Urban Governance in Canada. Representation, Resources and Restructuring
| Author | Brian C. Smith |
| DOI | 10.1177/095207679801300307 |
| Date | 01 July 1998 |
| Published date | 01 July 1998 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
REVIEW
Urban
Governance
in
Canada.
Representation,
Resources
and
Restruc-
turing,
Katherine
A.
Graham,
Susan
D.
Phillips
with
Allan
M.
Maslove,
Harcourt
Brace
and
Company,
Toronto,
Canada,
1998,
pp.xvi,
306.
A
textbook
on
the
political
institutions
of
a
foreign
country
is
ideally
of
interest
and
use
to
more
than
specialists
in
that
country.
It
should
provide
information
that
can
easily
fit
into
a
comparative
framework
even
when
comparison
is
not
part
of
the
book's
remit.
Katherine
Graham
and
her
colleagues
at
Carleton
University's
School
of
Public
Administration
have
produced
a
textbook
on
Canada's
eight
city
regions
of
value
to
both
the
Canadian
politics
specialist
and
the
comparativist.
The
presentation
of
the
material
lends
itself
to
a
comparative
approach
for
those
who
need
this.
Of
particular
help
in
this
respect
is
the
chapter
on
theoretical
approaches
to
urban
politics
-
public
choice,
community
power
(including
'growth
machines'
and
regime
theory),
political
economy,
and
feminism
-
which
explains
how
they
contribute
to
contemporary
Canadian
debates
on
the
role,
structure
and
benefi-
ciaries
of
urban
governments,
and
the
consequences
of
international
develop-
ments.
Although
it
is
claimed
that
the
book
is
distinctive
in
its
focus
on
'governance'
rather
than
just
local
government
institutions,
the
definition
of
governance
used
is
a
rather
restricted
one,
referring
to
municipal
authorities,
special
purpose
bodies
and
the
voluntary
sector.
Consequently
the
structure
of
the
book
is
fairly
conventional.
Contemporary
challenges
to
urban
government
in
Canada
are
described
at
the
start,
and
the
sequence
of
chapters
reflects
these
issues.
Historical
explanations
of
the
origins
of
Canadian
cities
are
compared
and
the
influences
of
settlement,
key
events,
topography
and
urban
reform
movements
weighed
up.
Changes
to
the
structure
of
urban
government
in
Canada's
metropolitan
areas
are
explained
through
case
studies
of
reorganisation
which
unfortunately
do
not
draw
upon
the
theoretical
approaches
summarised
in
an
earlier
chapter,
even
though
the
extraordinary
decisions
to
abolish
lower
tier
councils
in
metropolitan
Toronto
and
the
Halifax
region
cry out
for
the
application
of
public
choice
theories
of
decentralization.
There
are
chapters
on
electoral
politics,
covering
the
organisation
of
elections,
the
backgrounds
of
councillors,
the
role
of
political
parties,
and
rules
Public
Policy
and
Administration
Volume
13
No.
3
Autumn
1998
90
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