programs which will maintain existing transfers and benefits and provide new transfers and benefits

• incrementalism...the tendency (driven in part by inflation--even at modest levels) to resolve budget conflicts by granting equal percentage increases to all existing budgets

3. Style:

• there is no consensus on budget styles which vary according to jurisdiction

• however it must be emphasized that it matters a very great deal how budget information is organized, presented and discussed...it must be understood that the way in which information is present is significant both because it structures discussion and because those who formulate the budget will always choose the style which presents their case in its most favourable light

4. The process:

• Length: budget deliberations (policy development) often occurs after the fiscal year has begun and policy implementation is well underway;

• Non-discretionary items: many governments find they are committed in advance for expenditures (by programs which span a number of years; by union agreements; by treaties and agreements; by persistent problems)

• Openness: increasing pressure from citizens for a slightly more open budgetary process; however governments have a vested interest in hiding from public scrutiny

• Flexibility: in the current period not very flexible due to...1. debt load and carrying capacity; 2. alteration in traditional transfer patterns; 3. portion of federal and/or provincial debt which is offshore; 4. political considerations: (a) problem of entitlements versus the rise of neoconservatism; (b) problem that many public sector outputs are actually valuable (eg health care, education).

5. Line budgets:

• first and most rudimentary form of budgeting

• focuses on expenditure

• policy comparison is usually constructed as an incremental-based review of previous year's budget

• works well with relatively small, simple organizations

• problems: 1. what changes should be made for the future; 2. what has been accomplished by the budget? 3. how can we measure any accomplishment (remember measurement is critical for comparison). 4. little meaningful review by politicians

6. Performance budgets

• an attempt to improve on line budgeting by introducing some element of measurement of output...performance budgets establish the relationships between inputs used and outputs obtained: how well are we performing in road paving

• links cost of providing a service (input) to service provided (output)

• in road construction: one might multiply miles of road paved by unit cost of paving

• comparisons may be made between units performing either similar or otherwise comparable services

• somewhat improved over line budgeting: 1. management quality is now measurable vis a vis similar operations elsewhere; 2. slightly less determined by incrementalism though its influence remained strong

• still not provided for either 1. future planning or 2. tradeoffs comparisons with value of other programs/services

7. Planning, Programming Budgetary Systems

• PBS, PPBS, PPB

• introduced in Canada by the feds in 1969

• the application of a rational decision making model to the budget process with these goals:

• 1. the setting of specific objectives

• 2. systematic analysis to clarify objectives and assess alternatives

• 3. framing of budget proposals in terms of programs directed toward the achievement of the objectives

• 4. the projection of the costs of these programs a number of years into the future

• 5. the formulation of plans of achievement year by year for each program

• 6. an information system for each program to supply data for the monitoring of achievement of program goals and to supply data for the reassessment of the program objectives and the appropriateness of the program itself

• functionally PBS breaks a departments activities into a series of programs

• PBS also attempts to distinguish between growth elements and basis elements

• PBS focuses on outputs

• three budgets (at the federal level): the A budget--continuation of present programs with adjustments for inflation and size of population served; the B budget--new programs or enrichment of old programs; the X budget--programs to be chopped if funds are in short supply (this idea is now revived after years of neglect due to cutbacks)

• this process is in effect one where power may be shifted to a strong central agency: it is a top down approach

• advantages: 1. decision making is not obscured by excessive detail; 2. rational economic tools such as cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis and system analysis are applicable;

• outgrowths: MBO management by objective (not field effective); and Operational Performance System Management--OPSM (resisted by bureaucracy)

• PBS was the major budget innovation of the 1960's and 1970's

• its problems include: 1. it tends to concentrate decision making in central agencies; 2. it is not always easy to specifying goals; measure benefits; predict future conditions; 3. public policy making is not entirely rational it is also political and goals may be multi-purpose and/or multi-level; 3. it is very difficult to quantify the benefits from many government services

8. Zero Based budgeting (ZBB)

• the latest technique and one urged upon many municipalities

• at budget time managers must justify every dollar beginning with the first one

• decision packages are prepared--description of actions, achievements, consequences of not approving packages; alternative means of delivery'

• calculation of cost-benefit or similar rations: compare the effect of levels of funding of say, 80%, 100%, 120%

• rank packages in order of priority

• bottom-up and top-down approach...intended to give new programs an equal chance with old programs during times of restraint (McKenna and the young turks in NB)

• Problems: 1. assumes budgeting is entirely a rational process; 2. annual review of all programs is bad for moral; 3. encourages maximization of short-term success; 4. too complex for annual use

8(b). The Business Plan

• jargon which has made its way into public sector budgetting

• based on the NPMG principle that private sector management is best and is the home of best practices

• federally and provincially departments now produce business plans

• business plan is supposed to show how service (lines of service) will be improved

• also: how flexible the department is in terms of its clients....is it adjusting appropriately?

9. Strategies for protecting programs and budgets:

• padding the budget (the guardians expect all budgets to be padded so one must pad the budget)...its also necessary to do this to provide for contingencies

• mobilize constituency interest groups...watch what happens with the feds in regard to the tobacco industries support of arts and culture organizations special events

• a crisis (real, potential, invented)

• the thin edge of the wedge (start a small program--possibly with discretionary or contingent funding--and allow demand from beneficiaries and/or non-recipients to increase funding

• Kill the Friendly Giant/Cancel the RCMP Ride/Washington Monument

• this program saves money...but only in the long run...RCAP made this argument in regard to aboriginal peoples

• end run...submit your request partway through the year and hope your case is convincing enough for Cabinet to approve it

• fire truck first

• guardians strategies: 1. underestimate revenue; 2. conceal, if possible, spending-to-date and actual budget allocations; 3. demand evidence, eg. 'prove this program saves money'

Lecture # 34

The Management of Human Resources

Introduction:

The story of Sgt. Bill Martin. During the December, 1944 offensive launched in the Ardennes region by the Germany army, Canadian units in Holland were pulled back across the river and placed on high alert. Their withdrawal meant that they could enjoy the relative comfort of a set of barracks originally built by the German army. During this period of comparative quiet the Canadian army launched a number of make work projects including a complete physical for all combat soldiers. As a result of this one member of the Fort Garry Horse was found to have a rupture (hernia) apparently incurred before the war. The examining physician decided to operate and sent this soldier to hospital. However this tank trooper had recently been issued with a semi-automatic pistol: penalties for losing this weapon were severe and he asked a friend to promptly return it to the Quartermaster. For some reason the friend did not do this for a day or two. On January 6, 1945 the ruptured trooper's name came up on sick-call and Sgt. Bill Martin from the Quartermaster's Stores set out with a driver to go to the hospital and retrieve the pistol. Unfortunately this was a period of heightened security and troops were particularly concerned with German personnel using Allied uniforms. When Sgt. Martin and his driver approached a roadblock (which they would normally 'wave themselves through') he was shot dead by a Canadian soldier.

When Sgt. Martin's driver went to the Quartermaster's Stores next day he found the pistol had been returned.

The moral: there are two armies trying to kill you, the enemies and your own.

Lessons to be learned from this story: 1. Despite the deadly outcome is the story of Bill Martin a typical bureaucratic human resource problem related to issues of control and coordination? 2. what role did prescribed rules and procedures play in this tragedy? 3. why did the army doctor insist on operating on a 6 year old injury? 4. who was to blame for this tragedy?

Introduction: the paradox where the significance of human resource management is realized and its value is elevated at a time of restraint when work force reductions; wage freezes; problems of employment equity and pay equity; and more adversarial employer-employee relations all combine to reduce employee moral. Summary: the management of personnel in all its aspects is as important as, if not more important than, financial management in achieving effective overall management of government activities.

1. Human Resources in the Federal Civil Service

-Budgetary revenue (projected 2000 - 2001): 160 billion $

42 billion $ debt service

25 billion $ transfers to provinces

40 billion $ transfers to individuals

44 billion $ other program spending

9 billion $ defence

-less than 20 billion for personnel, operating and maintenance and minor capital

-salaries are about 9.4 % of the cost of government or about 16.2 billion $

defence budget (unlike other departments) is about 80% for non-capital expenditures (of a total of 9.5 billion $ annually)

-as of 1995

Total public sector employees in Canada: 2,595,498

Federal 515,l30

Provincial 1,130,547

Local 949,822

Total federal employees include:

employees in the armed forces 96,960

members of the RCMP 17,941

employees of Crown Corporations 144,115

employees outside Canada 11,500

miscellaneous 28,382

Net federal employees: 222,362

(Note: numbers do not add due to rounding and/or counting periods)

2. The Evolution of Human Resource Management

-merit and the principle of competency

-knowledge, experience and ability

-networking and who you know

-the end of the patronage era: the Civil Service Amendment Act of 1908 established the Civil Service commission and provided for the application of the merit principle

-from patronage to merit: the Civil Service Act of 1918 focused on the promotion of economy and efficiency and restricted political partisanship (as a means of discouraging political pressure)

-roots and fruits of reform: from 1945 to 1978 there was a gradual refocusing on effectiveness from efficiency with the concurrent expansion of government programs, scope and spending; the definition of merit was challenged by representative concerns: francophones, women, aboriginals, the disabled

-the present discontents: from 1979 criticism mounted of lack of leadership, inflexibility, lack of accountability leading to many of the reforms in the management of programs and attempts to

introduce the new public management

3. The Legislative and Organizational Framework

-management of human resources is controlled by a variety of acts and authorities including the financial Administration Act, the Public Service Employment Act, The Public Service commission, the Public Service Relations Act, the Public Service Staff Relations Board, the Official Languages Act, the Public Service Superannuation Act and many others

-merit, recruitment, training, discipline are key problem areas

4. The Major Human Resources Management Processes

Job Classification--derived from scientific management; six broad categories:

Executive Group 4,098

Scientific & Professional 24,495

Administrative & Foreign Service 70,450

Technical 26,086

Administrative Support 59,145

Operational 32,716

Executive Group..reforms intended to link performance to pay and provide more flexibility for deployment

Human Resource Planning..a professional practice which seeks a balance between staff's career aspirations and the provision of appropriate quality and quantities of employees...

Staffing...the key element of human resource management...in my experience hiring on the basis of formal resumes is often the least successful means of getting good employees...why?

...a complicated process due to requirements for language and other representative considerations

...recruitment (inside and outside) is weighted in favour on the insider

...promotion (a reward for???--the US firm which promoted 5,000 ineffective people in order to make them more attractive to headhunters); selection (the standards by which we hire people); deployment (where people are assigned...the OPP and the far north)

Training and Development

...distinguish among: 1. formal classroom training within government; 2. formal classroom training by universities, colleges and consulting firms; 3. on-the-job training and experience

...muddling through (the Oxbridge model)

...the learning organization or the continuous learning culture: 1. encourages and supports individual learning which embeds individual learning into organizational culture; 2. reviews and modifies the organizations basic assumptions and mental models to correspond to changes in the environment; 3. engages in learning partnerships with customers to produces results valued by society

Performance Evaluation

...a substantial measure of personal judgement...arbitrary and often has the unintended consequence of lowering employee motivation thereby reducing productivity

...difficult to show the benefits of formal training

5. Career Public Service

principles; neutrality, merit, continuity, promotion

some difficulties:

1. external forces (political, social, economic, demographic) may conflict with careerism in the public service

2. promotion from within the ranks of the public service may conflict with the principle of merit

3. careerism may conflict with principles, policies and objectives of unions, other public servants and politicians

...the future: a more open, less representative bureaucracy?

6. The 'Build Down' of the Public Service

-1968 Pierre Trudeau promises to cut public service jobs but number of public servants increases by 25,000 over the next ten years

-despite his talk of 'pink slips and running shoes' Mr. Mulroney grew the public service by 13,000 additional people

-in 1993 Liberals campaigned in and around Ottawa on the basis that: 'We will never treat public servants like the Mulroney Conservatives did." Marlene Caterall, Liberal MP, Ottawa West

-the 1995 budget launched cutbacks/build downs of a much more extreme nature than anything attempted by Mr. Mulroney

-this included an elaborate build down scheme of incentives for early retirement and early leaving...an analysis of this showed that the results (9,000 employees) per year were about the same as the federal civil service experienced normally without any incentive program...the civil service shrank to 186,314 in 1999

-slowly it is growing again at a rate of 2.6%

Stats Canada (2002) Estimate of number of employees (by 000's) in Public and Private Sectors and percentage changes

Class of worker 2001 2002

Public sector employees 2,862.7 2,841.6 -21.1 10.3 -0.7 0.4

Private sector 12,303.5 12,330.5 27.0 126.6 0.2 1.0

Private employees

10,020.7 10,040.2 19.5 150.4 0.2 1.5

Self-employed

2,282.8 2,290.3 7.5 -23.8 0.3 -1.0

Public Administration 246

Representative Bureaucracy and Employment Equity

Stability, Diversity and Conflict

Representative Bureaucracy and Employment Equity

MAJOR THEME: The principle of merit conflicts at least to some degree with the principle

of representative bureaucracy. Employment equity is intended to make bureaucracies representative of the populations they serve. It is intended to stabilize society by creating a public service responsive to the needs of a diverse society. Without equity programs the Canadian public service would under-represent francophones, women, the disabled, visible minorities and aboriginals.

1. Representative Bureaucracy

-an apparent conflict between the principle of merit and the principle of representation

-the argument for representative bureaucracy:

1. public servants exercise significant power in the political system

2. external controls are not sufficient to check bureaucratic power and ensure responsible and accountable behaviour

3. a representative public service will be responsive to the needs and interests of the general public

-this is supported by some assumptions about: 1. a possible conflict between public service values and values of the total population; 2. public service values reflect the socialization received before entry (eg middle class values from family, education, social class, race, etc.); 3. values are not likely to be modified by exposure to bureaucratic values; 4. these early values will then determine behaviour within the public service; 5. it is necessary then to have responsive behaviour through representation both in policy development and program delivery

problem: a representative bureaucracy may not be responsive, a responsive bureaucracy may not be representative

2. Porter and Rowat

-Porter: recruitment and promotion policies must be non-discriminatory; educational opportunities must be equal; motivation to enter must be equal

-Rowat: representativeness is essential in a democratic, pluralistic society and Porter's argument has too many 'ifs'

-Olsen's research suggests that the bureaucratic elite is more open

3. Representativeness

-aim: a more proportionate representation of a limited number of politically significant but underrepresented groups

-assumption: representation is linked to responsiveness

-side benefits: symbolic equality of opportunity and upward mobility

-representation is not an aim of corporatist society which is not concerned with pluralistic aims

-down side: representation backlash from over-represented groups: men of British ethnic origin

4. Equal Opportunity and Employment Equity

-target groups: women, visible minorities, persons with disabilities and aboriginal peoples

-francophones are treated as a separate issue based on language which mainly effects the federal civil service

-equal opportunity replaced by affirmative action replaced by employment equity

-June, 1983 the feds launch an accelerated program of affirmative action which effectively includes hiring quotas and is targeted at women, aboriginal peoples and disabled persons

-in theory the merit principle is preserved

-Treasury Board links implementation of the program (a reminder of the importance of this part of the policy cycle) to performance evaluations of deputy ministers

-legal basis for this is in the 1977 Canadian Human Rights Act which established a human rights commission

-this is supported by provisions of Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which protects affirmative action programs

-in September, 1985 this was expanded to include employment equity for members of visible minority groups

-this was followed by a series of other measures including the 1986 federal Employment Equity Act; the development of new programs and a 1994 Special Measures Initiatives Program intended to 'retain members of designated groups'

5. Problems with employment equity:

-resistance from public servants and their unions: violates merit principles and discriminates against other candidates

-not easy to decide which groups or interests should be represented

6. Francophone representation

-francophones represented during the patronage period in the federal public service

-in 1918 the Civil Service Act equated merit with English language skills and education and by 1946 the Civil Service had lost much of its francophone component

-1963 Glassco reports on under-representation

-1966 Pearson announces bilingualism in the public service

-1967 Royal Commission on bilingualism and biculturalism

-by the 90's francophones are represented proportionately although the Executive Group is the weakest at 23%, still very close to their 24-25% range in the population

7. Women

-also identified as a problem by Glassco

-barriers: attitudes which prevent promotion and development; a hostile corporate culture; difficulty in balancing work and family responsibilities

-lack of pay equity

-by 1993 women had risen to only 17.6 percent of the Executive Group

8. Aboriginal Peoples

-widespread discrimination compounded by cultural differences and, in some cases, rejection of the national government

-now aboriginals are slightly overrepresented in the public service but underrepresented in the Executive Group

9. Managing Diversity

-a 'human resource challenge'

-different standards for different groups

-a question of sensitivity

10. Pay Equity

-equal pay for work of equal value

-goes beyond the same pay for the same job

-requires a job evaluation method

-a four step process: 1. identify jobs which are predominately female; 2. a gender neutral job evaluation; 3. a comparative process (eg nurse with health inspector); 4. a planned program of pay adjustment

-in Ontario the Peterson Liberals launched a pay equity program in March, 1990; this was continued by the Harris Conservatives after the 1995 election although equity provisions were themselves removed by Harris's Tories

Lecture # 36: Management of Programs in the Federal Government

Major Theme:

Efforts to improve the management of federal programs confirm that reorganization rarely results in significant improvement. Politics favours the maintenance and expansion of program spending. Managing in a time of restraint has brought change but governments must be realistic about the potential for improvement.

1. Extent and nature of federal government programs

• somewhere between 1,000 and 400 programs (programs were consolidated during the 1993 reforms carried out prior to the election)

• program refers to the use of the planning, programming budgetary system

• program costs are about 80% of what the federal government spends after it provides for the cost of servicing the federal debt and for salaries

• 'stunning in size and diversity, an accumulation of organizations and programs designed for many different purposes over many decades'

2. Political Support for program expenditures

• recall the Doern and Phidd model (which describes the choice of governing instruments as based on moving from the least coercive to the most coercive)

• recall the public choice (Trebilcock, et al) model (which describes the re-election incentives of politicians: the choice of instruments can 'be weighted against the calculus of how they serve the end of enhancing the prospects of the election or re-election by the political decision makers'...politicians therefore are likely to favour instruments which 'concentrate benefits of policies on marginal voters and do not disperse these benefits over inframarginal voters who are either so committed to the party or so alienated from it that the benefits would have no effect on voting behaviour'

• further to the public choice model it can be derived from Olsen and from Weaver that: 'democratic governments, motivated to claim credit and avoid blame from voters, would be inclined to pursue policy objectives through reliance on instruments which confer concentrated benefits, while resisting those with concentrated costs...'

• all programs have enthusiastic defenders (interest groups, politicians, bureaucrats, and others receiving benefits)

• a paradox in Canadian public opinion is that Canadians consistently prefer both lower taxes and the provision of public services: it is possible therefore to find support in polling for neo-conservative positions...such as the approval ratings of the Harris government

3. Productive Management

• the 1983 Auditor General's report: productive management was constrained by the 'impact of political priorities on the management process, the degree of administrative procedures with which managers have to cope, and the disincentives to productive management that are characteristic of the public services

• the disincentives:

• 1. excessive administrative regulations

• 2. incentives not to allow funds to lapse

• 3. inflexible contracting rules

• 4. too many requests for information from central agencies

• 5. unresponsive and costly common service agencies

• 6. time-consuming classification, staffing and related personnel procedures

• beginning in 1984 the Federal Government Productivity Improvement program intended to address these problems; this led to the development of IMAA in 1986; and in 1989 the Public Service 2000 initiative: preparing the public service for the new millennia

• this was to be accomplished internally: ten tasks forces led by deputy ministers to simply, to disentangle, to reduce central control, increase managerial freedom and encourage innovation and efficiency

4. A History of Reform

• 1962 report of the Glassco Commission (Royal Commission on Government Organization)...led to a great deal of discussion and some reform...this came near the beginning of the great growth of government programs/spending

• Public Service 2000 and the 1993 reorganization of government came at the end of this period as governments sought to address problems by reorganizing

• what were the problems: 1. the continuing growth of spending on programs with an ongoing rise in government expenditures; 2. problems of accountability where ministers with political responsibility were understandably reluctant to relinquish managerial control ; 3. the difficulties of decision making at budget time introduced by the Policy and Expenditure Management System (PEMS) with additional layers of procedures, processes and institutions

• Arthur Kroeger, in 1981: in the bad old days before PEMS we had x-budgets twice a year, now with this reformed system we have them every six months.

5. The Strategic Planning Process

• strategic planning comes under a variety of names

• it is intended to: enable the organization to engage in planned, systematic change

• it recognizes that large organizations have difficulty in responding flexibly to change although they are very good at repetitive tasks

• it is a priority setting exercise which is intended to bring a broad focus on organizational issues by involving everyone in the process of discuss problems, analyzing solutions and selecting desirable alternatives

• SP intends to get everyone onside by broad participation intend to motivate change by producing consensus and commitment to the plan

• you will recognize that it is a form of rational decision making

• an 8 step process:

• 1. initiate and agree on a process

• 2. clarify organizational mandates

• 3. clarifying organizational mission and values

• 4. assess external environment

• 5. assess internal environment

• 6.identify strategic issues facing organization

• 7. formulate strategies to manage the issues

• 8. establish an effective organization vision for the future

• the process can increase/decrease tensions; can result in a stronger focus; implementation is always difficult due to external environments and availability of resources

• based on a military model (von Schliefen) and its subsequent application in the US military and in US business (GE abandoned this in the early 1970s)

6. Computers

• governments are affected because information processing is a major part of their work and a source of power

7. Managing Financial Restraint

• in reality the fight against the deficit is not being driven by cuts to programs delivered directly by the federal government

• the fight is being waged by:

• 1. federal civil servants who have had freezes on wages; privatization; contracting out

• 2. contributors to EI and CPP

• 3. the expansion of user fees

• 4. downloading of service responsibilities

• 5. cuts to transfer payments

• 6. low interest rate/ low Canadian dollar policies

• the former Secretary of the Treasury Board, Ian Clark (October 1989 to May, 1994) urged the adoption of a realistic management posture that seeks improved results within the context of the realities of the 1990s

• an example, the Single Operating Budget: managers can move resources across budget categories and permit a 2% carry-forward at the year end (now raised to 5%)...reduced reporting to Treasury Board

• an example, the creation of Special Operating Agencies: within departments to enable a 'more businesslike approach to operations and a clearer sense of mission':

• examples: Canada Communications Groups, the Passport Office, the Government Telecommunications Agency, the Canadian Heritage Information Network

• in reality one cannot do more with less

Lecture # 37: Managing in a Union Environment

Major Theme:

Collective bargaining provides an institutional answer to the problem of employer/employee conflict. The emergence of strong public unions in Canada has had a significant impact on public administration. At the federal level the process needs fine tuning. It is not clear whether unions will regain the strength they have lost during the neoconservative period

1. What is a union

• an organization which attempts to further the common interests of its members

• in unity there is strength

• inspired by the medieval guilds and other pre-industrial social organizations

• opposed in theory by classical liberalism which holds that freedom of contract is essential to individual liberty

• welcomed by reform liberalism as an antidote to the unequal bargains made between working class individuals and their employers

• unions exist in a variety of forms and with a variety of names: the Law Society of Upper Canada is, in many respects, a union, as is the Ontario Medical Association

• in the 19th century industrialists and businessmen fought the development of unions, I mean this literally, Matewan, but by the 20th century many had recognized that union agreements had two advantages: 1. they institutionalized labour conflict; and 2. across an industry created a level playing field.

• unions are a disadvantage in a global economy because their goal is to raise the share of wealth paid to employees

2. Collective Bargaining

• the negotiation of wages, fringe benefits and working conditions by authorized agents of the employees and employers

• possibly the single greatest impact on the modern public service

• since the mid-1960s the extension of collective bargaining including the right to strike has had profound effects on both public and private sectors with early rapid growth

• in Canada unionized workers are about 25% of the labour force but 50% of all union members are in the public service

• the extension of collective bargaining in Canada is seen to have two sets of causes: 1. political recognition of the growing importance of this element of the electorate; 2. the inevitable extension of rights and freedoms to public service employees

• very large unions: CUPE (municipal government); Public Service Alliance of Canada (feds); OPSEU (ontario); National Union of Public and General Employees

• public service strikes and other job actions are extremely disruptive to both public and private sectors: fire, police protection, mail delivery, air traffic control...and the influence of public sector settlements on private sector settlements

• institutionalizing employer/employee conflict

3. Evolution of Collective Bargaining

• early on in municipal employees

• also in Crown Corporations (eg LCBO, Hydro)

• in 1944 in Saskatchewan, CCF

• in the federal service the development of staff associations

• 1944 mechanisms for consultation

• federal Civil Service Act of 1961: legal recognition of staff associations

• 1963 federal election campaign: the Liberal promise of collective bargaining

• sovereignty and collective bargaining: can the government give up its right to make decisions on public affairs

4. Legal and Administrative Framework

• Public Service Staff Relations Act

• in negotiating the government is represented by Treasury Board

• bargaining units may be quite small

• supervisors may be excluded or put into another unit

• many excluded employees

• PSSRA excludes/includes elements which may be negotiated or subject to conflict resolution procedures

• the use of Master Agreements

5. Resolving Interest Disputes

• a contract is negotiated for a specific period of time; during that contract any ongoing dispute are subject to resolution procedures agreed to as part of that contract

• choice of binding arbitration or conciliation/strike routes

• these disputes may flow from the renegotiation of an existing contract

6. Resolving Rights Disputes

• a 3 or 4 level grievance procedure: negotiation (1-3 levels); third party adjudication

7. Managing under a Collective Agreement

• both managers and employees are restricted by the provisions of the agreement

• both tend to push the limits of their envelopes

• many day-to-day situations are not covered specifically and are open to interpretation

• the PSSRA has many limitations and needs fine tuning

• the public is split on the desirability of allowing public service employees to strike

• many see public employees as overpaid, underworked with lifetime job security

8. The Doomsday Hypothesis

• public sector restraint is simply a mask for advancing business interests

• use of essential worker designations; jailing union leaders; back-to-work legislation; reducing strike rights;

• declining rights of workers: increased militancy, declining legitimacy

9. The Optimistic Hypothesis

• 1980's wage restraints will be reversed when the economy picks up

• Swimmer argues that 'the Conservatives were better employers than the Liberals'

• in terms of using the collective bargaining process to resolve disputes

• in either case this will continue to be a significant part of the process

Lecture # 38: The Public Interest

Major Theme:

Political discourse refers constantly to a 'public interest'. Political actors advocate specific sets of acts 'in the public interest'. Amid the competing self-interests of politicians, lobbyists and interests, public servants and the media it is difficult to determine a public interest. Is the public interest just the sum of assertive self-interests? Is it simply political compromise? Is there more to it?

1. Frequently defined as an intangible which provides a 'good' to the whole or community

• 'the general will'

• optimum reconciliation of the competing claims of special and private interests

• wisest and most foresighted interest

• a moral imperative resting on natural law

• what is good for the state is not necessarily in the public interest: as some states (tyrannies) clearly do not serve their publics.....former Communist states of Eastern Europe, many African states

• nor is it necessarily equivalent to the interest of the majority--the majority of voters may prefer

• a solution to a problem or set of problems such as provision of education services which clearly works against a public interest

• it may also be argued that the public interest lies in a secure civil society (Hobbes among others) and that more exact measures of public interest are hard to determine

2. Beetham (earlier) noted that theories about bureaucracy can take three forms: definitional, normative, explanataory

• a definitional model of the public interest is going to fall into one of four explanations: class, elite or pluralist theory or public choice

• a normative model of the public interest is going to rely on some form of argument in which the service of the public interest is provided by reference to some set of 'norms' or values about the conflicting ideas of freedom and equality

• an explanatory model is going to show us how the public service pursues the public interest in formulating policy and regulating society.

3. Critics of the pluralist approach note that 1. resources of groups are not equal and 2. the public interest is not merely the sum of all separate and private interests.

4. Can a loyalty to a 'public interest' guide administrators in the performance of their duties?

• Come up with a reason why bureaucracies might have few places for officials who are loyal to society as a whole?

5. Pursuit of the public interest is important in formulating policy and in the functioning of regulatory agencies.

6. Objective and subject responsibility for the public interest

• 1. objectively responsible bureaucrats feel responsible to the legal or formal focus of authority and approach public interest questions passively or with disinterest

• 2. subjectively responsible bureaucrats feel responsible to a broad range of policy participants and are active in the pursuit of a public interest

• they may bend rules, innovate, take risks to meet the needs of the public (as they perceive it)

• whistleblowers come from this group

• 3. an ideal public service would have bureaucrats who each 'strike a balance' between objective and subjective responsibility

7. Rational or public choice:

• the public interest becomes defined in economic terms as providing value for money in the exchange of taxes for public services: the efficient provision of services as you have paid for them becomes the definition of public interest

• examples of this include the idea of providing vouchers for education which parents could therefore spend at the school of their choice: educators would have to comply to market pressures and, in theory, this would counter the educational bureaucracy simply following its own goals and meeting its own needs

• reinventing government usually on the basis of decentralization is a variation of this argument

8. Some further thoughts on what the public interest might or might not be:

• Justice as fairness (John Rawls, A Theory of Justice) based on two sets of arguments, the first of which takes precedence over the second in cases of conflict: 1. each person has equal rights to extensive basic liberties compatible with similar liberties for others; 2. social and economic inequalities are arranged to be both to everyone's advantage and open to all(subject to social mobility)

• Justice as utility--the greatest happiness for the greatest number (Bentham with assistance from Adam Smith, David Hume and the young John Stuart Mill)

• Justice as a very limited government (Robert Nozick, Anarchy, The State and Utopia--which argues that under any doctrine of individual rights it becomes clear that the only justifiable role for the state lies in providing security for individuals and their possessions (Nozick calls this the minimal state).

Active Learning:

In a one paragraph answer reply to Down's comment below:

Anthony Down said: 'bureaucracies have few places for officials who are loyal to society as a whole...even though all administrative textbooks and nearly all administrators at least verbally exhort all officials to exhibit such loyalty'.

Before writing your response please feel free to discuss this with others in the class.

Lecture # 39: Organizational Culture

Major Theme:

Organizational culture refers to the attitudes, values, norms and beliefs which provide any organization with: 1. a framework for understanding events; 2. a definition of behavioural expectations; 3. a source of focus for members commitment; 4. an organizational control system.

Very strong organizational cultures may provide exceptional stability but, possibly, at the cost of flexibility.

1. Organizational culture

• also means administrative culture, value frameworks

• refers to the pattern of values, beliefs, attitudes and norms which determine behaviours by setting standards for behaviour and performance

• socially enforced requirements and expectations about basic responsibilities, behaviour and thought patterns of members in their organizational roles

• a socialization process: 1. learning a new jargon; 2. the accepted ways of a new organization; 3. varies (eg from profession to profession)

• ensures predictability of action...but most jobs have some level of discretion granted to the employee...and the formal rules of the job may be supplanted by the informal behavioural rules which actually apply during the street-level performance of the job

2. Development of Organizational Cultures

• created by early 'shapers' and 'heroes'

• by the nature of the organization's work

• by the attitudes and values and willingness to act of new members

• transmitted by formal and informal means:

• formal rules and behavioural rules

3. Political Culture and Organizational Culture

• describes the broad pattern of values, beliefs, attitudes and norms toward political objects in a given state

• varies from state to state

• varies within states (fragmented states; political sub-cultures)

• globalization and political culture: the market as a religion and free trade as heaven

• the New Public Management culture: efficiency over equity; responsiveness over fairness; service quality over due process

4. Canadian Political Culture

• class-aware (trade unions promote egalitarianism and highlight class distinctions)

• deferential and law abiding

• collectivist (universal health care)

• elitist (a conservative value)

• particularistic (group oriented; not a melting-pot)

• statist (as opposed to individualistic)

• in the US the growth of cynicism about government

• in Canada a mixture of cynicism and faith (peace, order and good government)

5. The Clash of Cultures

• within public organizations (tax collectors and appeals officers; prison doctors and prison guards)

• between and among public organizations (Department of Finance and Health and Welfare Canada

• between public organizations and outside actors (Environment Canada, Greenpeace and the Seven Sisters

6. Canadian Administrative Culture

• neutrality

• accountability

• efficiency and effectiveness (plus economy)

• responsiveness

• representativeness

• fairness and equity

• integrity

Lecture # 40: Responsible Government and Administrative Accountability

1. Accountability and Democracy

• the context of Canadian public administration is 'administrative accountability within a system of responsible parliamentary government'

• democracy is an idea grounded in the concept of equality

• democracy does not mean >the market= nor is it necessarily linked with liberalism

• bureaucracies are very good at delivering public goods in a democratic fashion as they function most efficiently when they are dispensing equal portions of goods or services

• >the democratic principle that all public officials are accountable to the people and can rule only by their consent=

2. Responsible Government

• in a responsible parliamentary system: >responsible government means that the political executive is not able to act without the support of a majority in the legislature (House of Commons)

• the history of the development of responsible government is that of people struggling to control and reduce the power of the Crown by forcing the executive to behave responsibly

• in the parliamentary system the political executive is held accountable by the doctrines of individual ministerial responsibility and collective ministerial responsibility

• individual ministerial responsibility: the principle which states that individual ministers are responsible for the actions of their departments and accountable for their departments to Parliament and the Canadian people

• collective ministerial responsibility: the principle that members of the cabinet (the executive branch of government) are responsible for the policies and management of the government as a whole

• as the welfare state developed it became more difficult to insist on individual ministerial responsibility due to the greater complexity of departments and programs

• in Canada the principle of collective ministerial responsibility is also a weak form of political control due to the eminence of the Prime Minister and his/her control of the party

3. The Case of Canada Works

• one of many >make work= projects funded by the Feds

• constituency by constituency basis

• in 1976: sponsorship limited to not-for-profit groups

• each federal constituency is assigned an HRDC staff member who works in the constituency with applicants to develop applications and recommend approvals

• approvals also vetted by local MP

• once approved HRDC staffer meets with sponsors to sign contracts and on a monthly basis review project progress and monitor compliance with project goals

• throughout the process HRDC staffer reports to HRDC central office where other bureaucrats monitor overall progress and ensure that projects comply with overall Canada Works goals and with enabling legislation, regulations and administrative law

• strong paper trail - accountability at work

4. HRDC after NPMG

• extensive layoffs of HRDC personnel

• >make work= projects opened to business and industry

• due to cutbacks of field staff and head office staff fewer people to review project proposals, monitor and report on project activities

• under NPMG more intense pressure for efficiency

• an internal HRDC audit reveals that it is difficult to account for the approval of many projects

• weak paper trail - reduced accountability

5. Democracy

• in many respects the past century has been the most democratic century in history

• most if not all states speak respectfully about democracy; many use the term to justify or legitimate their policies

• therefore in a democratic country it is assumed that the system of public administration will reflect, respect and preserve basic democratic equality; safeguards are built into the political and administrative systems in an effort to preserve and enhance equality; against these systems and safeguards there are persistent pressures to give preferential treatment to some individuals, groups, regions and so on

• distinguishing between the private and public sectors may be easier if one bears in mind OP Dwivedi=s words regarding the uniqueness and significance of the public sector:

• Public service exists to satisfy certain needs of the community. Its existence depends upon the trust, confidence and support (both financial, through taxation, and legal, through obedience to laws and regulations enforced by public servants) it derives from the public through their representatives. Unlike the private sector, it cannot (as expected) become too self-seeking and obscure. Its every action and inaction is subject to thorough scrutiny. The community expects public servants to be fair, ethical and dedicated in administering public policies and programs. And public trust and confidence is assured when public servants are found managing public programs soundly, and are found to be accountable for their actions.

6. Punishment and Reward

• the concept of liability is linked with those of responsibility and accountability: those who are irresponsible or unaccountable must be subject to some form of punishment if only to deter their future behaviour

• in recent years politicians have tried to avoid responsibility by diverting public attention and scrutiny from the responsible minister to the public service (see the Al-Mashat Affair, pgs. 352-3 in Inwood)

• public servants have an overlapping and complex set of accountability criteria; each of which has the potential for liability:

• Accountability to superiors (as part of a bureaucratic hierarchy)

• Political Accountability: to the Legislature and Ministers

• Legal Accountability: to the enabling Acts and Regulations under which they operate and through which they get legal authority

• Professional Accountability: to standards, codes of ethical and professional behaviour

• Public Accountability: to individuals, groups for the quality of service

• the strengthening of the office of Auditor General (1977) enabled a broader mandate

• the problem under the New Public Management (NPMG) is that accountability becomes much more problematic: how does one hold >accountable= contract employees? Privatized public services?

• what happens when a public good (such as Highway 407) is operated by a private company which underprovides certain services?

7. Eva Etzioni-Halevy: The Two Dilemmas

• in Bureaucracy and Democracy (directly quoted from Kernaghan and Siegel)

• 1. Bureaucracy threatens democratic political institutions because it is increasingly powerful and independent and difficult to control...yet an independent bureaucracy is necessary to prevent political corruption and to safeguard democratic processes

• 2. Democracy generates a dilemma for bureaucracy: bureaucrats are expected to be independent and subservient; responsible for their own actions and subject to ministerial responsibility; politicized and non-political at the same time (plus neutral in policy development yet deeply involved)

• a third problem: these dilemmas produce greater strains between ministers and senior public servants

• Etzioni-Halevy: Bureaucracy is thus a threat to, but, also indispensable for, democracy.

Lecture # 41: The Public Interest, Honour and Ethics

Major Theme:

Honour refers to personal or individual codes of virtuous behaviour often learned through membership in a special or elite group. Ethics refers to rules and codes of morality guiding human behaviour. It is possible to teach and instill such codes in public servants though ultimately honour and ethics may conflict with bureaucratic power and political expediency.

We will never bring disgrace to this our city by any act of dishonesty or cowardice, nor ever desert our suffering comrades in the ranks;

We will fight for the ideal and the sacred things of the city, both alone and with many;

We will revere and obey the city's laws and do our best to incite to a like respect and reverence those who are prone to annul or set them at naught; We will strive unceasingly to quick the public sense of public duty;

That thus, in all these ways, we will transmit this city not only not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.

1. Honour

• the internalized moral compass by which individual ascertain correct behaviour in public and private life; the perception by others of one's reputation for integrity

• refers to the highest standard of selfless service to one's community, city or country

• honour is a virtue

• honour as a military virtue

• a) courage

• b) loyalty

• c) patriotism (duty)...love of comrades, community

• d) sacrifice (discipline)

2. Honour and Ethics in Canadian government

• three sets of strategies

• 1. the virtue strategy...search for and promote exemplary behaviour; rigorously train and educate

• 2. shrinkage strategies...the NPMG approach...if government is inherently crooked...shrink government, thereby reducing opportunities for unethical behaviour

• 3. procedural strategies...set up rules and regulations (an ethics commissioner) and hold public servants and politicians accountable

3. The Mulroney Years

• the collapse of the public interest; democratic politics at their worst?

• patronage and pork-barrelling; see Stevie Cameron, On The Take

• growing disenchantment, disillusion

• the Pearson airport deal...an end run around the bureaucrats

• large scale privatization projects

• Don Matthews, chair of Mulroney's leadership campaign, President of the Conservative party, party's chief fund raiser

4. Chretien and the Integrity Strategy

• focused on parliamentary process, patronage and election expenses and lobbying

• the Red Book

• Howard Wilson (assist. Deputy Registrar General) appointed as Ethics Counsellor

• not an investigative unit

• not an independent unit

• the weak lobbyists registration act

• parliamentarians genuinely eager for reform and greater control

5. Chretien in Power

• what happened to the integrity strategy?

• Romeo LeBlance as GG

• Sid Noel's new rules of patronage: 1. do not offend the media; 2. maximize the symbolic value of patronage; 3. do not mix patronage with pork-barrelling

• the Ethics Counsellor as a formulator of guidelines

6. Whistleblowers:

• an individual who believes the public interest overrides the interests of his or her organization and possibly blows the whistle on--meaning exposes--corrupt, illegal, fraudulent or harmful activity

• in the US whistleblowers are protected by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 and the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989

• experience suggests that whistleblowing is most likely to occur when the employee feels the act will result to a change in government behaviour

• the False Claims Act of 1986 rewards US government employees who find the misuse of government funds by private contractors

• whistleblowing legislation in Canada was promised as part of the integrity package in the 1993 Red Book but has yet to be delivered

7. A Final Irony: the decline in faith in government which began in the Mulroney years and continues to day was precipitated not by civil service failure but by ethics failure by politicians.

Lecture # 44: Renewing the Public Service

Major theme:

At number of substantial challenges face the public service in Canada. At all three levels - federal, provincial and municipal - large numbers (as high as 50%) of public servants are going to retire in the next five years. Clearly, for any organization replacing up to half the workforce would present a significant challenge. Recruiting suitable replacements is also a challenge because the morale of the public service has been badly battered as a result of the criticism mounted by neoconservatives and the advocates of the new public management. Public service is now a less-desirable career.

1. The Auditor General's Report (2001) highlights the problems facing the public service.:

"2.4 The public services faces a significant "human capital" challenge--the need for enough skilled people to perform its work, given the demographic profile of the public service; a shift in the nature of work; an increasingly tight market for talent; and negative perceptions of the public service as a career choice. To address this challenge, the Clerk of the Privy Council has identified recruitment as one of three human resource priorities across the public service.

2.5 This audit examined recruitment: the actions taken by central agencies and hiring managers to ensure that the public service is hiring enough skilled people to perform its work. We looked at six departments; we focussed on recruiting in the Scientific and Professional category and the Administrative and Foreign Service category, which are the key sources of people to replace the Executive leadership group. The Executive group could experience a 70 percent loss through retirements by 2008."

2. Canadian Public Administration and the Baby Boom

-it is common to find that what is a serious administrative problem in one state is also an issue in many other states: for example, all states face issues with privacy of information; all states are under economic pressure from the global market to reduce the cost of government.

-one element of the Renewal Issue is more problematic for Canada than for other countries: the Canadian post-war birth generation (the Baby Boom - 1946 - 1964) is the most pronounced and significant of the baby booms which basically occurred in only four countries: Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia. Canada's total fertility rate appears to have been the most pronounced and the boom outpaced the American boom by a significant measure....so, for the purposes of renewal of the public service, Canada faces somewhat more significant baby boom generation and, therefore, a somewhat more significant problem (see Diane J. Macnovich, The Baby Boomers, 2000, Barnard College)

3. Bill C-25 (Omnibus Bill) introduced in February 2003

-intended to respond to issues raised in the Auditor General's Report:

" The Public Service of Canada is facing human resources management challenges related to its capacity to support the federal government in reaching its future objectives. These encompass attracting and retaining the right talent; developing a new generation of leaders; improving labour-management relations in ways that will assist in the early resolution of disputes; managing compensation effectively; modernizing the human resources regime and related policies; and ensuring a bilingual workplace and representative workforce.

These challenges arise from key factors:

an aging Public Service workforce whose average age exceeds that of the Canadian workforce in general and, as a result, a large number of anticipated retirements within the next decade;

an anticipated decrease in the population of 20- to 44-year-olds that will present a recruitment challenge for the coming decade;

the ability of the federal Public Service to compete with the private sector in attracting and keeping high-calibre employees under conditions of labour scarcity;

an increasing focus among workers on personal satisfaction and fulfillment based on such factors as compensation and benefits, opportunity for development and advancement,

recognition for work, and improvement in work-life balance;

the increasing diversity of Canada's workforce;

the ongoing requirement for employees to adapt to a complex and rapidly evolving knowledge-based environment; and

the increasing demands that citizens are placing on all levels of government for effective and efficient service, responsible and accountable management of programs and finances, and transparency in their operations.

4. One response to Bill C-25

-presentation by the Public Service Commission to the review of Bill C-25 by the Standing Committee on National Finance of the Senate of Canada highlights the efforts of one element of the federal bureaucracy to maintain its authority and control over the human resource process:

"The Public Service Commission (PSC) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Senate's consideration of this important and timely legislation. Provisions in Part 3 of Bill C-25, the Public Service Modernization Act, would increase flexibility for Deputy Heads to staff their organizations and would provide a number of significant accountability measures to protect against political and bureaucratic patronage. We will propose, however, for the Committee's consideration as it deems appropriate, a few recommendations. These are aimed at further protecting against partisanship, reinforcing the Commission's independence and strengthening our relationship with Parliament."

-strengthening 'the Commission's independence' means in part that the much-criticized process of recruitment and hiring will ( if the Commission succeeds in protecting/strengthening its independence) continue to be problematic

5. The Prospects for Renewal

-Jocelyne Bourgon, Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet (and the first woman to hold this position as Head of the Public Service) coined the term a 'quiet crisis' to describe the problems facing the Public Service (1997 Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada).

-the response to this was La Relève (relief and reawakening): or Leadership, Action, Renewal, Energy, Learning, Expertise, Values, Experience

-it appears (broadly speaking) that the only means of addressing these issues is to try and turn the clock back (what Swimmer referred to as the optimistic hypothesis concerning the impact of NPM and program cuts):

- the Treasury Board has been authorized to negotiate agreements with public service unions to address the issues of years of pay freezes

-at the Executive Level bonuses are now being paid (39 $ million in 2003)

-also at the Executive Level there is greater emphasis on mobility: executive training and promotion with the goal of developing "...a broad array of assistant managers at the assistant DM level who are generalists in the field of management, who have a diversified work experience, who are capable of engaging in horizontal career paths as they move across departments, and who are those capable and interested in developing and furthering a government-wide "corporate" approach to the work of the public service". (David Johnson, Thinking Government: Public-Sector Management in Canada. pg. 439)

6. A Work In Progress?

-at this date it is too early to assess the potential for success (or failure) in the federal government's attempts to renew the public service....what seems clear though is that this is an urgent and significant problem...and, ironically, a problem due in part to battering given public servants over the past 20 - 25 years

-provincial and local governments face the same challenges but with fewer resources....this is particularly true at the local government level which employees vast numbers of public servants

Lecture # 42: Freedom of Information and Privacy (Data Protection): The Administration of Information

1. Information, Power and Public Administration

• information as Weber noted plays a significant role in bureaucracy: the continuity and impersonality characteristics which help make bureaucracy relative strong, reflect the importance of information...until recently bureaucratic information was contained and conveyed on paper

• Hood notes that governments have the most extensive access to private information since information is routinely gathered during the functions of detecting and effecting

• in a democratic state the administration of information reflects two serious issues: 1. the accountability of the public service: are bureaucrats using their access to vast stores or information in a manner consistent with the limited authority allocated to their particular position (in other words are bureaucrats getting only the necessary and pertinent information)? 2. is bureaucratic decision-making and access to information subject to adequate control (is discretion adequately exercised?

• a complex field in which governments have at least (Westmacott and Mellon) five issues of information management problems/issues:

• 1. they are collectors of volumes of information (vital stats, criminal & health records)

• 2. agents of information transmission (education, Aids information)

• 3. protectors of private information (eg my tax records)

• 4. protectors or censors of information in >the public interest= (pornography, secrets)

• 5. regulators of information in non-governmental areas (lobbyists, business incorporation)

2.. The impact of computers on government and the administration of information

• a tremendous impact on governments, their employees, the delivery of services and the management of information: in 1996 alone the Feds spent more than $ 3 billion on information technology (similar figures for other recent years)...in 1999 the Feds threw millions more into preventing the Y2K problem including allowing massive tax breaks for private spending on Y2K solutions

• the development of common >identifiers= eg SIN

• the advent of the information highway and the development of the PC (a tool on everyone's desk)

• governments are affected because information processing is a major part of their work and a source of power

• Management Information Systems: differ from computers as the MIS links a variety of sources (eg a supermarket cash register is linked to a MIS)

• unlike previous systems computer MIS provides 'instant information'

• changes in the ability of governments to provide service: one-stop shopping for licenses, employment services, tax returns, passports

• the feds have appointed a Chief Information Officer to facilitate and inform federal departments on the benefits of computer driven services

• computers have impacted on jobs: reducing the demand for clerical labour but increasing the demand for hardware and software skills

• there are also concerns about physical and mental health: Carpel tunnel syndrome became the >workplace disease= of the >90's; constant exposure to video display terminals during pregnancy,

3. From the Day of the Jackal to Clear and Present Danger

• computerization has changed dramatically the ability of government to link its fragmented divisions and to blend these into a coherent whole: in short to administer, to control, to manage information

• in the original version of Day of the Jackal the French government collected vast amounts of information on a daily basis...the problems were both the slow speed of information assembly and retrieval and the difficulty of sorting through this to find the relevant pieces

• in Clear and Present Danger...the same problem exists but the >assembly, retrieval sorting tools= are dramatically improved

4. The development of Privacy and Freedom of Information Legislation

• except in Sweden (1766) the regulation of public information management did not begin until the US adopted the Freedom of Information Act in 1967

• Canada followed rather late: in 1982 for Freedom of Information; 1977 for public sector date protection (privacy)

• the expansion of the state (at all levels) since 1945 has resulted in vast administrative systems of highly fragmented authority with much greater ability to access and collect information

• technology: the development of computer systems and the establishment of fully-linked systems

• neo-liberalism or neo-conservatism: the political focus on individual rights, freedoms... privatization and its cousins...greater access for the private realm to information

• globalization: the intensification of relationships without the concurrent strengthening of the public realm although super-national bodies (eg OECD) may try to establish standards

• actually the public realm is deliberately weakened as the public interest increasingly is defined as that of the private economy

• conflict: governments are simultaneously gatherers, managers, watchdogs, purveyors and manipulators of information

5. Freedom of Information

• a perception of >the uncontrolled growth in the size, power and complexity of the modern state=

• a >credibility gap= fueled by >secrecy and distrust= and declining faith in government

• FOI is intended to provide >a legal right for any person to inspect the records of public agencies=

• in practice these requests are mostly from the news media and academics

• forms must be filled out; a modest fee paid; and patience exercised

• grounds for refusal: national security, commercial information, law-enforcement, third-party information

6. Canadian Privacy and FOI

• issues tend to be non-partisan...private members and both the PCs and Liberals had a hand in putting our federal legislation forward

• feds have separate offices: 1. the Privacy Commission (part of the Canadian Human Rights Commission); 2. the Chief Information Officer, part of the Information Commission

• provinces tend to combine the offices which automatically creates a certain amount of internal conflict

• bureaucratic coordination: 1. federally...the Treasury Board Secretariat ensures that each department or agency is aware of issues and requirements regarding the legislation while the Justice department ensures compliance and/or comments on legality; 2. provincially (Ontario) it=s the Cabinet Board of Management

• privacy commissioners are >primarily ombudsmen=

• federal FOI commissioner >has only advisory and reporting powers= though he/she can appeal to the Federal Court

7. Conclusions:

• problems for public admin include: 1. adjusting the organizational culture; 2. resisting political pressure; 3. balancing the need for openness with the demands for confidentiality; 4. rule-making which clarifies the limits of discretion vis a vis openness and confidentiality

• should we, can we impose limits on the private sector?

• privatizing, contracting out have simultaneously weakened accountability and increased the links between the private and public realms

Lecture # 43: Corporatism, Citizenship and Public Administration

Major Theme:

The great Liberal historian Lord Acton reminds us: 'power tends to corrupt, absolute power to corrupt absolutely...'. Can liberal democracies continue to reconcile liberty, equality and the need for security. John Ralston Saul's argues the corporatism is rapidly replacing democracy by '...the rejection of citizen-based democracy and the desire to react in a stable way...' to the global economy.

Reprise: The New World Order

The New World Order heralded by Dr. George Bush, LLD, Toronto, >97, (father of the current President): a world in which the very, very rich play and prosper while most grow poorer and weaker. The tax-free, unregulated economic New World order works well for an international elite of wealthy families and executives. The average Canadian middle-manager works 25% longer without any extra pay! Risk is individualized (threats to personal security must be met by personal resources) yet threats to transnationals are met by resources of state & society.

1. Modernity

• the early part of modernity is a period of tremendous change, upheaval, excitement, and the simultaneous generation both of great wealth and widespread poverty

• rapid economic, social and political change; rise of nationalism and the nation-state; the extension of citizenship; development of mass culture and education, revolutionary challenges to capitalism

2. The Public Sector and Public Administration Expand to meet the challenges of Modernity

• migration and loss of economic independence introduce many new problems: health, public transportation, education, policing, fire protection, social welfare, employment, defence

• traditional sources of social welfare fail... but markets have no solutions for these problems

• the success of the private sector is based on the social goods provided by the public sector

3. Modernity, Globalization and Reinventing the State

• electronic communications technology has led to the lowering of traditional state barriers to trade in goods, services and currencies at the urging of transnational business on the assumption and, indeed, the promise that freer trade will result in stronger economies and higher standards of living

• privatization and contracting out: low risk private investment (home care )

• people question their beliefs in government, politics, democracy (state legitimacy declines)

• and, the very rich get richer

1. The New World Order: in the 1991 State of the Union message President Bush Sr. '...called upon all nations "to fulfill the long-held promise of a new world order--where brutality will go unrewarded and aggression will meet collective resistance." '

2. Prior to The New World Order

• World War One (1914 - 1918) brought an end to a world system where international trade and politics were dominated by states where inequality was common

• the aftermath of the War and the failure of the market to end the Great Depression led to the creation of the social welfare state

• veterans - and their families - of the Second World War (1939 - 1945) changed the face of politics in Canada and other countries by demanding a better future for following generations

• governments adopted some of the suggestions proposed by Keynes to use monetary and fiscal instruments to manage national economies.

• in effect, a bargain--the Great Compromise--was struck between, business, government and labour to pursue policies which maintained high levels of employment and social services in a system which paid workers relatively well

3. The New Industrial State

• large corporations: increasingly tended to be disconnected from local communities and managed by a mobile group of executives with common managerial skills but without the entrepreneurial history and commitment of men like Ford

• in 20 years the number of transnational corporations went from 7,000 to 40,000 with some 270,000 affiliates

• improvements in communications technology made it advantageous, necessary and possible for transnational corporations to move their funds throughout world markets to maximize returns and protect themselves from the damage which could be wrought by overexposure to one economy (eg US/Canada)...and at the same time disadvantageous to insist on the protection of tarries and barriers when so much more might be earned by a barrier free trading world with an expanding economy.

• at the same time the partial and bastardized remnants of Keynes' plan for the post-war world--GATT, IMF, the World Bank - went ahead but in a new direction

4. Neoconservatism and the challenge to Fordism

• the bargain struck in the Great Compromise began to unravel in the 1960's

• the neocons: 1. moral neoconservatism (the new Victorians) which is often based in fundamental Protestant Christian belief which recoils at abortion and pornography; 2. economic neoconservatism based on beliefs in private enterprise, individual initiative and personal self-reliance

5. Poverty and the New World Order

• despite the elder President Bush=s optimism the 1990's did not prove to be a decade of order

• in a 5 year period 70 countries (mostly poor) experienced some 90 conflicts severe enough to be classified as war

1. The Rise of Corporatism

• Corporatism is a non-democratic, non-responsive elite theory of governance which sees the individual not as a citizen but as a functionary in society

• Politically the individual is represented through his or her occupational membership in institutions. -the individual is isolated from other individuals and sees himself or herself as a single entity performing a function necessary to the existence of the whole.

• under Mussolini the Italian state elite controlled all significant institutions rendering political representation superfluous.

2. Democracy versus Corporatism

• Sebastian de Grazia compared the anomie of the individual under corporatism (feelings of anxiety, uncertainty and confusion) with the solidarity of the individual in democracy (feelings of sharing clear cut values).

• as democracy weakens - political dialogue reduced to a formal rhetoric of self-interest

• Thesis: that the language of politics has been narrowed to a discussion of the relative economic advantages of public policy options

• corporatists slander the public interest

• Thesis: corporatists have succeeded in portraying spokespeople for the collective interest as 'special interests'

3. Hooked on the Market: Capitalism as a Junkie!

• Heilbroner believes that capitalism must be controlled by government if it is to survive: unregulated it will destroy itself due to the collapse of state-level regulation and the much faster speed with which disastrous transactions (and dishonest ones) can now take place: disaster can occur before we can take steps to identify it, let alone prevent it.

• unbridled economic acquisition is not correlated to political freedom

• Schumpeter: capitalism creates a rational frame of mind which, having destroyed the moral authority of so many other institutions, in the end turns against its own..." The creative destruction that takes place is ultimately wasteful and may doom capitalism if the corrosion of values does not.

• Frank: 'a libertarian regime does not produce the optimal use of resources' due to excessive saving and the incentive to make less productive investments (eg Bill Gates house instead of elementary school education)

4. The Junkie as a Threat to Everyone

• Capitalism (for Braudel) is an economic and social and political order; not longer admired (as Marx did for its productivity) nor seen as a high stage of development (Weber) but which exists by virtue of its presence. He describes the great problem of retaining the advantages of the market (freedom, choice, growth) with the concentration of social and political power which it brings and the decline in competition which inevitably reduces the benefits of the market.

• Braudel: 'Just as a country at the centre of a world-economy can hardly be expected to give up its privileges at international levels, how can one hope that the dominant groups who combine capital and state power and who are assured of international support, will agree to play the game and hand over to someone else?'

5. Disaster as Opportunity

• an opportunity to develop a new framework for social policy, by viewing social policy as the key integrating factor in the context of sustainable economic development.

• Citing Heclo (Towards a New Welfare State) Courchene notes that we are in the reformulation stage of a process began in 1870 when European states began to tackle the problem of reconciling liberty, equality and security.

• against this are arrayed the following: 1. a political system which is based on representation of place; 2. political power invested in an elite which includes providers of services and heads of institutions; 3. limits on the ability of consumer sovereignty--consumers can only choose from what the market can provide; 4. many careers vested in maintaining existing federal/provincial relations.

6. Public Administration and the Citizen as Consumer

• Osborne and Gaebler see the role of government as providing consumable goods and services...the question then is how to reduce the cost of supply

• a 'revolution in customer service'

• not an original idea of Osborne and Gaebler but the result of repeated studies and reform attempts

• contributing causes: 1. influence of private sector management and administrative reforms and developments; 2. isolated, impenetrable and uncaring public institutions and administrators; 3. technological change.

• problem: improving levels of service we receive as individuals does not 'promote social solidarity or collective action'

• government has a more fundamental role to play as mediator and arbiter of a broader public interest

• the citizen as consumer emphasizes individualization and leads to the depoliticization of the state...politics is simply the 'efficient delivery of service'

7. Public Administration and the Citizen as Symbolic Participant

• increasing focus on 'elite accommodation'

• neo-conservatism has often led to centralizing already distant governments and public institutions...greater distances between new service delivery agents and recipients

• the 'professionalization of public participation'...efforts to 'tell and sell' rather than consultation

• participation as a safety value: letting off steam

• the rise of 'push button democracy'...electronic town hall meetings; polling fatigue

8. Public Administration and the Spirit of Democracy

• Weber: bureaucratic public administration has a levelling or equalizing influence: it makes social class and other privileged statuses irrelevant to the system of legal-rational authority; it removes/protects officials from the influence of political power; it provides public goods equally

• Graham and Phillips: shrinking the state silences the citizen

• Freedom as choice...freedom as equality

9. Conclusion

A state which reduces itself to push-button, customer service democracy ultimately reduces its legitimacy...citizens no longer recognize the state and the nation as a source of identity and security. In a democracy this poses a huge problem for legitimacy and the continuing exercise of public authority. Human beings need a sense of ontological security: this need will not diminish. It remains to be seen if a revitalized citizenry--acting in a responsible and disinterested manner--will force governing elites to alter the state-destroying impulses of globalization and restore the commitment to basic levels of equality and social justice.

Lecture # 44: Renewing the Public Service

Major theme:

At number of substantial challenges face the public service in Canada. At all three levels - federal, provincial and municipal - large numbers (as high as 50%) of public servants are going to retire in the next five years. Clearly, for any organization replacing up to half the workforce would present a significant challenge. Recruiting suitable replacements is also a challenge because the morale of the public service has been badly battered as a result of the criticism mounted by neoconservatives and the advocates of the new public management. Public service is now a less-desirable career.

1. The Auditor General's Report (2001) highlights the problems facing the public service.:

"2.4 The public services faces a significant "human capital" challenge--the need for enough skilled people to perform its work, given the demographic profile of the public service; a shift in the nature of work; an increasingly tight market for talent; and negative perceptions of the public service as a career choice. To address this challenge, the Clerk of the Privy Council has identified recruitment as one of three human resource priorities across the public service.

2.5 This audit examined recruitment: the actions taken by central agencies and hiring managers to ensure that the public service is hiring enough skilled people to perform its work. We looked at six departments; we focussed on recruiting in the Scientific and Professional category and the Administrative and Foreign Service category, which are the key sources of people to replace the Executive leadership group. The Executive group could experience a 70 percent loss through retirements by 2008."

2. Canadian Public Administration and the Baby Boom

-it is common to find that what is a serious administrative problem in one state is also an issue in many other states: for example, all states face issues with privacy of information; all states are under economic pressure from the global market to reduce the cost of government.

-one element of the Renewal Issue is more problematic for Canada than for other countries: the Canadian post-war birth generation (the Baby Boom - 1946 - 1964) is the most pronounced and significant of the baby booms which basically occurred in only four countries: Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia. Canada's total fertility rate appears to have been the most pronounced and the boom outpaced the American boom by a significant measure....so, for the purposes of renewal of the public service, Canada faces somewhat more significant baby boom generation and, therefore, a somewhat more significant problem (see Diane J. Macnovich, The Baby Boomers, 2000, Barnard College)

3. Bill C-25 (Omnibus Bill) introduced in February 2003

-intended to respond to issues raised in the Auditor General's Report:

" The Public Service of Canada is facing human resources management challenges related to its capacity to support the federal government in reaching its future objectives. These encompass attracting and retaining the right talent; developing a new generation of leaders; improving labour-management relations in ways that will assist in the early resolution of disputes; managing compensation effectively; modernizing the human resources regime and related policies; and ensuring a bilingual workplace and representative workforce.

These challenges arise from key factors:

an aging Public Service workforce whose average age exceeds that of the Canadian workforce in general and, as a result, a large number of anticipated retirements within the next decade;

an anticipated decrease in the population of 20- to 44-year-olds that will present a recruitment challenge for the coming decade;

the ability of the federal Public Service to compete with the private sector in attracting and keeping high-calibre employees under conditions of labour scarcity;

an increasing focus among workers on personal satisfaction and fulfillment based on such factors as compensation and benefits, opportunity for development and advancement,

recognition for work, and improvement in work-life balance;

the increasing diversity of Canada's workforce;

the ongoing requirement for employees to adapt to a complex and rapidly evolving knowledge-based environment; and

the increasing demands that citizens are placing on all levels of government for effective and efficient service, responsible and accountable management of programs and finances, and transparency in their operations.

4. One response to Bill C-25

-presentation by the Public Service Commission to the review of Bill C-25 by the Standing Committee on National Finance of the Senate of Canada highlights the efforts of one element of the federal bureaucracy to maintain its authority and control over the human resource process:

"The Public Service Commission (PSC) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Senate's consideration of this important and timely legislation. Provisions in Part 3 of Bill C-25, the Public Service Modernization Act, would increase flexibility for Deputy Heads to staff their organizations and would provide a number of significant accountability measures to protect against political and bureaucratic patronage. We will propose, however, for the Committee's consideration as it deems appropriate, a few recommendations. These are aimed at further protecting against partisanship, reinforcing the Commission's independence and strengthening our relationship with Parliament."

-strengthening 'the Commission's independence' means in part that the much-criticized process of recruitment and hiring will ( if the Commission succeeds in protecting/strengthening its independence) continue to be problematic

5. The Prospects for Renewal

-Jocelyne Bourgon, Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet (and the first woman to hold this position as Head of the Public Service) coined the term a 'quiet crisis' to describe the problems facing the Public Service (1997 Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada).

-the response to this was La Relève (relief and reawakening): or Leadership, Action, Renewal, Energy, Learning, Expertise, Values, Experience

-it appears (broadly speaking) that the only means of addressing these issues is to try and turn the clock back (what Swimmer referred to as the optimistic hypothesis concerning the impact of NPM and program cuts):

- the Treasury Board has been authorized to negotiate agreements with public service unions to address the issues of years of pay freezes

-at the Executive Level bonuses are now being paid (39 $ million in 2003)

-also at the Executive Level there is greater emphasis on mobility: executive training and promotion with the goal of developing "...a broad array of assistant managers at the assistant DM level who are generalists in the field of management, who have a diversified work experience, who are capable of engaging in horizontal career paths as they move across departments, and who are those capable and interested in developing and furthering a government-wide "corporate" approach to the work of the public service". (David Johnson, Thinking Government: Public-Sector Management in Canada. pg. 439)

6. A Work In Progress?

-at this date it is too early to assess the potential for success (or failure) in the federal government's attempts to renew the public service....what seems clear though is that this is an urgent and significant problem...and, ironically, a problem due in part to battering given public servants over the past 20 - 25 years

-provincial and local governments face the same challenges but with fewer resources....this is particularly true at the local government level which employees vast numbers of public servants