Policy under siege: supply management in agricultural marketing
Article Abstract:
National supply management in the Canadian dairy and poultrysectors is under siege. Its inherent protectionism is increasingly labelled anachronistic in the contemporary, globally competitive economy. This article probes the origins and political economy of the crisis in supply management. Itargues that the pragmatism that led to the creation of private interest governments in the dairy and poultry sectors was not accompanied by the necessary degree of broader support in the Canadian political community for thegoals and instruments of supply management. Canada's predominantly "business liberalism" norms have never been truly hospitable to the instruments and structures of supply management. Moreover, the legitimacy of poultry marketing agencies, in particular, has been further eroded by two features of their institutional design which have impeded their effective functioning: the inordinate influence they give producer viz-a-viz state and other interests within the sector; and their decision-making rules and procedures, which undermine the incentives for producers to compromise and which encourage parochialism at the expense of the interest of the sector as a whole. As the latter causes national marketing agencies to haemorrhage internally, they are simultaneously faced by an altered domestic and international political economywhich gives the advantage to anatagonistic interests and ideas. While reform ofsupply management and the private interest governments within which it is embedded appears inevitable, and is certainly defensible, it will be important for decision-makers to bear in mind that the public will not be well served by reforms that tip the balance of power unevenly in favor of processor and trade liberalization interests. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1993
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Global economic trends and pressures on governments
Article Abstract:
Over the last decade, Canada and the United States have performed better in relative economic terms than many had predicted. Their combined share of world output is roughly the same as it was in the early 1980s, and their success in economic restructuring suggests that both countries are well placed to meet the challenges of global competition. Global pressures on governments are reviewed under four categories. 'Competitive pressures' will tend to reduce the scope for tax increases and increase demands for government spending in areas previously mandated through regulation. 'Financial pressures' will induce spending to stay in close balance with revenues and will affect many areas of government policy making. 'Intellectual pressures' in the form of the usually strong consensus on what constitutes appropriate economic and social policy will influence decision-making in most countries, for at least the rest of the decade. 'Institutional pressures' in the form of influences of foreign governments and international agencies will be less direct in the case of Canada than for economically weaker countries, but will still play an important role in shaping public policies. These global pressures also have implications for the conduct of public administration in Canada, including the need to streamline some activities, to build up others, and to adjust the compensation framework so it will attract and retain the talent needed to safeguard the competitive advantage provided by Canada's tradition of competent and honest public services. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1996
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Analysing the associative action of business: policy advocacy and policy participation
Article Abstract:
Special interest groups and political action committees have two different types of roles. The one that is most recognized is that of advocates of public policy; i.e., lobbying to influence current policies and those in the making. Another prominent role is that of participating in the formulation and implementation of policies. To fulfill such a function, the organization must be able to gather and coordinate the vast amounts of information available and have a viable means of decision-making. Also the association should be autonomous from its members and from the state to effectively participate in policy making.
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1985
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Public inquiries in Canada. Managing retrenchment in a public service organization. The Public Service of Canada: The Case for Political Neutrality
- Abstracts: Unemployment compensation finance and labour market rigidity. Should unemployment benefits decrease with the unemployment spell?
- Abstracts: The impact of changes in common property resource management on intrahousehold allocation. Property tax limits, local fiscal behavior, and property values: evidence from Massachusetts under Proposition 2 1/2
- Abstracts: Planning and accountability in Employment and Immigration Canada. part 2 Integrating Human Resource Planning with Strategic Planning
- Abstracts: Public policy and high technology SMEs: the government embrace. part 2 Public opinion and the measurement of consumer satisfaction with government services