Political and Administrative Responsibilities

This topic examines the roles and responsibilities of the elected legislature and cabinet ministers as well as the appropriate role of the unelected, non-partisan professional public service. This topic also discusses the nature of the relationship between the bureaucracy and elected politicians. Students are introduced to the topic of bureaucratic independence, ministerial responsibility as well as the concept of the "politicization" of the public service.

Recommended Reading (Carleton University PADM 5117)

Leone, Roberto and Frank Ohemeng. Approaching Public Administration: Core Debates and Emerging Issues (Toronto: Edmond-Montgomery, 2011). chapter 5 (Is ministerial responsibility a dead concept?).

Nick d’Ombrain, “Ministerial Responsibility and the Machinery of Government,” Canadian Public Administration, 50, 2, Summer 2007, 195-218.

Gregory Tardi, “Departments and other Institutions of Government,” in Christopher Dunn (ed.), The Handbook of Canadian Public Administration. Don Mills, Oxford University Press, 2002, 281-304.

John Alford and Janine O’Flynn, “Making Sense of Public Value: Concepts, Critiques and Emergent Meanings,” International Journal of Public Administration, 32 (2009), 3, 171-91.

Kenneth Kernaghan, “East Block and Westminster: Conventions, Values, and Public Service,” in Christopher Dunn (ed.), The Handbook of Canadian Public Administration. Don Mills, Oxford University Press, 2002, 104-119.

Optional Readings:

Peter Aucoin, Jennifer Smith and Geoff Dinsdale, Responsible Government: Clarify Essentials, Dispelling Myths and Exploring Change (Ottawa: Canada School of Public Service, 2004).

Jonathan Malloy and Scott Millar, “Why Ministerial Responsibility can Still Work,” in G. Bruce Doern (ed.), How Ottawa Spends 2007-2008: The Harper Conservatives – Climate of Change (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007), 105-22.

Source: PADM 5116 Syllabus, 2012

Page Created By: Ben Eisen, last edited 3 July, 2013