Questions and Answers of Public Administration In Canada

What are the concepts that support the incremental style of expenditure budgeting?
Assess the claim that the term “public administration” is difficult to define.
How does the comparison of public and private administration help us to better understand public administration?
Discuss the impact of globalization and political culture on public administration.
Propose a third way of possibly measuring the size of government and the public service.
Some argue that public administration is less efficient than private administration. Discuss the validity of this claim.
How are values and ethics related in the federal Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector?
Discuss three threats to the non-partisanship of public servants.
Use the four components of accountability to demonstrate how difficult it might be to ensure accountable government.
Demonstrate how values in the federal Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector might conflict with each other. What would you do to resolve the conflict?
What could be done to strengthen the politics– administration dichotomy?
How does classical organization theory as a whole contribute to our understanding of public administration?
What are the key elements of Max Weber’s idealtype bureaucracy? How, if at all, do they relate to the structure of the public bureaucracy in Canada?
What are some of the criticisms or weaknesses associated with Max Weber’s work on bureaucracy and Frederick Taylor’s contributions to scientific management?
What are the “proverbs of administration” and why were they important?
What contributions did the neo-classical theorists make to the evolution of organization theory?
What are the various key tenets or assumptions of the human relations organization theorists? How do they differ from those of the structuralist school that we examined in the previous chapter?
The Hawthorne experiments were initially conceived as a way of providing further support to the scientific management approach of analyzing organizations. However, the results of those experiments
Describe how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs led to a new understanding of employee motivation in the workplace.
McGregor argued that the way in which a manager regarded and treated his or her employees would impact their performance. Outline his theory of management.
Despite having a very positive image of the employee in the workplace, the human relations school of organization theory has faced a barrage of criticism. What is the substance of those critiques?
What impact did organizational humanism have on the Canadian federal government and public administration?
What was the impetus behind the evolution of NPM?
Identify the key elements of NPM and how they were implemented in the Canadian context.
Given its emphasis on private sector business principles, was NPM a flawed approach for public sector reform?
Is there a distinctive Canadian model of administrative reform? If so, what are the key elements and what makes them unique?
Does NPM remain a relevant paradigm of administrative reform? Why or why not? If not, what has emerged to replace it?
A central theme in the post-NPM reforms is an emphasis on enhanced participation, particularly by an active, engaged citizenry, in both the policymaking and service-delivery functions of
Describe how accountability is maintained within the traditional government department. Are there any challenges or limitations to ensuring that the department is accountable for the decisions that
Identify the central agencies and outline the ways in which they differ from traditional (vertical constituency) departments.
What is one of the most common ways for the prime minister to identify his or her priorities and demonstrate a particular leadership style?
How are the roles and responsibilities of the PCO and the PMO similar and in what ways do they differ?
What are the two types of Crown agencies, and how do these organizational forms differ from the traditional government department?
How is accountability ensured in Crown agencies? Are such accountability mechanisms sufficient? If not, how is it possible to balance the need for autonomy with the corresponding need for direction
What are some of the reasons that governments have relied on Crown agencies?
How important is public enterprise in Canada?
Is there still a compelling rationale for public enterprise and regulation, or should governments refrain from direct intervention into the market? Under what circumstances would it make sense for
Identify the reasons why governments looked beyond government departments and Crown agencies for delivering services to citizens.
List some of the most common types of ASD. Are some of these ASD mechanisms more attractive to government than others?
How has the nature of ASD changed with the shift from NPM to NPG?
What are some of the problems associated with ASD mechanisms?
What is the nature of the relationship between cabinet and the prime minister?
What is the role of cabinet committees?
How does a policy proposal move through the cabinet decision-making process?
What do the contents of a memorandum to cabinet tell us about the concerns of cabinet members?
What is the best explanation for the emergence of court government?
What are the causes for the increasing importance and prominence of interdepartmental relations?
Discuss how a policy initiative might benefit from horizontal management.
How might the problems that afflict exercises in horizontal management be addressed and eventually solved?
How do intradepartmental relations shape the activities of ministers and deputy ministers?
It is sometimes said that relations between senior public servants and ministerial assistants are naturally conflictual. Is this true, or can actions be taken to remedy the tension between these two
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the doctrine of individual ministerial responsibility?
Why is the political neutrality of public servants key to the success of individual ministerial responsibility?
What are the effects of officers of Parliament and parliamentary committees on the activities of the executive branch?
There is some disagreement over the role of accounting officers. What is the appropriate role of these officials?
Does Parliament succeed in making public servants accountable for their actions?
Discuss the uniqueness of the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal.
What are the rules of natural justice and how have they been applied in the courts?
What are the reasons for the increased importance of judicial review of administrative actions?
How might the courts be seen as having only a limited effect in their review of appointed officials?
What are the pros and cons of judicial review of administrative actions?
Outline the evolution of Canadian federalism and explain its significance.
Discuss trends in intergovernmental relations based on your understanding of recent developments in public policy.
Propose a new network of intergovernmental structures that would result in better relations between the orders of government.
What are the appropriate roles for the two types of intergovernmental officials?
What might strengthen the intergovernmental policy capacity of federalism in Canada?
What kind of activities would you associate with institutionalized interest groups eager to persuade government? Give reasons for your answer.
Assess the efforts of the three telecommunications giants to influence the federal government.
Assume the government wishes to announce a new plan for addressing the growing problem of obesity in Canada. Propose a media strategy for the government that would draw the maximum amount of
How might relations between government and the media be made more cooperative and less combative?
What level of public involvement would you propose for public servants wishing to draft a plan for consulting with Canadians on the issue of reforming the Canadian health care system? Be sure to
What is human resources management and how has HRM in the public sector evolved over time in response to various internal and external pressures?
Defining the size and scope of the public sector can be problematic. Why is that the case? What are some of the relevant factors that must be considered when making that determination?
How does the merit principle influence HRM in the public sector? Is the concept of merit still pertinent in the context of a modern public service?
What are the key institutional actors that have a role to play with respect to HRM in the public sector?
Why is it important that the federal government embrace the notion of having a representative bureaucracy?
The federal government chose to adopt employment equity rather than affirmative action in order to pursue the goal of a representative bureaucracy. Distinguish between the two concepts and explain
How representative is the federal bureaucracy today? How has representativeness evolved over time? What specific measures undertaken by the government have helped to foster greater representativeness
Does the pursuit of employment equity constitute reverse discrimination?
Is it still appropriate for the government to focus on the four designated employment equity groups or are there other groups in Canadian society that should be reflected in the composition of the
Although governments have long supported the goal of equal pay for work of equal value, eliminating wage discrimination has proven to be extremely challenging. Identify some of the impediments to
Why is the budgetary process seen as both a fiscal and a political activity?
What are the two types of budgets, and how do they relate to each other?
How can budgeting be seen as a kind of game, and how is this budgeting game changing?
Why are budgeting and budgets central to public administration?
How can the Treasury Board Secretariat be shown to be one of the key players in the financial management process?
What is the impact of Parliament on the Main Estimates?
What are the weak points and the strong points in the financial management process?
The formal role of the Auditor General is simply to conduct audits of government spending, yet it is a powerful player in the management of government finances. How can this be?
The agencies and bodies responsible for managing government finances are thorough in their work, but they fall short of successfully carrying out the third aim of public budgeting. Why is this so?