Politics of Canadian Public Policy

Research on public policy in Canada has focuses on four fundamental problems: the question of what determines variations in patterns of public policy; the importance of the policy field itself for understanding state activity; the choice and consequences of alternative means to a policy goal; and the question of what happens after a decision is taken and acted upon. Each of the essays commissioned for this book addresses one or more of these themes of policy determinants, policy type, policy, instruments, and impact. Together they support the editors' contention that there are several routes to an understanding of the policy process in Canada and, indeed, several policy processed. In addition to covering diverse policy fields, this volume affords the reader an opportunity to sample a number of approaches to the study of public policy, including new work on the political economy of Canada and in the research area known as public choice. Research on public policy in Canada has focuses on four fundamental problems: the question of what determines variations in patterns of public policy; the importance of the policy field itself for understanding state activity; the choice and consequences of alternative means to a policy goal; and the question of what happens after a decision is taken and acted upon. Each of the essays commissioned for this book addresses one or more of these themes of policy determinants, policy type, policy, instruments, and impact. Together they support the editors' contention that there are several routes to an understanding of the policy process in Canada and, indeed, several policy processed. In addition to covering diverse policy fields, this volume affords the reader an opportunity to sample a number of approaches to the study of public policy, including new work on the political economy of Canada and in the research area known as public choice.