Intergovernmental Cooperation

This book argues that governments' choices in favour or against strong intergovernmental institutions are not primarily driven by considerations of efficiency but by internal political dynamics within their own boundaries. It applies the argument to Canada, Switzerland, the United States, and finally to the European Union.

Public reporting has been used experimentally in federal-provincial relations since the mid-1990s as an accountability mechanism to promote policy effectiveness, intergovernmental cooperation, and democratic legitimacy. Our understanding of how well it is working, however, remains limited to very specific policy sectors – even though this information is essential to policy makers in Canada and beyond. Overpromising and Underperforming? offers a deeper analysis of the use of new accountability mechanisms, paying particular attention to areas in which federal spending power is used. This is the first volume to specifically analyse the accountability features of Canadian intergovernmental agreements and to do so systematically across policy sectors. Drawing on the experiences of other federal systems and multilevel governance structures, the contributors investigate how public reporting has been used in various policy fields and the impact it has had on policy-making and intergovernmental relations.

Considers. S. 60, to amend the Budget and Accounting Act to require Bureau of Budget to publish a Federal domestic aid programs catalogue and to transfer from OEO to the Bureau of Budget responsibility for the Federal information exchange system (including its Federal domestic aid programs catalogue). S. 2479, to amend the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968 to permit consolidation of Federal aid programs, facilitate management of joint Federal-state and Federal-local projects, and give Congress oversight authority. S. 2035, to permit consolidation of Federal aid programs.

In a highly networked world, where governments must cope with increasingly complex and inter-related policy problems, the capacity of policy makers to work intergovernmentally is not an option but a necessity regory Inwood, Carolyn Johns, and Patricia O'Reilly offer unique insights into intergovernmental policy capacity, revealing what key decision-makers and policy advisors behind the scenes think the barriers are to improved intergovernmental policy capacity and what changes they recommend. Senior public servants from all jurisdictions in Canada discuss the ideas, institutions, actors, and relations that assist or impede intergovernmental policy capacity. Covering good and bad economic times and comparing insiders' concerns and recommendations with those of scholars of federalism, public policy, and public administration, they provide a comparative analysis of major policy areas across fourteen governments ntergovernmental policy capacity, while of increasing importance, is not well understood. By examining how the Canadian federation copes with today's policy challenges, the authors provide guideposts for federations and governments around the world working on the major policy issues of our day.

Considers. S. 60, to amend the Budget and Accounting Act to require Bureau of Budget to publish a Federal domestic aid programs catalogue and to transfer from OEO to the Bureau of Budget responsibility for the Federal information exchange system (including its Federal domestic aid programs catalogue). S. 2479, to amend the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968 to permit consolidation of Federal aid programs, facilitate management of joint Federal-state and Federal-local projects, and give Congress oversight authority. S. 2035, to permit consolidation of Federal aid programs.