In this informative critique of contemporary leadership, renowned political scientist Donald Savoie poses and answers the crucial questions: where is power located, and who is in charge? In recent years it has become extremely difficult to pinpoint the location of political and economic power, making it complicated to determine who is to blame for political and economic catastrophes and leading to increased disenchantment with Western politicians and bureaucrats. Power considers how forces such as globalization, the new media, the changing role of the courts in parliamentary democracies, the partisanship of political parties in shaping policy, and collapsing boundaries between governments and within government departments have caused citizens to feel their countries are less democratic. Savoie argues that power is leaving institutions and organizations and going to powerful individuals in both the public and private sectors, who often push aside formal processes in order to drive change. A startling and clarifying examination of changes in modern society, Power unravels the tangled web of influences that have put the power to make important decisions in the hands of the few to show why our governing institutions are no longer effective.

Donald Savoie is a self-effacing professor of public administration at Université de Moncton, where he holds the Clément-Cormier Chair in Economic Development. His recent books include Governing from the Centre (1999) and Breaking the Bargain (2003). When he is not writing scholarly works, he is advising provincial, territorial, and federal governments here in Canada, the United States, the OECD, and the World Bank. He golfs with premiers, prime ministers, and presidents of multinational corporations. He was born and raised in the Acadian village of Bouctouche, in rural New Brunswick.

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"An astute and accomplished specialist of government, Donald Savoie has one of the most comprehensive understandings of our system of government. The extensive conversations with senior government and private sector officials included in this book are hel

"Donald Savoie advances the study of political power by considering vital issues in contemporary Western democracies, while providing excellent insights in an engaging style. This is an ambitious undertaking and will spark a necessary debate." Peter Aucoin, Department of Political Science, Dalhousie University

"[Power: Where Is It] is an Important book... [it] draws attention to fundamental problems which every modern democracy will have to confront." Times Literary Supplement

"This is a useful, informed analysis of an exceptionally important development in the modern democratic policy process. Summing Up: Highly recommended." CHOICE

"Power is not a polemic written to blast one particular side but it is also not a sleepy political science text designed to fit on a university shelf to gather dust. It is a thoughtful and compelling book that explains the shifting power structure of our