A Public Service

The Public Servant's Guide to Government in Canada is a concise primer on the inner workings of government in Canada. This is a go-to resource for students, for early career public servants, and for anyone who wants to know more about how government works. Grounded in experience, the book connects core concepts in political science and public administration to the real-world practice of working in the public service. The authors provide valuable insights into the messy realities of governing and the art of diplomacy, as well as best practices for climbing the career ladder.

This book makes a new approach to Canadian politics, from the administrative side. It provides, first, a description of the evolution and structure of the administrative machine which, with few fundamental changes, still serves the Canadian nation, and in the process it attempts to acknowledge and appraise the hitherto unsung contributions of the public servant to the welfare of a pioneer community. A second objective is to disclose the presence in the pioneer public service of certain basic administrative issues which today still rise to perplex both the student and practitioner of public administration. And, finally, this study reveals a neglected aspect of the winning of responsible government in Canada—the author contends that the recognition of the constitutional principle on the political level, did not, in fact, coincide with its practical implementation at the administrative level. As Dr. R. MacGregor Dawson points out in his Foreword, "Few students, on suspects, appreciate how great has been the influence of the permanent officials in the years before Confederation, nor do they have an adequate comprehension of the degree to which administrative decisions of those days, both by Ministers and officials, determined many of the present practices. An astonishingly large number of the problems, moreover, will be found to have remained substantially the same for the past hundred years. The scheme of departmental organization, the delegation of authority and the allotment of responsibility, the application of financial controls, the intricate give and take between the political non-technical Minister and the technically trained specialist—these in some aspect or another have been the constant concern of the administrator: a different time, a different place, has simply shifted the emphasis a little one way or the other." Professor Hodgetts writes with humour and point; his book is a brilliant addition to the Canadian Government Series, in which it is the seventh volume to appear.

This book describes the labour and employment law governing employees of Parliament, employees of government agencies, members of the RCMP, and most direct employees of the government (excluding members of the Canadian armed forces, judges, and employees of Crown corporations).

In the United States, new government employees begin their careers by pledging their allegiance to the Constitution and by committing to conscientious service dedicated to solving public problems. But what do public servants get in return? For many, a chance to serve provides public servants with a higher purpose as well as professional and personal meaning in their lives and careers. In The Promise of Public Service: Ideas and Examples for Effective Service, Michael M. Stahl, a 40-year veteran in the executive and legislative branches of state and federal service, demonstrates what makes public servants effective by offering useful ideas and examining the accomplishments of public servants throughout American history. The book blends theory with practice, exploring the role that attitudes and philosophy play throughout one’s career, offering practical implementation advice, and demonstrating how one can measure success. Undergraduate- and graduate-level courses will benefit from The Promise of Public Service as a resource, and practitioners of public service in all its forms will benefit from these ideas and examples at any stage of their careers.

Canada's machinery of government is out of joint. In Breaking the Bargain, Donald J. Savoie reveals how the traditional deal struck between politicians and career officials that underpins the workings of our national political and administrative process is today being challenged. He argues that the role of bureaucracy within the Canadian political machine has never been properly defined, that the relationship between elected and permanent government officials is increasingly problematic, and that the public service cannot function if it is expected to be both independent of, and subordinate to, elected officials. While the public service attempts to define its own political sphere, the House of Commons is also in flux: the prime minister and his close advisors wield ever more power, and cabinet no longer occupies the policy ground to which it is entitled. Ministers, who have traditionally been able to develop their own roles, have increasingly lost their autonomy. Federal departmental structures are crumbling, giving way to a new model that eschews boundaries in favour of sharing policy and program space with outsiders. The implications of this functional shift are profound, having a deep impact on how public policies are struck, how government operates, and, ultimately, the capacity for accountability.

Public service values are too rarely discussed in public administration courses and scholarship, despite recent research demonstrating the importance of these values in the daily decision making processes of public service professionals. A discussion of these very tenets and their relevance to core public functions, as well as which areas might elicit value conflicts for public professionals, is central to any comprehensive understanding of budget and finance, human resource management, and strategic planning in the public sector. Public Service Values is written specifically for graduate and undergraduate courses in public administration, wherever a discussion of public service ideals might enrich the learning experience and offer students a better understanding of daily practice. Exploring the meaning and application of specific values, such as Neutrality, Efficiency, Accountability, Public Service, and Public Interest, provides students and future professionals with a ‘workplace toolkit’ for the ethical delivery of public services. Well-grounded in scholarly literature and with a relentless focus on the public service professional, Public Service Values highlights the importance of values in professional life and encourages a more self-aware and reflective public practice. Case studies to stimulate reflection are interwoven throughout the book and application to practice is cemented in a final section devoted to value themes in professional life as well as a chapter dedicated to holding oneself accountable. The result is a book that challenges us to embrace the necessity of public service values in our public affairs curricula and that asks the important questions current public service professionals should make a habit of routinely applying in their daily decision making.

Amidst growing dissatisfaction with the state of government performance and an erosion of trust in our political class, Competing for Influence asks: what sort of public service do we want in Australia? Drawing on his experience in both the public and private sectors – and citing academic research across the fields of public sector management, industrial organisation, and corporate strategy – Barry Ferguson argues the case for the careful selection and application of private sector management concepts to the public service, both for their ability to strengthen the public service and inform public policy. These include competitive advantage, competitive positioning, horizontal strategy and organisational design, and innovation as an all-encompassing organisational adjustment mechanism to a changeable environment. But these are not presented as a silver bullet, and Ferguson addresses other approaches to reform, including the need to rebuild the Public Sector Act, the need to reconsider the interface between political and administrative arms of government (and determine what is in the ‘public interest’), and the need for greater independence for the public service within a clarified role. This approach, and its implications for public sector reform, is contrasted with the straitjacket of path dependency that presently constricts the field.

A guide to the nature, purpose, and place of public service television within a multi-platform, multichannel ecology. Television is on the verge of both decline and rebirth. Vast technological change has brought about financial uncertainty as well as new creative possibilities for producers, distributors, and viewers. This volume from Goldsmiths Press examines not only the unexpected resilience of TV as cultural pastime and aesthetic practice but also the prospects for public service television in a digital, multichannel ecology. The proliferation of platforms from Amazon and Netflix to YouTube and the vlogosphere means intense competition for audiences traditionally dominated by legacy broadcasters. Public service broadcasters—whether the BBC, the German ARD, or the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation—are particularly vulnerable to this volatility. Born in the more stable political and cultural conditions of the twentieth century, they face a range of pressures on their revenue, their remits, and indeed their very futures. This book reflects on the issues raised in Lord Puttnam's 2016 Public Service TV Inquiry Report, with contributions from leading broadcasters, academics, and regulators. With resonance for students, professionals, and consumers with a stake in British media, it serves both as historical record and as a look at the future of television in an on-demand age. Contributors include Tess Alps, Patrick Barwise, James Bennett, Georgie Born, Natasha Cox, Gunn Enli, Des Freedman, Vana Goblot, David Hendy, Jennifer Holt, Amanda D. Lotz, Sarita Malik, Matthew Powers, Lord Puttnam, Trine Syvertsen, Jon Thoday, Mark Thompson