Reviews/Comptes rendus
BOOKS REVIEWED
Reviews/Comptes rendus
417
Joseph Maingot Parliamentary Privilege in
Canada reviewed by Greg Levy 421
Keith Archer and Alan Whitehorn Political Activists: The NDP in Convention reviewed by James
Bickerton 419
Sheila B. Kamerman and Alfred J. Kahn (eds.)
Family Change and Family Policies in Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States
reviewed by John F. Peters 422
Frank McGilly An Introduction to Canada’s Public Social Services: Understanding Income and
Health Programs reviewed by Joseph Garcea 420
B.G. Peters and J.D. Savoie (eds.) Taking Stock:
Assessing Public Sector Reforms reviewed by R.W.
Phidd 418
CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY – A NALYSE DE POLITIQUES,
VOL. XXV, NO . 3 1999
418 Reviews/Comptes rendus
Taking Stock: Assessing Public Sector Reforms
edited by B.G. Peters and J.D. Savoie. Montreal and
Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1998.
Pp. ix, 414. $22.95.
The book, Taking Stock: Assessing Public Sector
Reforms, could be used as a means of pulling together
some of the most recent ideas on public sector management. The multiplicity and extensiveness of the
reform initiatives adopted throughout the western
industrialized world, as well as in other countries, have
led to a need for taking stock; that is, for assessing
the significance of the reforms. The editors state that
“the idea that members of the academic community
should ‘take stock’ of these measures and their impact on public administration was born in a meeting of senior government officials in the autumn of
1994.” The officials felt that important changes were
being introduced in various countries. Accordingly,
“they asked that we take stock of these measures
and tease out the lessons learned about their implementation and their impact” (p. 4). The book deals
with New Public Management (NPM) and highlights
Margaret Thatcher as a champion of the reforms.
There are 13 contributors to this volume, chosen
from the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Canada. Some of the conclusions drawn
are: (i) that champions are needed to instigate reforms; (ii) that successes or failures are not clear
cut; (iii) that the NPM reforms are multifaceted, and
that political and administrative reforms accompany
the NPM initiatives; (iv) that other organizational
changes precede NPM reforms; (v) that a theoretical framework for evaluating the political and organizational changes is needed in order to capture
effectively the reforms; (vi) that there are a number
of difficulties inherent in the attempts to measure
the costs and benefits associated with the reforms;
and (vii) that adequate criteria for evaluating the
various reforms need to be established before more
effective conclusions can be formulated about them.
Why are there such difficulties in assessing reforms? There are complex societal, economic development, and governmental issues latently assoCANADIAN P UBLIC P OLICY – A NALYSE DE POLITIQUES,
ciated with the reform efforts under discussion.
Accordingly, the collection of papers deals with the
following concerns, among others: the changing role
of the state, the meaning of managerialism, the
analysis of what works in reforms, the role of values
in public sector reforms, the role of public consultation and citizen participation in policy formulation, the changing role of the higher public service,
the assessment of past and current personnel reforms, the innovation in public sector management,
the new generation of budget reform, the changing
role of central agencies, including issues such as
empowerment and coordination, the restructuring of
government for the delivery of services, and the
changing nature of accountability. Are these the
kinds of questions that can be answered in 15 years?
Certainly not. From this perspective, we should not
be surprised with the conclusions that criteria for
evaluating the reforms should be established. We
should look at Canada in the comparative public
management system.
Some important issues which should be addressed
in the study of reforms are: the time frame for assessing reforms, the level of organizational analysis which is being conducted (albeit macro and micro and the need to clarify the meaning and use of
terms such as institutions, organizational, administrative), and the institutional change. We may want
to begin by differentiating the term “institutions”
from the process of institutionalization. This may
even involve the use of the term “deinstitutionalization.” Some terms are discussed: the role of institutions, ideas, individuals, and flexibility in the assessment of administrative reform, but they all require further analysis. We have been through a period of discussing bureaucracy, bureaucratization,
and debureaucratization as processes of industrialization, which suggests that we should examine the
change process in the period of globalization even
more closely. This reviewer would like to suggest
that we need to reassess the assumptions and the
implications behind the endorsement of selected
theoretical schools: the classical school (bureaucracy and scientific management, human relations,
VOL. XXV , NO . 3 1999
Reviews/Comptes rendus
decision making, organizational change, the contingency view of management, the organizational culture,
the new public management, and the public choice
approaches to explaining change and adaptation. We
can make more sense of the approaches once we have
identified their underlying assumptions. An important
question should be posed. Can all of these theories be
applied to different countries in varied circumstances
at the same time? Should the IMF and the international
credit-rating system be applied to the developed and
developing countries in the same way?
The book assesses change in the public sector.
These changes need to be catalogued and assessed
meaningfully. The analysis here concludes with “Fifteen Years of Reform: What Have We Learned.” One
of the major conclusions drawn from the analysis is
the need to reassess the roles of the central agencies: the Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board
Secretariat, the Public Service Commission, and the
Department of Finance. These organizations underwent significant reforms in the 1960s and have since
been associated with new challenges. The book demonstrates the wide ranging areas that are categorized
as public sector reforms. It is absolutely essential
to establish meaningful criteria for assessing the
various reform initiatives. We may want to address
some questions such as: What is the role of academics in assessing reforms? Are the concerns of academics different from those of practitioners? By what
criteria should the reform initiatives be assessed? What
are the overall values driving the reform?
This important collection of essays, by an experienced group of academics, on the continuing debate over the changing role of the state should be
read by both teachers and practitioners. Ironically,
however, the book concludes with some old questions still in need of debate and in search of answers.
Have the champions of reform really won or are there
important battles yet to be fought emanating from some
of the earlier victories catalogued in this study?
R.W. PHIDD, Department of Political Science, University of Guelph
419
Political Activists: The NDP in Convention
by Keith Archer and Alan Whitehorn. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1997. Pp. x, 299. $22.95.
In Political Activists, Archer and Whitehorn have
used the data from delegate surveys administered at
several New Democratic Party (NDP) conventions
to produce a profile of NDP party activists on a range
of issues. They also incorporate the results of surveys
of Liberals and Conservatives in conventions to compare and contrast the activists of all three political parties. Political Activists culminates in a discussion of
leadership selection within the NDP and a close examination of the last two leadership conventions.
The authors first deal with the organizational and
ideological structure of the NDP. The major point
made here is that the organizational structure of the
NDP is more fully developed than the other parties.
A key reason for this is the extent to which collectivism (by this the authors mean group representation) has been incorporated into the party’s structure. Membership in the federal party can occur only
through the provincial sections or through union
affiliation; moreover, in addition to labour, a number
of distinct interests have been given organizational
existence and representational voice through the
mechanism of internal “caucuses” (women, youth,
environmental, left, and gay/lesbian). These are a
nodal point of activity at party conventions.
This internal differentiation is counterbalanced
by a relatively high degree of social homogeneity
and consensus of opinion at party conventions. In
sociological terms, the NDP in convention is a
middle-class and urban party; it clearly is also a
social democratic party, displaying a high degree of
ideological distinctiveness (New Democrats are
clearly to the left of both their Liberal and Tory
counterparts), as well as internal consistency. In
general, New Democrats are economic and cultural
nationalists who believe in redistributive social programs and an activist government; they also are nonviolent internationalists on defence and aid issues
and liberals on moral issues.
CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY – A NALYSE DE POLITIQUES,
VOL. XXV, NO . 3 1999
420 Reviews/Comptes rendus
The last section of the book deals with leadership issues. After briefly outlining the history of
leadership contests within the party and the rules
and procedures relating to delegate selection for
biennial party conventions (any one of which can
become a venue for a leadership contest), the authors distinguish the process from that used by other
parties, noting its more egalitarian and open nature.
The disastrous 1993 election was a catalyst for
change in the method of leadership selection, although the authors suggest that the new method
employed in 1995 (a hybrid format combining elements of a primary system with a delegate convention) may prove to be an interim compromise; the
complex, two-step process could pose serious legitimacy problems for the outcome of future contests
(although this was not true in 1995). At the same
time, Archer and Whitehorn recognize that the
collectivist components of NDP organization and
membership work best in the context of a traditional
delegate convention, rather than the increasingly
popular universal membership vote.
Political Activists may not be a book for those
possessing only a general interest in Canadian politics, but it is an important study for all those with a
scholarly or partisan interest in Canadian political
parties. In particular, its in-depth analysis of the last
two NDP leadership conventions provides valuable
insights into both the internal dynamics of Canada’s party-of-the-left, as well as the advantages,
problems and biases of particular methods of leadership selection.
JAMES BICKERTON, Department of Political Science,
St. Francis Xavier University
An Introduction to Canada’s Public Social
Services: Understanding Income and Health
Programs
by Frank McGilly. Toronto: Oxford University Press,
1998. Pp. xii, 315. $26.95
This is an updated version of a very useful primer
on Canada’s income and health program for both
CANADIAN P UBLIC P OLICY – A NALYSE DE POLITIQUES,
Canadian and foreign university students enrolled
in social policy classes. It manages to make intelligible and interesting what often seems unintelligible and uninteresting.
The book contains very clear and succinct
overviews of income and health programs in Canada.
This includes a chapter on each of the following
programs: employment insurance, workers’ compensation, pensions, welfare, hospitalization insurance,
and medical care insurance.
The book also contains useful introductory and
concluding chapters. The introduction provides an
overview of some of the major challenges
policymakers face in the income and health sectors
as well as the theoretical approaches and perspectives that inform the analysis. According to the author, he has opted for an approach that focuses on
the nature of public policies and programs without
the aid or hindrance of any theoretical approach that
prejudges their purposes or end goals. The conclusion provides some prognostications on the direction of the welfare state in the new millennium. It
contains a very thoughtful overview of the challenges that the welfare state has faced and continues to face, the special measures taken by governments in recent years to cope with some perennial
problems, and the limits to their ability to cope with
what at times seem like intractable problems. He
notes that there has been a general move toward a
reduction, or at least a containment, of public commitments in the field of social welfare. Three of the
most common manifestations of this are: the changes
in welfare benefits, the reduction of unemployment
insurance benefits, and the reduction or elimination
of universality.
Some of the most useful elements of the book
for teaching purposes are: the sections at the end of
chapters designed to stimulate thinking and discussion on key features and problems of the income
and health systems; the appendices on different criteria for poverty lines, the key features of the redistribution of income systems in Canada, and the
VOL. XXV , NO . 3 1999
Reviews/Comptes rendus
federal-provincial cost-sharing arrangements in
health care; and the Web sites of governmental and
non-governmental entities that deal with income and
health matters.
The book has two shortcomings. The first is the
limited nature of the updating to parts of the book.
A case in point is the paucity of discussion of the
regionalization initiatives of provincial governments
in the field of health care. Regional health districts
have become important elements of the governance
regimes in health care. The second is the unevenness in the level of sophistication of various parts
of the book. Whereas some parts present material at
a level suited for all university students, other parts
are more suited for senior undergraduate or junior
graduate students with some background in public
policy analysis.
On balance, however, this book is worth including either as a principal or supplementary text in
any course on Canadian social welfare policy. It is
also a useful reference source for those working for
governmental or non-governmental organizations who
need a quick reference manual on the key elements of
the aforementioned income and health programs.
J OSEPH GARCEA , Department of Political Studies,
University of Saskatchewan
Parliamentary Privilege in Canada 2nd Edition
by Joseph Maingot. Montreal and Kingston: House
of Commons and McGill-Queen’s Press, 1998.
Pp. xxiv, 410. $60.00.
Parliamentary privilege is a general term to describe
certain rights and immunities enjoyed by the House
and its members without which they could not discharge their functions. These rights extend only to
a few areas of civil law. Members do not enjoy immunity from the criminal law as a result of their
privileges.
The most important privilege is freedom of
speech whose origins go back to Article 9 of the
421
English Bill of Rights (1689). “The freedom of
speech and debates, or proceedings in Parliament,
ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court
or place out of Parliament.” This principle, and others including the power of Parliament to punish for
contempt, was imported into Canadian law by
clauses such as the preamble to the Constitution Act
1867 and the Parliament of Canada Act.
While relatively simple in principle, privilege
raises a host of difficulties when we come to interpreting its extent and limits. What is a proceeding
of Parliament? Is it confined to precincts where Parliament meets or can it extend to any site used for
parliamentary functions? Is it limited to members
of the assembly or does it apply to persons who appear as witnesses? Do Hansard records enjoy privilege? What about extracts from them? What about
television coverage? What penalties can be imposed
for a breech of privilege? How can such penalties
be enforced?
The answers will be found in what is surely a
standard reference tool for legislators and students
of Parliament. This is actually a revised and expanded version of the original edition published in
1981. The date is significant for that was one year
before the adoption of the Canadian Charter. If there
are any public policy considerations to this book
they revolve around the question of whether the
Charter enhances or limits the traditional scope of
parliamentary privilege. That issue is broached in
the final chapter, which is largely a summary of a
1993 Supreme Court case where the majority upheld the Nova Scotia Assembly’s right to refuse to
allow televised coverage of its debates. Maingot
argues that this decision strengthens privilege since
the Highest Court gave its blessing to assemblies’
“unfettered right to regulate their own proceedings.”
Maingot does allow that where the liberty of the
subject is affected, for example the punishment for
contempt by the legislature of a journalist or other
individual, the Charter has at the very least provided
an additional arrow in the judicial quiver. “If a
CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY – A NALYSE DE POLITIQUES,
VOL. XXV, NO . 3 1999
422 Reviews/Comptes rendus
legislative body proposes to arrest, detain, charge
or commit that person it must reckon with the
Charter” (p. 350).
What is discouraging about this book is that it
ends with the Supreme Court decision as if that edict
was the last possible word on the subject. In the
United Kingdom there are periodic parliamentary
reviews of privilege to see if the doctrine ought to
be refined to meet the needs of modern society. In
Canada our policymakers seem so eager to abdicate
responsibility to the courts that a serious parliamentary study ought to question whether, in the long
term, our parliamentary institutions and practices
risk eclipse by such deference.
GARY LEVY, Editor, Canadian Parliamentary Review,
Ottawa
Family Change and Family Policies in Great
Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United
States
edited by Sheila B. Kamerman and Alfred J. Kahn.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Pp. xi,
416. $135.00.
This is the first of four significant volumes for Family Change and Family Policy. The others focus upon
European countries by region or form of government.
After an introduction of 15 pages, the text deals
specifically with family in the four identified countries. The material is presented systematically and orderly, with sections related to: (i) The Formation of
Families, (ii) Families and the Division of Labour,
(iii) Income, (iv) Health Care and Social Services, and
(v) The Politics and Institutionalization of Family
Policy. Each contribution is made by at least two writers.
While the contents present an historical overview
of possibly 100 years, the focus bears more significance for the post-World War II period, and targets
the past 25 years. Readers will find the detail of great
CANADIAN P UBLIC P OLICY – A NALYSE DE POLITIQUES,
value, whether for any one of the countries under
consideration, or for comparative purposes. The
volume does not do any comparative analysis, or
comparative evaluation.
Each country is affected by its history, demography, immigration policy, political party dominance,
two world wars, and public opinion. All report no
“coherent set of family policies,” and all report a
regression of earlier gains and limited economic
resources in the past decade.
Britain consistently gives policy consideration to
“the politics of poverty” which impacts the family.
While Britain recognizes gender inequality, it has
not adequately negotiated between families and the
workplace. In Canada, the drive for spending cuts,
less government involvement, and the tension between federal and provincial social welfare responsibility does not auger well for family policy gains
made in the 1960s and 1970s.
Family policy in New Zealand has been driven
by pragmatic and political reasons, not by family
ideologies. The safety net policies of the past have
now changed to a “piecemeal system of family support” which lacks sufficient economic or social
security.
Family policy is implicit rather than explicit in
the United States. The conservative religious right
seeks religious teaching in schools, more difficult
divorce laws, and more constraint upon abortion.
Pro-active measures are limited. There is “little in
the way of universal child and family policies.”
This book is a treasure of family policy, impacted
by the ebb and flow of economics, the will of publicly elected officials, and to a lesser degree, public
opinion and lobbying efforts.
JOHN F. P ETERS, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Wilfrid Laurier University
VOL. XXV , NO . 3 1999
Reviews/Comptes rendus
NEW BOOKS
Allan Blakeney and Sandford Borins. Political
Management in Canada: Conversations on Statecraft
(2d ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998.
Pp. x, 293. $21.95.
J.F. Bosher. The Gaullist Attack on Canada, 19671997. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1999. Pp. xi, 331.
Albert Breton (ed.). New Canadian Perspectives:
Economic Approaches to Language and Bilingualism. Ottawa: Canadian Heritage, 1998. Pp. iii, 257.
Maxwell A. Cameron, Robert J. Lawson and
Brian W. Tomlin (eds.). To Walk without Fear: The
Global Movement to Ban Landmines. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998. Pp. xvi, 491. $29.95.
Thomas J. Courchene and Thomas A. Wilson
(eds.). The 1997 Federal Budget: Retrospect and
Prospect. Kingston: John Deutsch Institute for the
Study of Economic Policy, Queen’s University,
1997. Pp. vi, 277.
Thomas Flannagan. Game Theory and Canadian
Politics. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998.
Pp. ix, 190. $17.95.
Brian Gobbett and Robert Irwin. Introducing
Canada: An Annotated Bibliography of Canadian
423
History in English. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press,
Inc., 1998. Pp. xvi, 373.
Bernard Landais. Leçons de politique budgetaire.
Paris: De Boeck & Larcier, 1998. Pp. 249.
David Leyton-Brown (ed.). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998. Pp. xxiv, 315. $85.
Christopher Lingle. The Rise and Decline of the
Asian Century: False Starts on the Path to the Global Millennium. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1998.
Pp. 316. $26.95.
Robert F. Mozley. The Politics and Technology of
Nuclear Proliferation. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1998. Pp. xi, 316. $34.95.
John Robson and Owen Lippert (eds.). Law and
Markets: Is Canada Inheriting America’s Litigious
Legacy? Vancouver: The Fraser Institute, 1997.
Pp. xiii, 177.
Donald R. Stabile. The Origins of American Public Finance: Debates over Money, Debt, and Taxes
in the Constitutional Era, 1776-1836. Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 1998. Pp. xii, 208. $59.95 US.
R. Stephen Warner and Judith G. Wittner (eds.).
Gatherings in Diaspora: Religious Communities and
the New Immigration. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998. Pp. vi, 409. $24.95.
CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY – A NALYSE DE POLITIQUES,
VOL. XXV, NO . 3 1999