|
|
|
Reviews / Comptes Rendus
| Greg McElligott, Beyond Service: State Workers, Public Policy and the Prospects for Democratic Administration (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 2001)
|
| AT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT's annual Canadian Centre for Management Development (CCMD) University Seminar a couple of years ago, there was an interesting debate as to whether or not the field of public administration should become more independent from political science. The majority of the participants favoured keeping public administration as a sub-field of political science for a number of reasons. One of the reasons had to do with the perception that public administration was still theoretically "underdeveloped" in relationship to the other sub-fields of political science. Such perceived theoretical underdevelopment stems from the managerial top-down focus of much of the public administration literature, which tends to reduce governance issues to financial models and productivity issues. An alternative, critical/radical literature has begun to develop however by drawing upon critical social and policy theory in order to challenge mainstream public administration theory. Beyond Service is a good example of the alternative, radical public administration literature. The author, Greg McElligott, views public administration as not merely an instrument for executing public policy but also as a major determinant of how civil service workers see the world — particularly the political world — and their own place in it. McElligott argues that political consciousness is a necessary tool for state workers because they "both form a missing link in Left strategy, and because the discourse of victimization leads nowhere." (3) The key to this new public administration labour perspective is the concept of social equity. Social equity means invoking a sense of fairness and justice in creating greater benefits for society's most disadvantaged, while at the same time emphasizing civic responsiveness and involvement. By adding social equity to the traditional public admini- stration concerns for efficiency and economy, the result would be the recognition of the different needs and interests of different people and would therefore result in different treatment. |
1
|
|
Since social equity is not foremost in the minds of the neo-conservatives who have formulated the new public administration agenda of public sector restructuring at the expense of front-line workers and the public, McElligott rejects "the legitimacy of hierarchical control and the imperative of obedience." (4 ) After dispensing with some of the most basic tenets of public administration that rely on a managerial perspective, he argues that "current democratic reforms are so flawed, and attacks on essential services so threatening, that many front-line workers now have a moral justification for resistance and sabotage." It is this moral call to front-line workers (a high proportion of whom are women) who have been silenced not only by the neo-conservatives but also ironically by left-wing theorists, which drives the text's main themes of worker empowerment, cultural organizational resistance, and the development of a new Left agenda based on state worker, "informal" policy making. |
2
|
|
The text is divided into three parts, which are in turn made up of eight chapters. The purpose of each of the three parts is outlined on page five and six of the ten-page introduction. Part One, "Appearing to Be in Control" is essentially made up of a "critical cull" of the relevant literature. I use the term "critical cull" because McElligott goes beyond a public administration and public policy literature review in order to integrate different lines of investigation and theories, which may not have been previously connected. The interdisciplinary focus on such areas as political economy, industrial relations, Neo-Marxist theories of the state, organizational theory, and numerous management studies allows the author to clearly identify problems in existing theory as well as exposing contradictions or holes in existing views. |
3
|
|
After clearly establishing a theoretical framework for how front-line workers can influence public policy through a strategy of resistance to neo-conservative management theory, McElligott develops a case-study approach in the second part of the text. In Part Two, "Border Disputes," employer-employee workplace struggles in the former federal department of Employment and Immigration Canada (EIC) are explored in the context of contentious labour-market policy issues. McElligott is careful to point out two limitations to the EIC case study. The immigration component of EIC has been left out of the study because of the small part it played on labour market policy during the period in question and the study also contains an "Ontario-centric" perspective due to patterns of militancy as well as researcher- resource constraints. Despite these acknowledged limitations, the author is quite convincing in revealing how EIC's unified labour-market policies and programs were created to reflect post- Keynesian neo-conservative thinking, government-business relationships, and political/social administrative neglect. It was such political neglect, however, that gave rise to increased front-line worker militancy through the Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU) in the early 1980s. Since CEIU was not at the bargaining table with the federal government because of the role of the parent union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), other alternatives had to be found in order to express front-line worker resistance to EIC dictums. |
4
|
|
The other alternatives began to crystallize through a CEIU-inspired campaign to shape front-line worker consciousness in favour of a progressive client-centered service approach. The CEIU campaign seemed to have great success among employment counselors and Unemployment Insurance agents who were deeply concerned about a department restructuring that was designed to force clients onto the labour market as quickly as possible without the benefit of proper counseling. As management pressured workers to deal with larger caseloads as part of a numbers game, CEIU activists were able to develop relationships with such groups as the Toronto Union of Unemployed Workers (TUUW) in order to raise front-line worker consciousness and develop mutual aid strategies against state neo-conservative thinking. One example of mutual aid occurred when the CEIU provided an important brief to the Forget Commission using information, which was obtained from the TUUW and local unemployment help centers. McElligott is able to provide a number of such useful examples as he assesses the impact of front-line worker militancy. |
5
|
|
In Part Three, "Self-Management and Citizenship," the case for a new public service paradigm based on state workplace democracy, public service councils, and the democratic transformation of the state is presented. McElligott's concept of public service councils is quite interesting. He proposes councils made up of state and community-based personnel who would interact with current and potential clients, for the purposes of sharing information as well as uncovering problems in public service coverage and delivery. Councils would also be responsible for collectively developing policy and exploring longer term goals. Public service councils would in fact become part of a larger, locally driven "umbrella structure" in concert with different levels of government, the private sector, and the third sector. McElligott freely admits that while a significant number of municipal bodies may already function to carry out some of the above-mentioned activities, popular movements could strengthen public service council bridging structures and perhaps even supplant municipal bodies if they prove to be more effective. |
6
|
|
With respect to the "state workplace democracy" and "democratic transformation of the state" components of the new public service paradigm, the key variable would be the abolition of organizational hierarchy.If there is one area where mainstream theory and the practice of public administration come together, it is in general agreement that 'who says organization, says oligarchy.' In his conclusion, "Bringing State Workers In," McElligott points the way towards future research projects, which could encapsulate an alternative theory of management based upon a hierarchy-free environment. Such future research projects would involve developing new interdisciplinary social and political theory by continuing to critically examine mainstream public administration theory and practice. Greg McElligott's text represents a positive step in this direction. |
7
|
| | |
Andrew Molloy
University College of Cape Breton |
|
|
Content in the History Cooperative database is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the History Cooperative database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.
|