Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-wq484 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T15:32:39.869Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Elite Attitudes on the Centralization of Power in Canadian Political Executives: A Survey of Former Canadian Provincial and Federal Cabinet Ministers, 2000–2010

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2014

J.P. Lewis
J.P. Lewis*
Affiliation:
University of New Brunswick - Saint John
*
J.P. Lewis, Department of History and Politics, University of New Brunswick - Saint John, Saint John, New Brunswick E2L 4L5, jp.lewis@unb.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Abstract. In contemporary Canada, the idea of the powerful first minister is widely acknowledged. The recent debate has focused on Donald Savoie's thesis that the concentration of power to the centre has accelerated and ministers have effectively lost their influence on decision making in cabinet. This article identifies two research gaps. First, the study combines both the experiences of federal and provincial cabinet ministers to construct an understanding of Canadian cabinet decision making at both levels of government. Second, the research investigates the new generation of cabinet ministers; no study has yet consulted ministers of the 2000–2010 decade.

Résumé. Dans le Canada contemporain, l'idée du premier ministre puissant est largement reconnue. Le débat récent s'est fixé sur la thèse de Donald Savoie que la concentration de pouvoir au centre a accéléré de le et les ministres ont perdu efficacement leur influence sur la prise de décision dans le cabinet. Cet article identifie deux écarts de recherche. Premièrement, l'étude combine les deux les expériences de ministres fédéraux et provinciaux pour construire une compréhension de prise de décision ministérielle Canadienne aux deux niveaux de gouvernement. Deuxième, la recherche examine la nouvelle génération de ministres – aucune étude a consulté pourtant des ministres de la 2000–2010 décennie.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , December 2013 , pp. 799 - 819
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aucoin, Peter. 1986. “Organizational Change in the Machinery of Canadian Government: From Rational Management to Brokerage Politics.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 19 (1): 3–27.Google Scholar
Bakvis, Herman. 2000. “Prime Minister and Cabinet in Canada: An Autocracy in Reform?” Journal of Canadian Studies 35 (4): 60–79.Google Scholar
Bakvis, Herman. 1991. Regional Ministers: Power and Influence in the Canadian Cabinet. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Bakvis, Herman and MacDonald, David. 1993. “The Canadian Cabinet: Organization, Decision-Rules, and Policy Impact.” In Governing Canada: Institutions and Public Policy, ed. Atkinson, Michael. Toronto: Harcourt Bruce Jovanovich Canada Inc.Google Scholar
Berkeley, Humphry. 1968. The Power of the Prime Minister. London: George Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Bliss, Michael. 1994. Right Honourable Men: The Descent of Canadian Politics from Macdonald to Chrétien. Toronto: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Campbell, Colin. 1985. “Cabinet committees in Canada: Pressures and dysfunctions stemming from the representational imperative.” In Unlocking the Cabinet: Cabinet Structures in Comparative Perspective, ed. Mackie, Thomas T. and Hogwood, Brian W.. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Clark, Ian D. 1985. “Recent Changes in the Cabinet Decision-Making System in Ottawa.”Canadian Public Administration 28 (2): 185–201.Google Scholar
Courtney, John. 1976. “Prime Ministerial Character: An Examination of Mackenzie King's Political Leadership.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 9 (1): 77–100 Google Scholar
Crossman, Richard H.S. 1964. “Introduction.” In Walter Bagehot: The English Constitution. London.Google Scholar
Crossman, Richard H.S. 1972. The Myths of Cabinet Government. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Dunn, Christopher. 1995. The Institutionalized Cabinet: Governing the Western Provinces. Kingston: The Institute of Public Administration of Canada.Google Scholar
Dunn, Christopher. 2008. “Premiers and Cabinets.” In Provinces, ed. Dunn, Christopher. 2nd ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Dunn, Christopher. 2010. “The Central Executive in Canadian Government: Searching for the Holy Grail.” In The Handbook of Canadian Public Administration, ed. Dunn, Christopher. 2nd ed. Toronto: Oxford.Google Scholar
Dupré, J. Stefan. 1987. “The Workability of Executive Federalism in Canada.” In Federalism and the Role of the State, ed. Bakvis, Herman and Chandler, William M.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Foley, Michael. 2000. The British Presidency: Tony Blair and the Politics of Public Leadership. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Franks, C.E.S. 1987. The Parliament of Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto.Google Scholar
Graham, Ron. 1986. One-Eyed Kings: Promise and Illusion in Canadian Politics. Toronto: Harper Collins Canada.Google Scholar
Heeney, A.D.P. 1967. “Cabinet Government in Canada: Some Recent Developments in the Machinery of the Central Executive.” Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science 12 (3): 282–301.Google Scholar
Heffernan, Richard. 2003. “Prime Ministerial Predominance? Core Executive Politics in the UK.” British Journal of Politics and International Relations 5 (3): 347–72.Google Scholar
Hennessy, Peter. 1986. Cabinet. New York: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Hockin, Thomas, ed. 1977. Apex of Power. The Prime Minister and Political Leadership in Canada. 2nd ed. Scarborough: Prentice Hill.Google Scholar
Howlett, Michael, Bernier, Luc, Brownsey, Keith and Dunn, Christopher. 2005. “Modern Canadian Governance: Political-Administrative Styles and Executive Organization in Canada.” In Executive Styles in Canada: Cabinet Structures and Leadership Practices in Canadian Government, ed. Bernier, Luc, Brownsey, Keith and Howlett, Michael. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Jennings, Ivor. 1961. Cabinet Government. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lindquist, Evert and White, Graham. 1997. “Analyzing Canadian Cabinets: Past, Present and Future.” In New Public Management and Public Administration in Canada, ed. Charih, Mohamid and Daniels, Arthur. Toronto: Institute of Public Administration in Canada.Google Scholar
Mackintosh, John P. 1962. The British Cabinet. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Mallory, James. 1956. “Cabinet government in the provinces of Canada.” McGill Law Journal 3:195.Google Scholar
Martin, Lawrence. 2010. Harperland: The Politics of Control. Toronto: Viking Canada.Google Scholar
Matheson, W.A. 1976. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Toronto: Methuen.Google Scholar
Munroe, H.D. 2011. “Style within the centre: Pierre Trudeau, the War Measures Act, and the nature of prime ministerial power.” Canadian Public Administration 54 (4): 531–49.Google Scholar
Ottawa Citizen. 2004. “PM's power threatens to even make cabinet irrelevant” 16 November 2004. Google Scholar
Punnett, R.M. 1977. The Prime Minister in Canadian Government and Politics. Toronto: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Robertson, Gordon. 2001. Memoirs of a Very Civil Servant. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Savoie, Donald. 1999a. Governing from the Centre: The Concentration of Power in Canadian Politics. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Savoie, Donald. 1999b. “The Rise of Court Government.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 32 (4): 635–64.Google Scholar
Savoie, Donald. 2008. Court Government and the Collapse of Accountability in Canada and the United Kingdom. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Savoie, Donald. 2013. Whatever Happened to the Music Teacher? How Government Decides and Why. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Schacter, Mark and Haid, Phllip. 1999. Cabinet Decision-Making in Canada: Lessons and Practices. Ottawa: Institute on Governance.Google Scholar
Seymour-Ure, Colin. 1971. “The ‘Disintegration’ of the cabinet and the neglected question of cabinet reform.” Parliamentary Affairs 24 (3): 196–207.Google Scholar
Simpson, Jeffrey. 2001. The Friendly Dictatorship. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.Google Scholar
Smith, Denis. 1970. “President and Parliament: The Transformation of Parliamentary Government in Canada.” In Apex of Power: The Prime Minister and Political Leadership in Canada, ed. Hockin, Thomas. Toronto: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Smith, Martin J. 1999. The Core Executive in Britain. London: Macmillan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, Paul G. 2004. “Governing from the Centre: Reconceptualizing the role of the PM and cabinet.” Policy Options (January).Google Scholar
Weller, Patrick. 1983. “Do prime minister's departments really create problems?” Public Administration 61 (1): 59–78.Google Scholar
Weller, Patrick. 1991. “Prime Ministers, Political Leadership and Cabinet Government.” Australian Journal of Public Administration 50 (2): 131–44.Google Scholar
White, Graham. 1994. “The interpersonal dynamics of decision making in Canadian provincial cabinets.” In Cabinet Ministers and Parliamentary Government, ed. Laver, Michael and Shepsle, Kenneth A.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
White, Graham. 2005. Cabinets and First Ministers. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
White, Graham. 2012. “The ‘Centre’ of the Democratic Deficit: Power and Influence in Canadian Political Executives.” In Imperfect Democracies: The Democratic Deficit in Canada and the United States, ed. Lenard, Patti Tamara and Simeon, Richard. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Young, Walter and Morley, Terence. 1983. “The Premier and the Cabinet.” In The Reins of Power: Governing British Columbia, ed. Morley, J. Terence, Ruff, Norman J., Swainson, Neil A., Wilson, R. Jeremy and Young, Walter D.. Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre.Google Scholar