Governance and Public Policy in Canada lays the foundation for a systematic analysis of policy developments, shaped as they are by multiple players, institutional tensions, and governance legacies. Arguing that provinces are now the most central site of governance and policy innovation, the book assesses the role of the provinces and places the provincial state in its broader economic, institutional, social, and territorial context. The aim throughout is to highlight the crucial role of provinces in policy changes that directly affect the lives of citizens.

Three key themes unify this book. First, it addresses the role of policy convergence and divergence among provinces. Although the analysis acknowledges enduring differences in political culture and institutions, it also points to patterns of policy diffusion and convergence in specific areas in a number of provinces. Second, the book explores the push and pull between centralization and decentralization in Canada as it affects intergovernmental relations. Third, it underscores that although the provinces play a greater role in policy development than ever before, they now face a growing tension between their expanding policy ambitions and their capacity to develop, fund, implement, manage, and evaluate policy programs. Governance and Public Policy in Canada describes how the provincial state has adapted in the context of these changing circumstances to transcend its limited capacity while engaging with a growing number of civil society actors, policy networks, and intergovernmental bodies.

Michael M. Atkinson, Daniel B�land, Gregory P. Marchildon, Kathleen McNutt, Peter W.B. Phillips, and Ken Rasmussen are all with the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the Universities of Saskatchewan and Regina.

Johnson-Shoyama-Graduate School's profile page

Overall this book has few shortcomings. It is a good contemporary analysis of the state of public policy in the provinces. The structure may be best suited to an undergraduate reader, but that is no impediment to a decent read.

David M. Brock, Northern Public Policy Book Review Forum

Governance and Public Policy in Canada provides an institutional context for the study of public policy in the provinces. It is an important point in a re-orientation of public policy to the sub-national level. The multi-level governance perspective allows for the inclusion of provinces, civil society organizations, local governments, policy networks, and First Nations in an effort to better understand the increasingly complex world of policy making. With this book the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy has established itself as a leading centre for policy analysis in Canada.

<em>Canadian Public Administration</em>

[…] the text is a highly accessible, informative, ambitious and well-thought-out overview of both provincial public policy and the state of policy making in Canada. Governance and Public Policy in Canada will likely be the authoritative handbook on provincial public policy in Canada for many years to come.

<em>Canadian Journal of Political Science</em>