Though they serve in many roles and under many titles, no one doubts that political staffs now wield substantial influence in the making of government policy. Backrooms and Beyond draws on interviews with ministers, senior public servants, and political advisers to offer the first detailed Canadian treatment of how that influence is gained and exercised in the policy making process.A comparative analysis of case studies from three Canadian jurisdictions, including the fede...

This handbook comprehensively reflects, presents and summarises both first and second wave scholarship into policy advisory systems (PAS). Bringing together leading scholars to engage persistent as well as emergent themes, the handbook provides a single volume highlighting both classic and new directions for PAS research, summarising both existing knowledge and outlining possible future findings.Covering the activities of a range of advisory system members from think tanks to publi...

In turbulent environments and unstable political contexts, policy advisory systems have become more volatile. The policy advisory system in Anglophone countries is composed of different types of advisers who have input into government decision making. Government choices about who advises them varies widely as they demand contestability, greater partisan input and more external consultation. The professional advice of the public service may be disregarded. The consequences for public policy...

Policy Work in Canada is an in-depth study into the levels of analytical capacity found within the federal and provincial governments as well as the non-governmental sector. By focusing on the individuals who craft public policy in Canada, this collection of eighteen chapters broadens and deepens our understanding of policy development in Canada.The contributors to this volume empirically examine such topics as: the inherent characteristics of sophisticated policy analysis...

Policy analysis in Canada brings together original contributions from many of the field’s leading scholars. Contributors chronicle the evolution of policy analysis in Canada over the past 50 years and reflect on its application in both governmental and non-governmental settings.As part of the International Library of Policy Analysis series, the book enables cross-national comparison of public policy analysis concepts and practice within national and sub-national governments, media,...

Since the third edition of this authoritative volume, most of Western Europe and North America have entered an era of austerity which has pervasive effects on programmes of public management reform. Even in Australasia extensive measures of fiscal restraint have been implemented. In this fourth edition the basic structure of the book has been retained but there has been a line-by-line rewriting, including the addition of extensive analyses and information about the impacts of austerity. Ma...

The original Handbook of Public Administration was a landmark publication, the first to provide a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the discipline. The eagerly-awaited new edition of this seminal international handbook continues to provide a complete review and guide to past and present knowledge in this essential field of inquiry.Assembling an outstanding team of scholars from around the world, the second edition explores the current state-of-the-art in academic thinking a...

The UK has played a pivotal role in the development of New Public Management (NPM). This book offers an original, comprehensive and multidisciplinary analysis of the impact of the New Public Management in the UK, and situates these analyses in a broader comparative perspective. Its chapters consider:competing typologies of NPMissues of professionalism within NPMdebates on social exclusion and equitythe role of different research approaches in eva...

Decision-making is at the heart of governing and governance, and is a more challenging task compared to just a few decades ago as a result of increasing social complexity and globalization. In this book, B. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre propose a new framework for the comparative analysis of governance, arguing that government remains a central actor in governance. By articulating the functionalist dimension of governance they show how goal setting, resource mobilization, decision-making, impl...

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the current European media in a period of disruptive transformation. It maps the full scope of contemporary media policy and industry activities while also assessing the impact of new technologies and radical changes in distribution and consumption on media practices, organizations and strategies. Combining a critical assessment of media systems with a thematic approach, it can serve as a resource for scholars or as a textbook, as well as a sour...

This unique book is the first to explore the public policy process through 19 contributions from diverse scholars from all over the world. It uses empirical material to demonstrate how many of the key theories and concepts may be applied to its analysis. These are linked by substantive commentary from the editor, Michael Hill, a renowned policy process expert, and organised into five sections: Stability and Change, Agenda Setting, Policy Formulation, Implementation and Governance and Globa...

Governance is becoming increasingly important in universities just as it is in the wider world of commerce and banking. Historically, universities were run by their academic communities but as mass higher education has taken root, as university research has become a critical element in national economies and as the demand for more accountability both financial and in academic performance has grown, pressure has mounted for a ‘modernisation’ of governance structures.One aspect of ‘m...