The prospects for reinventing government

Abstract

THE PROSPECTS FOR REINVENTING GOVERNMENT. Michael J. Trebilcock. Toronto: C.D. Howe Institute, 1994.One of the most interesting recent additions to the literature on Canadian politics is a volume edited by Michael Atkinson entitled Governing Canada: Institutions and Public Policy. This collection is organized around the framework of institutional analysis and its impact upon public policy. the words of the book's editor, In Canada, the struggle to shape and reshape institutions is a familiar feature of political life. We study institutions to see what they promise and to reveal the interests and ideas that lie behind the alternatives we are (5). The resulting commentary offered by seasoned scholars like Herman Bakvis, Paul Thomas, Sharon Sutherland, and William Coleman offers useful insights suitable to both undergraduate students and senior researchers. Chapters are devoted both to institutions (the cabinet, the public service, courts, etc.) as well as to major policy fields (macroeconomic, social, etc.).Atkinson notes that his inquiries are guided by the spirit of a which draws on both rational choice and structural schools of thought. The synthesis of these schools enables one to understand institutions as both contractual arrangements as well as state structures through which political transformations occur. Discussion of the prevailing institutional corpus and the constraints and opportunities for creativity in the making of policy is the lifeblood of the book. It is animated by an underlying concern that have been too willing to conceive plans for reforming governing structures and rejigging constitutional clauses, and too little prepared to reflect upon public policy impacts or the full implications of particular reforms. Canadians have experimented with new institutional designs without either theorizing or actually examining the role that existing institutions play in the policy process (v).The Governing Canada collection has received numerous strongly favourable reviews; however, one commentary that appeared in The American Review of Canadian Studies concluded with the question How new is the 'new institutionalism'?(f.1) As the Atkinson collection is simply one of a number of recent works which take institutional rules and arrangements seriously as determinants of policy choices and debates, the question is an important one, and revisiting it in terms of an assortment of recent volumes may help elucidate the significant contours of modern institutional analyses. Dealing with this inquiry by examining at least some of what makes the modern studies of institutions distinct from their predecessors will help to clear away conceptual underbrush and serve to emphasize some of the merits of taking institutions seriously in the study of public policy.Addressing what marks the new Canadian institutionalism means acknowledging an historical debt to past scholars while pointing to newer preoccupations and understandings. Thus a brief nod to the impressive Canadian tradition of studying formal governing institutions in terms of their legal and constitutional evolution prefaces this overview of several recent works on Canadian public policy which stress institutional factors in their analysis. the process, it is suggested that the new institutionalism stands apart from its predecessors due to heightened awareness of a) a context for public sector action more complex than traditional command/control/ministerial responsibility models, b) the range of government outputs, c) heightened attention to alternative service delivery models, and d) the range of bargaining that surrounds policy decisions including the shaping of interest group communities. Institutions exist within an environment influenced by external stimuli and thus interest group relations, output analysis and public perceptions become important.Canadian public policy studies have been well served by the giants of an earlier age who worked with the framework of legal institutionalism. …

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