Description
Book SynopsisPublic 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-maki
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements Contributors Glossary of Acronyms List of Tables PART 1 Establishing Benchmarks Chapter 1: Introduction: Accountability and Governance Peter Graefe (McMaster University), Julie M. Simmons (University of Guelph), Linda A. White (University of Toronto) PART II Emerging Accountability Structures: Canadian Case Studies Chapter 2: Intergovernmental Accountability and Health Care: Reflections on the Recent Canadian Experience Patrick Fafard (University of Ottawa) Chapter 3: The National Child Benefit: Collective Accountability through Public Reporting Julie M. Simmons Chapter 4: Democratizing Intergovernmental Accountability Regimes: Community Engagement and Public Reporting In Early Learning and Child Care in Canada Tammy Findlay (Mount Saint Vincent University) Chapter 5: Evolving Federal-Provincial Accountability Regimes in Active Labour Market Policy Thomas Klassen (York University) and Donna Wood (University of Victoria) Chapter 6: Accountability in Labour Market Policies for Persons with Disabilities Peter Graefe and Mario Levesque (Memorial University) Chapter 7: Multi-Level Governance, Infrastructure, and the Transformation of Accountability Regimes in Canada Luc Turgeon (University of Ottawa) and Josh Hjartarson (University of Toronto) PART III Alternative Accountabilities: Comparative and Normative Examples Chapter 8: Convergence Through Benchmarking and Policy Learning: The Impact of the Open Method of Coordination on Social Policy within the European Union Daniel V. Preece (Carleton University) Chapter 9: Global Governance and Canadian Federalism: Reconciling External Accountability Obligations through Internal Accountability Practices Grace Skogstad (University of Toronto) Chapter 10: The No Child Left Behind Act and Educational Accountability in the United States Paul Manna (College of William and Mary) Chapter 11: Internal Answerability and Intergovernmental Policy Learning: Accountability in Canadian Mandatory Education Jennifer Wallner (University of Ottawa) Chapter 12: Accountability Regimes for Federal Social Transfers: An Exercise in Deconstruction and Reconstruction Barbara Cameron (York University) Chapter 13: Panacea or Peril? Intergovernmental Accountability and the Auditor General Amy Nugent and Julie M. Simmons PART IV Conclusion Chapter 14: Conclusion: Whither Accountability? Peter Graefe, Julie M. Simmons and Linda A. White
