POLITICAL SCIENCE 251-3

INTRODUCTION TO CANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

(99-3)

Instructor: Dr. Michael Howlett E-Mail: howlett@sfu.ca

Office: AQ 6043 WWW: http://www.sfu.ca/~howlett

Phone: 291-3082 Office Hours: Thursday 12:30-1:30

 

Class Time: Monday 2:30-4:39

Class Location: AQ 3159

Note: This outline is available through the Department WWW page at URL: http://www.sfu.ca/politics/courses.html

Outline:

This course provides an introduction to the study of public administration through the use of Canadian cases and examples. Topics covered include: Weberian and other theories of bureaucracy and bureaucratization; the similarities and differences found in socialist, developing, and western systems of public administration; the pattern of public sector growth in Canada; and questions of administrative responsibility and accountability in British Parliamentary systems of government.

Requirements and Marking:

1. There will be an in-class mid-term examination worth 20 percent of the course mark and a final examination worth 30 percent.

2. One ten-page paper is due at the end of term and is worth 40 percent of the class mark. An outline for the paper is due at the mid-term exam.

3. Ten percent of the course mark will be awarded on the basis of tutorial participation.

Texts:

Required:

    1. John Shields and B. Mitchell Evans, Shrinking the State: Globalization and Public Administration "Reform" (Halifax: Fernwood, 1998)
    2. Jacques Bourgault, Maurice Demers and Cynthia Williams eds., Public Administration and Public Management: Experiences in Canada (Quebec: Les Publications du Quebec, 1997)

Recommended:

    1. Jon Pierre ed. Bureaucracy in the Modern State: An Introduction to Comparative Public Administration (London: Edward Elgar, 1995)

 

 

 

Paper Topics:

 

    1. Choose a developing or transitional-economy country. Outline the nature of recent changes in that country's system of public administration. Discuss the impetus for these changes and the implications for public administration in this country of recent efforts to "down-size" or otherwise "restrain" the state.

    1. Examine the empirical record of the growth of government in a western country. How can this pattern be explained and what have been the implications of this growth for traditional systems of administrative control.
    2. Choose a Canadian province. Outline recent efforts at reform of the system of public administration in that jurisdiction, and critically assess the merits and results of those efforts.

 

 

 

WEEKLY READING LIST

 

WEEK I - INTRODUCTION AND ADMINISTRATION

Required Reading:

John Shields and B. Mitchell Evans, Shrinking the State: Globalization and Public Administration "Reform" (Halifax: Fernwood, 1998) pp. 14-35

Gregory Albo, "Democratic Citizenship and the Future of Public Management" in Gregory Albo, David Langille and Leo Panitch eds., A Different Kind of State: Popular Power and Democratic Administration (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1993) pp. 17-35

Martin Albrow, Bureaucracy (London: Aldine, 1967) pp. 84-105

Recommended Reading:

Walter Kickert, "Public Management in the United States and Europe" in W.J.M. Kickert ed., Public Management and Administrative Reform in Western Europe (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1997) pp. 15-42

Marc Holzer and Kathe Callahan, Government at Work: Best Practices and Model Programs (London: Sage, 1998) pp. 1-32

 

WEEK II - BUREAUCRACY AND BUREAUCRATIZATION (I): WEBER AND RATIONAL BUREAUCRACY

Required Reading:

Max Weber, "Bureaucracy" in H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, ed., From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology (New York: Oxford, 1946) pp. 196-244

S.E. Eisenstadt, The Political Systems of Empires, (London: Collier, 1963) pp. 3-32

Recommended Reading:

R. Brubaker, The Limits of Rationality, (London: Allen and Unwin, 1984) Chapters 1 and 2

N. Mouzelis, Organization and Bureaucracy (London: Aldine, 1968) pp. 38-54

 

WEEK III - BUREAUCRACY AND BUREAUCRATIZATION (II): IRRATIONAL AND DYSFUNCTIONAL BUREAUCRACY

Required Reading:

Victor A. Thompson, Modern Organizations (New York: Knopf, 1961) pp. 152-178

Charles Wolf Jr., "A Theory of Non-Market Failures" in The Public Interest 55, 1979 pp. 114-133

Jan-Erik Lane, The Public Sector: Concepts, Models and Approaches (London: Sage, 1995) pp. 49-71

Recommended Reading:

L. Rudolph and S. Rudolph, "Authority and Power in Bureaucratic and Patrimonial Bureaucracy" in World Politics, 31(2) 1979 pp. 195-227

Albert Breton and R. Wintrobe, "Bureaucracy and State Intervention: Parkinson's Law Revisited" in Canadian Public Administration, 22, 1979 pp. 208-226

Robert K. Merton, "Bureaucratic Structure and Personality" in Social Forces, 18, 1940

 

WEEK IV - MODERN ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEMS (I): LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATION

Required Reading:

Brian Chapman, The Profession of Government, (London: Unwin, 1971) pp. 9-30

Ernest Barker, The Development of Public Services in Western Europe 1660-1930 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1944) pp. 1-38

John Shields and B. Mitchell Evans, Shrinking the State: Globalization and Public Administration "Reform" (Halifax: Fernwood, 1998) pp. 52-87

Recommended Reading:

Henry Jacoby, The Bureaucratization of the World (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973) pp. 1-35

Peter Flora and Arnold J. Heidenheimer, "The Historical Core and Changing Boundaries of the Welfare State" in P. Flora and A.J. Heidenheimer eds., The Development of Welfare State in Europe and America (New Jersey: Transaction Books, 1981) pp. 17-36

E.N. Gladden, A History of Public Administration (London: Frank Cass, 1972) Volume 1 pp. 107-140; Volume II pp. 1-47

 

WEEK V - MODERN ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEMS (II): SOCIALIST PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Required Reading:

Alec Nove, The Soviet Economic System, (London: Allen and Unwin, 1986) pp. 1-48

Jerry F. Hough, "The Bureaucratic Model and the Nature of the Soviet System" in Journal of Comparative Administration, 5(2) 1973 pp. 134-167

Dawn Oliver, "Perestroika and Public Administration in the U.S.S.R." in Public Administration 66, 1988 pp. 411-428

Recommended Reading:

Various Authors, "Socialist Models of Development" , World Development, 9/10, 1981 Special Issue

You Chunmei, "Current Administrative Reform in China" in International Review of Administrative Science, 52, 1986 pp. 123-144

Joachim Jens Hesse, "Rebuilding the State: Public Sector Reform in Central and Eastern Europe" in Jan-Erik Lane, ed., Public Sector Reform: Rationale, Trends and Problems (London: Sage, 1996) pp. 114-146

 

WEEK VI - MODERN ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEMS (III): DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

Required Reading:

William J. Siffin, "Two Decades of Public Administration in Developing Countries" in Public Administration Review 36(1) 1976 pp. 61-71

J.E. Jreisat, "Administrative Reform in Developing Countries: A Comparative Perspective" in Public Administration and Development, 8(1) 1988 pp. 85-98

Donald C. Rowat, "Comparing Bureaucracies in Developed and Developing Countries: A Statistical Analysis" in International Review of Administrative Sciences, 56 1990 pp. 211-236

Recommended Reading:

Fred G. Burke, "Public Administration in Africa: The Legacy of Inherited Colonial Institutions" in Journal of Comparative Administration 1(3) 1969 pp. 345-378

Mark Hanson, "Organizational Bureaucracy in Latin America and the Legacy of Spanish Colonialism" in Journal of Inter-American Studies and World Affairs, 16(2) 1974 pp. 199-219

Ralph Braibanti, "Transnational Inducement of Administrative Reforms: A Survey of Scope and Critique of Issues" in John D. Montgomery and William J. Siffin ed., Approaches to Development (New York: McGraw Hill, 1966)

Hamza Alavi, "The State and Class Under Peripheral Capitalism" in H. Alavi and T. Shanin eds., Introduction to the Sociology of 'Developing Societies'" (London: Macmillan, 1982)

 

WEEK VII - MID-TERM EXAM AND OUTLINE DUE

 

WEEK VIII - CANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (I): INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

 

Required Reading:

J.E. Hodgetts, Pioneer Public Service (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1955) pp. 35-54; 269-280

Alasdair Roberts, So-Called Experts: How American Consultants Remade the Canadian Civil Service 1918-21 (Toronto: Canadian Public Administration Monograph 10. 18, 1996)

J.E. Hodgetts, The Canadian Public Service, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1973) pp. 17-54; 87-111; 138-156

Recommended Reading:

Graham White, "Provinces and Territories: Characteristics, Roles and Responsibilities" in Jacques Bourgault, Maurice Demers and Cynthia Williams eds., Public Administration and Public Management: Experiences in Canada (Quebec: Les Publications du Quebec, 1997) pp. 167-176

James Iain Gow, "Quebec's Distinctiveness and Its Impact on Institutions" in Jacques Bourgault, Maurice Demers and Cynthia Williams eds., Public Administration and Public Management: Experiences in Canada (Quebec: Les Publications du Quebec, 1997) pp. 245-257

 

WEEK IX - CANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (II): EMPLOYMENT AND EXPENDITURE GROWTH

Required Reading:

Sharon Sutherland and G. Bruce Doern, Bureaucracy in Canada: Control and Reform (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985) pp. 81-140

David Cameron, "The Growth of Government Spending: The Canadian Experience in Comparative Perspective" in Keith Banting ed., State and Society: Canada in Comparative Perspective, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1986) pp. 21-52

Richard Bird, The Growth of Government Spending in Canada (Toronto : Canadian Tax Foundation, 1970). Chapters 1 and 2

 

Recommended Reading:

Alan Peacock, "Public Expenditure Growth in Post-Industrial Society" in B. Gustafsson ed., Post Industrial Society (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1979) pp. 80-100

Patrick D. Larkey, Chandler Stolp and Mark Winer, "Theorizing About the Growth of Government: A Research Assessment" in Journal of Public Policy 1(2) 1981 pp. 157-220

David R. Cameron, "The Expansion of the Public Economy: A Comparative Analysis" in American Political Science Review 71, 1978 pp. 1243-1261

 

 

WEEK X - CANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (III): GENERAL ISSUES OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND CONTROL

Required Reading:

John Shields and B. Mitchell Evans, Shrinking the State: Globalization and Public Administration "Reform" (Halifax: Fernwood, 1998) pp 116-124

S.L. Sutherland and J.R. Mitchell, "Parliament and Administration" in Jacques Bourgault, Maurice Demers and Cynthia Williams eds., Public Administration and Public Management: Experiences in Canada (Quebec: Les Publications du Quebec, 1997) pp. 25-43

 

Recommended Reading:

C.J. Friedrich, "Public Policy and the Nature of Administrative Responsibility" in C.J. Friedrich and Edward Mason eds., Public Policy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1940) pp. 3-24

Herbert Finer, "Administrative Responsibility in Democratic Government" in Public Administration Review, 1(4) 1941 pp. 335-350

Joel D. Aberbach and Bert A. Rockman, "Mandates or Mandarins? Control and Discretion in the Modern Administrative State" in Public Administration Review 48 (2) 1988 pp. 606-612

 

 

WEEK XI - CANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (IV): MINISTERIAL, CABINET, AND PARLIAMENTARY RESPONSIBILITY

Required Reading:

Sharon Sutherland and G. Bruce Doern, Bureaucracy in Canada: Control and Reform (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985) pp. 57-80

Jacques Bourgault and Barbara Wake Carroll, "The Canadian Senior Public Service: The Last Vestiges of the Whitehall Model?" in Jacques Bourgault, Maurice Demers and Cynthia Williams eds., Public Administration and Public Management: Experiences in Canada (Quebec: Les Publications du Quebec, 1997) pp. 91-100

Paul G. Thomas, "Ministerial Responsibility and Administrative Accountability" in Mohamed Charih and Arthur Daniels, eds., New Public Management and Public Administration in Canada (Toronto: Institute of Public Administration of Canada, 1997) pp.141-164

 

 

Recommended Reading:

K. Kernaghan, "Power, Parliament and Public Servants in Canada: Ministerial Responsibility Re-examined" in Canadian Public Administration 22(3), 1979 pp. 383-396

Nicole Jauvin, "Government, Ministers, Macro-Organization Chart and Networks" in Jacques Bourgault, Maurice Demers and Cynthia Williams eds., Public Administration and Public Management: Experiences in Canada (Quebec: Les Publications du Quebec, 1997) pp.45-58

Gerard Veilleux and Donald J. Savoie, "Kafka's Castle: The Treasury Board of Canada Revisited" in Canadian Public Administration, 31 (4) 1988 pp. 517-538

 

 

WEEK XII - CANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (V): EXTRA-ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS

Required Reading:

John Shields and B. Mitchell Evans, Shrinking the State: Globalization and Public Administration "Reform" (Halifax: Fernwood, 1998) pp. 36-51

Louis Borgeat and Isabelle Giroux, "Judiciary and Administrative Law" in Jacques Bourgault, Maurice Demers and Cynthia Williams eds., Public Administration and Public Management: Experiences in Canada (Quebec: Les Publications du Quebec, 1997) pp. 125-141

Colin J. Bennett and Robin Bayley, "The New Public Administration of Information: Canadian Approaches to Access and Privacy" in Martin W. Westmacott and Hugh P. Mellon eds., Public Administration and Policy: Governing in Challenging Times (Scarborough: Prentice Hall Allyn and Bacon, 1999) pp. 189-201

 

Recommended Reading:

John Shields and B. Mitchell Evans, Shrinking the State: Globalization and Public Administration "Reform" (Halifax: Fernwood, 1998) pp. 88-115

Paul Starr, "The Meaning of Privatization" in S.B. Makerman and A.J. Kahn eds, Privatization and the Welfare State (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989) pp. 15-48

W.T. Stanbury, "Restraining the State: The Role of De-regulation" in P. Aucoin ed., The Politics and Management of Restraint in Government, (Montreal: Institute for Research on Public Policy, 1981)

 

WEEK XIII - CONCLUSION AND PAPERS DUE

 

EXAM: April 12, 1999 3:30-6:30 Rm. TBA