The Case for Centralized Federalism by Gordon Digiacomo & Maryantonett Flumian

Author:Gordon Digiacomo & Maryantonett Flumian [Digiacomo, Gordon & Flumian, Maryantonett]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, American Government, General, Public Affairs & Administration
ISBN: 9780776618159
Google: EJ5VDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 17270942
Publisher: University of Ottawa Press
Published: 2010-08-21T00:00:00+00:00

A neo-institutional comparative public policy framework

Although neo-institutionalism naturally emphasizes the role of institutions in its conceptualization of the formation of public policy alternatives, newer versions of institutional and historical institutional theory also include the impact of ideas and interests on policy decision making. According to John L. Campbell, institutions or “the formal rules and procedures governing policy making” serve as filters to “which ideas penetrate the policy-making process and are adopted and implemented as policy” (Campbell 2002: 30).15 Daniel Béland adds that historical institutionalism, based on the “assumption that a historically constructed set of institutional constraints and policy feedbacks”, also structures the behaviour and influence of political actors and interest groups (Béland 2005: 1).16 Despite variations in approaches as to the relative explanatory weight which should be assigned to each, it is clear within this newer institutional literature that in order to gain a better understanding of public policy decisions, it is important to identify and consider the impact of relevant institutions, interests and ideas.17 Campbell argues that we should not consider these factors on their own, but should aim to “better understand the connections between ideas, institutions, and interests” (Campbell 2002: 33).

Since an important aspect of both health care and child care policy in Canada involves the ways in which policy actors can navigate the challenges posed within the institution of federalism, the neo-institutional approach seems particularly useful for this comparative analysis.

Even though the policy road leading to universal Medicare in 1966 and the Canada Health Act, 1984 had been very long, it is the bilateral health care negotiations which took place between 1957 and 1961 (leading up to the 1966 Medical Care Act (Medicare)) as well as further bilateral deals with the provinces ending in 1971 that operationalized this legislation that will be compared to the federal/provincial/territorial early learning and child care negotiations which took place between 2000 and 2005.

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