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Article
Tales of policy estrangement: Non-governmental policy work and capacity in three Canadian provinces
Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research
  • Bryan Evans, Ryerson University
  • Adam Wellstead, Michigan Technological University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-1-2014
Abstract

Recently, there have been a number of Canadian-based studies of federal and provincial government policy workers. One key theme across all of these studies is the importance of well-established networks outside of government. However, these studies have demonstrated that government policy workers interact very infrequently outside the comfort of their own department cubicles. This stands in contrast to the considerable literature on new public governance theory, which suggests that non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including nonprofit groups, should, and do, play an important role in shaping public policy. This article provides some insights into this question and identifies where NGO–government interaction does exist. The descriptive results from a survey of non -governmental organization policy workers across four fields (environment, health, labour, and immigration) in three Canadian provinces (British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario) clearly illustrate the limitations, at all levels, on interaction between NGO groups and government officials. The article argues that this does not disprove the basic tenet of new governance theory—that non-state actors are engaged, to some degree, in the policy process. The article examines the results of an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model to determine what factors shape and drive NGO interaction with government.

Publisher's Statement

Publisher's version of record: http://www.anserj.ca/index.php/cjnser/article/view/164/109

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Version
Publisher's PDF
Citation Information
Bryan Evans and Adam Wellstead. "Tales of policy estrangement: Non-governmental policy work and capacity in three Canadian provinces" Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research Vol. 5 Iss. 2 (2014) p. 7 - 28
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/adam-wellstead/28/