Excerpt from book. Leaders of modern-day states face an extraordinary challenge. They must devise a strategy for leading their countries toward security, order, prosperity, well-being and justice. They must design and build institutions that will put their strategy into practice. And they must...

American commentators have criticized European leaders for failing to deal firmly and swiftly with the eurozone's sovereign debt crisis. These commentators forget the lessons of American history. The United States experienced a similar crisis following the financial panic of 1837. Eight states...

This note examines the Canadian federal government's attempts to use communication programs to influence public opinion towards the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Using internal government documents and polling data, we describe the scope and objectives of the GST campaign, and assess its...

There was a "quiet revolution" in central banking during the era of liberalization, which led to the delegation of power to a class of technocrat-guardians who were carefully buffered from direct political control. The credibility of this new central banking regime has been damaged by its...

Conventional approaches to the intellectual history of Public Administration pay too little attention to the historical conditions that prevailed when so-called "Great Works" were written. The result is a tendency to misinterpret these texts, and to put inordinate emphasis on the role of their...

Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) play a critical role in the operation of a modern economy. Many countries have restructured their ANSPs by granting managerial and financial autonomy, and creating new mechanisms for regulation and accountability to major consumers of air navigation...

Much research in the field of public management is distinguished by its rejection of the politics-administration dichotomy and its emphasis on the public manager's responsibility for "political" management. By rejecting the dichotomy, however, scholars in public management have reopened debate...

In 1989 the Canadian government announced a plan to reform the federal public service that would reduce the number of rules imposed on line managers and promote a "results-oriented, entrepreneurial" culture. Public discussion about the reforms was dominated by a community of groups and...

A large majority of Canada's federal, provincial, territorial, and local governments are now required to comply with freedom of information (FOI) laws. Some critics have argued that long-standing problems of non-compliance have been aggravated during the recent period of public sector...