Prime Ministerial Power in Canada by Dutil, Patrice;

Hosszú leírás:

Many Canadians lament that prime ministerial power has become too concentrated since the 1970s. This book contradicts this view by demonstrating how prime ministerial power was centralized from the very beginning of Confederation and that the first three important prime ministers – Macdonald, Laurier, and Borden – channelled that centralizing impulse to adapt to the circumstances they faced.

Using a variety of innovative approaches, Patrice Dutil focuses on the managerial philosophies of each of the prime ministers as well as their rapport with senior public servants, resistance to genuine public sector reform, and use of orders-in-council to further their aims. He then compares their managerial habits during times of crisis to those during ordinary times.

This is the first book to examine the administrative habits of these three prime ministers. In it Dutil offers revealing insights into the evolution of prime ministerial power. He also shows how this centralizing grip of these early first ministers inevitably shaped the administrations they headed, as well as those that followed.

Tartalomjegyzék:

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Foreword by Robert Bothwell and John English

Introduction

1 How the Prime Ministership Was ""Made"": Readings, Theories, Models

Part 1: Structure

2 Macdonald's First Mandate: Consolidating Prime Ministerial Power

3 Macdonald Returns: Strengthening the Executive Machinery

4 Wilfrid Laurier: The Quick Apprentice

5 Robert Borden: The Inept Reformer

Part 2: Substance

6 The Public Service and the Slow Death of Patronage

7 Priority Setting and the Budget

8 The Management of Crisis

Part 3: Style

9 The Order-in-Council: A Tool of Administrative Control

10 Managing Routine: Everyday Prime Ministerial Style

Conclusion

Appendices; Notes; Index