About the Book

Thinking Government: Public Administration and Politics in Canada

Thinking Government: Public Administration and Politics in Canada

Fifth Edition

Thinking Government is an introduction to public administration in Canada. Its primary feature is its integrated study of the systems and organization of government within the very real context of Canadian politics. Whereas other books draw a greater distinction between politics and administration, Thinking Government provides a more thought-provoking approach, considering how the political culture of this country has shaped, and continues to influence, Canadian public administration.

The fifth edition of Thinking Government is fully revised and updated. Pedagogical features highlight key issues in public administration. Dispatch boxes, white papers, and case studies help students apply the theory of public administration to the reality of how it is exercised in Canada. New section headings provide clear signposts for study and retention of concepts. Additional diagrams illustrate the mechanisms of government in an accessible form. Chapter objectives and conclusions work together to create a clear foundational and analytical account of public administration in Canada.

This edition maintains the descriptive and analytical focus of previous editions while including new or updated coverage of

  • the Trudeau minority government;
  • federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic;
  • recent policy debates respecting the role of the state in Canadian federal politics;
  • federal budgetary politics and policy forecasts to 2027;
  • federal human resources policy and programs;
  • public sector modernization policy;
  • federal accountability policy, including the Gomery Report and the Federal Accountability Act; and
  • a critical look at Blueprint 2020 and Beyond 2020

The book devotes special attention to the role of government in society, as well as to how ideas and ideologies shape thinking about the role of the state and the responses of parties and governments. Thinking Government also dedicates considerable attention to contemporary issues in management reform, public sector accountability and ethics, and transformative leadership.

Please visit utorontopress.com for more information.

About the Author

David Johnson

Thinking Government: Public Administration and Politics in Canada has been a major part of my life as an academic over the past decade. The first edition was published in 2002, when Jean Chrétien was still at the height of his power. The second edition came out in 2006, just when Stephen Harper was elected to his first minority government. The third edition arrived as Prime Minister Harper savoured his first majority government. The fourth edition arrived at the beginning of the Justin Trudeu years. And now the fifth edition is here during the Trudeau minority years. How the political scene changes!

But first and foremost I am a teacher. I am Professor of Political Science at Cape Breton University, and I love teaching about Canadian government and politics and public administration. I’ve always been fascinated by power and those who wield political power in society, so I have long sought to understand the power relations in this country. That’s what drew me to focus on the nature of our federal government and its public service. To put it more simply, I’ve always wanted to know how Ottawa works.

My research interests are quite varied, ranging from Canadian public administration and public policy to human rights policy, and from public sector management and human resources policy to Indigenous cultural tourism promotion. I’ve also been broadening my research interests to include public sector management and leadership development within the Commonwealth. Here are just a few of the projects that have captivated me:

Brown, Keith, Joanne Pyke, David Johnson, and Mary Beth Doucette. 2015. “Aboriginal Cultural Tourism Marketing: An Issue of Governance.” Canadian Journal of Native Studies 35 (2).

Hodgett, Susan, David Johnson, and Stephen A. Royle, eds. 2007. Doing Development Differently: Regional Development on the Atlantic Periphery. Sydney, NS: Cape Breton University Press.

Howe, Brian R., and David Johnson. 2000. Restraining Equality: Human Rights Commissions in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Johnson, David, and Andrew Molloy. 2009. “The Quiet Crisis and the Emergence of La Relève: A Study of Crisis Perception and Executive Leadership within the Canadian Federal Public Service, 1997–2002.” Canadian Public Administration 52 (2): 203–23.

Molloy, Andrew, and David Johnson. 2010. “New Professionals on Tap: The Human Resources Challenges in Developing a New Generation of Municipal and Local Government Managers in Nova Scotia.” Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, special issue (March): 126–44.

Pyke, Joanne, Keith Brown, and David Johnson. 2008. “Aboriginal Cultural Tourism: Land of the Fog.” Journal of Culture and Tourism Research 10 (2): 1–10.

This website is the collaborative work of myself and Alana Lawrence, with Alana, as a New Professional, taking the lead role in updating these web materials, giving them a more student-centred focus, and ensuring that everything found here is readily comprehensible to devoted students.

Alana Lawrence

Alana is a Recruitment and Admissions Officer at Cape Breton University (CBU). She began her career at CBU as a student in the Bachelor of Arts program (BA), with a double major in Political Science and Sociology. Upon completion of her BA, she continued her education to complete a Certificate in Public Administration in Law & Policy Studies and a Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Marketing, and she will soon be completing her Master of Business Administration in Community Economic Development with a focus in Marketing. Alana has held numerous positions at the university as a student, including Vice President of the CBU Students’ Union, research assistant in the Marketing Research Centre and the Political Science Department, as well as involvement in numerous volunteer organizations. She is the epitome of a New Professional, dedicated to learning, service, effective management, and creative leadership. Alana was a student of David’s while studying at CBU, and is now a colleague and friend. They will continue to update the website materials with new and evolving information.

We hope Thinking Government opens up the world of Canadian government and politics to you and encourages you to become an explorer of power relations, of how and why governments do what they do, of how our political culture shapes government action even as political culture itself changes. It’s important to learn who benefits from public policies and programs, who loses, and why.