Governing from the Centre : : The Concentration of Power in Canadian Politics / / Donald Savoie.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Archive 1933-1999
• VerfasserIn: Savoie, Donald,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2022]; ©1999
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (480 p.)

Redefined during the past thirty years, the centre of government currently extends itself further than ever before. Central governmental agencies are 'where the rubber meets the road', where public service meets politics, and policy becomes reality. So who's driving this car? Agencies such as the Privy Council Office, the Finance Department, and the Treasury Board exert their influence horizontally, deciding how policy is made and how money gets spent According to Donald Savoie, these organizations, instituted to streamline Ottawa's planning processes, instead telescope power to the Prime Minister and weaken the influence of ministers, the traditional line departments, and even parliament, without contributing to more rational and coherent policy-making.This is scholarship at its best: rigorous and riveting. The government operates as a combination of known procedures and the more elusive subtleties of human relationships and unspoken codes of behaviour. Donald Savoie's long-time involvement in government affairs allows him to read through the surface of the results of his extensive research-which included several interviews with elites-in order to expose all the levels of power at play. Indispensable reading for students of politics, public policy, and public administration, Ottawa watchers, journalists, lobbyists, and civil servants who want to know what is really going on.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1 Introduction -- Part I: The Setting -- 2 The Centre Is Born -- 3 Render Unto the Centre -- Part II: The Play -- 4 Primus: There Is No Longer Any Inter or Pares -- 5 The Privy Council Office: A Safe Pair of Hands -- 6 Finance: Let There Be No Light -- 7 Treasury Board and the Public Service Commission: Pulling against Gravity -- 8 Ministers: Knowing When to Land -- 9 Departments: Running on the Track -- Part III: The Denouement -- 10 Governing by Bolts of Electricity -- 11 Incentives, Constraints, and Behaviour -- Notes -- Index