Administration publique

K01 - Policy, Politics and Administration: Connecting the Dots

Date: Jun 12 | Heure: 08:30am to 10:00am | Salle: 680 Sherbrooke St. West 1041

Chair/Président/Présidente : Carey Doberstein (University of British Columbia)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Kathy Brock (Queen's University)

Politicization of government agencies in the Canadian federal bureaucracy: Carey Doberstein (University of British Columbia)
Abstract: The proliferation of agencies and arms-length bodies in recent decades has provided opportunities for elected governments to reassert political control in an increasingly fragmented public service framework. Yet nearly all governments in Canada have created offices within the professional bureaucracy responsible for vetting all government appointments to such agencies and authorities to signal a regime of merit above all else. At this time we have little basis to make systematic claims about the autonomy and political independence of agencies in Canada. This study addresses this gap by drawing on the Government of Canada’s Staffing and Non-partisanship Survey (SNPS) micro data from 2018 and 2021, which surveys all employees in 76 departments and agencies on a host of questions related political impartiality in the carrying out of government duties and hiring staff. Using various questions and responses from these surveys, we are able to assemble a set of answers to the following research question: do the agencies within the Government of Canada show evidence of two central claims pertaining to the virtues of arms-length agencies: that they are more politically-insulated and display more autonomy for staffing the organization? The data reveals that, after controlling for various relevant factors, those working in agencies are less likely than those in conventional departments to report their organizations act politically impartially in carrying out their duties and more likely to claim they feel pressure to hire particular candidates, though this is driven largely by particular types of agencies.

Diversity as a Policy Resource: Policy Staff, Diversity, and Policy Analytical Capacity in the Canadian Federal Public Service: Samuel Henderson (University of Toronto)
Abstract: Research on the distribution and composition of formal public sector policy staff and their relationship to policy analytical capacity (PAC) has largely overlooked the demographic diversity of formal policy staff and how this diversity can contribute to PAC. Drawing on the representative bureaucracy literature, this exploratory paper argues that the diversity of policy staff can directly contribute to PAC by providing government with a greater range of knowledge, skills, and perspectives that can be applied to policymaking activities, but also indirectly contribute to PAC by shaping the attitudes and behaviours of other policy staff. Using the Canadian federal public service as a case study, this paper then examines the distribution and composition of formal policy staff by gender, visible minority status, indigenous identity, and disability status to gain insights into the availability and management of this diversity-related PAC. The findings demonstrate that policy staff belonging to each of these four groups are largely well-represented across different ranks and functional classifications in the federal public service. But their distribution across departments varies widely, a fact often hidden by a focus on statistics focusing on the public service as a whole. This points toward a lack of diversity-related PAC in several ministerial departments, including the Department of Finance, and raises further questions about how diversity is managed in the federal public service.

Décision et incertitude : Les activités de lobbying et l’attribution des contrats publics au Canada: Maxime Boucher (Université d'Ottawa), Christopher A. Cooper (Université d'Ottawa), Erin Sullivan (Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs - Institute of Public Administration)
Abstract: Cet article aborde la question des activités de lobbying dans le contexte des processus d’attribution des contrats publics au Canada. Notre approche mobilise la littérature sur les activités de lobbying et l’attribution des contrats publics pour expliquer comment les contrôles administratifs et politiques, ainsi que la nature des institutions parlementaires, peuvent exercer un effet dissuasif ou incitatif sur les stratégies de lobbying des entreprises. Selon nos propositions théoriques, les rapports de force entre les institutions politiques, de même que les contrôles administratifs des processus d’attribution des contrats publics, créent différentes sources d'incertitude. En retour, la nature et l’intensité de ces sources d’incertitude influencent la décision des entreprises privées et des agences gouvernementales d'investir du temps et des ressources dans des rencontres de lobbying. Pour vérifier ces hypothèses, notre cadre de recherche utilise des données systématiques sur les activités de lobbying et l'attribution de contrats publics par les ministères du gouvernement canadien afin d'étudier l'impact de la taille - en montant de dollars - des contrats publics sur le volume des activités de lobbying. Le principal objectif de la recherche est de déterminer si l’attribution d’un plus grand montant d’argent en contrats publics est associé à une augmentation du volume de lobbying effectué par les entreprises actives dans ce domaine. En complément, le second objectif est de mesurer l’impact des sources d’incertitude sur l’intensité des échanges entre les lobbyistes, fonctionnaires et ministres.

User-centered policy design: opportunities, benefits, and challenges of its application for social policy in Ontario: Abigail Jaimes Zelaya (McMaster University), Maria Gintova (McMaster Univesity), Elliot Goodell Ugalde (McMaster University)
Abstract: Access to policymaking is typically limited and exclusive, seldom including stakeholder groups, particularly those with end-users who are marginalized individuals (Hutchinson and Stilinovic, 2021). Nevertheless, the voices of end-users are essential to creating effective, accurate, and targeted policies and services that truly consider the perspectives of those who are most impacted (Hutchinson and Stilinovic, 2021). User-centered design (UCD) is an approach to policy development that focuses on the needs of end-users and engages individuals directly impacted by government policies in identifying policy solutions. Some scholars emphasize its benefits for facilitating a collaborative and innovative approach to knowledge creation to inform policy (Lewis 2022; Peters and Fontaine 2022; Shaw and Suplee 2018). UCD is, however, not without its limits - such as effectively addressing systemic racism and the limited generalizability of findings from small design sessions. However, this can be addressed through working with collaborators with lived experience and anti-black racism expertise while including the voices of marginalized groups. This paper will, in the context of child welfare services in Ontario, examine how UCD can be employed, to improve outcomes for certain groups (i.e. Black youth, foster families, and service providers). This work will contribute to the limited scholarly discourse on UCD and its impacts on policymaking processes by discussing the implications of UCD. It aims to demonstrate UCDs' benefits and limitations not only in the context of child welfare services in Ontario but more broadly, for policy development and design involving marginalized populations.