Government and Governance

Where does your group fit on this values spectrum?

2

5 - Strong environmental values

On a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being extremely supportive of jobs in the forest industry and 5 being extremely supportive of environmental conservation, how would you rate your simulation group's values?

4- Moderate environmental values

2 - moderate pro development values

3 - neutral1 - Strong pro development values

Today’s Agenda

Division of Powers Parliamentary Government

Institutions, Forms of LawProblems

Modifications

September 18, 2014 3

Institutional Design


• Who makes public policy?• Why does it matter?

Essential Elements of Authority

• Division of powers• Head of state• PM or premier• Cabinet• Members of legislature

• Legislatures• Minister• Appointed officials• Bureaucracies• Courts

Sustainable Forest Policy 5

Federal Division of Powers

• Provincial jurisdiction paramount– ownership of lands– including timber

• Federal jurisdiction– trade– spending (reforestation,

research)– Indians– fisheries– criminal law power


Federal Minister of Environment Leona Aglukkaq

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/c1867_e.html

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi1yhp-_x7A


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi1yhp-_x7A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi1yhp-_x7A

Parliamentary Government – Institutions - Executive

• lieutenant governor (ceremonial)– Judith Guichon

• premier and cabinet– Premier: leader of the party with the most

seats in the legislature– Cabinet: selected by the Premier from

members of the legislature of the premier’s party

– Party rules and system norms make Premier/PM remarkably powerful

• Selects cabinets• Signs nomination papers


http://www.ltgov.bc.ca/




http://www.gov.bc.ca/premier/

http://www.gov.bc.ca/premier/cabinet_ministers/

Parliamentary Government – Institutions - Legislature

• MP – Member of Parliament (federal)• MLA – members of legislative assembly (BC)• sits infrequently (36-47 days last 3 years)

– majority rule – government must have support of majority– party discipline – all members must vote how their party

tells them to• Party policy set by caucus – in reality by cabinet and especially leader

• Current – BC Liberal 49– NDP 34– Green 1


Parliamentary Government – Institutions - Judicial

• Provincial Court• BC Supreme Court• Provincial Court of

Appeals (or Federal)• Supreme Court of

Canada


Parliamentary Government – Forms of Law

statuteenabling legislation

Act of legislature

Wood first bill

regulationdelegated legislation

order in council

cabinet (informal)

lieutenant governor in council (formal)

contracts, permits


http://www.leg.bc.ca/38th3rd/3rd_read/gov24-3.htm

http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th1st/1st_read/gov09-1.htm

http://archive.ilmb.gov.bc.ca/slrp/lrmp/nanaimo/cencoast/plan/objectives/index.html

http://www.ltgov.bc.ca/faq/default.htm

January 15, 2009 Sustainable Energy Policy 14

Diagram

Parliamentary Government -- Ideal

Representative, Responsible Governmentparties compete for votes (platforms)mandateopportunity to governaccountable at next election


Problems

• expertise and bureaucracy – politics-administration

dichotomy

• determining policy mandate• participatory values

– push for new forms of consultation

• minority-based majorities– push for different voting

rules


Minority-based Majorities in BC

1972 – NDP won a majority with 39.6% vote

1975 – Socreds won with 49.31979 – Socreds won with 48.21983 – Socreds won with 49.81986 – Socreds won with 49.31991 – NDP won with 41.7

• 1996 – NDP won with 39.5 (Liberals had 41.8)

• 2001 – Liberals won with 58%• 2005 – Liberals won 46% (46 seats)

– NDP 42% (33 seats)– Green Party 9% (0 seats)

• 2009 – Liberals won 46% (49 seats)– NDP 42% (31 seats)– Green 8% (0 seats)

• 2013 – Liberals won 44% (49 seats)– NDP 40% (34 seats)– Green 8% (1 seat)

17

Voting rules

• Single member districts, “first past the post”– Plurality (most votes

even if not majority) wins

• Current rule in BC

• Alternative: Proportional representation of some form


Modifications – See Chapter 1 in Luckert et al

• Multi-stakeholderism (October 16)• Legalism (next slide)• Increasing role for First Nations (next week)• Certification (October 7)• Community forestry• Initiative, referendum, recall (not discussed)• Electoral reform (failed)

19

Legalism• Policy-making strongly influence by courts.

Require: – public groups with access to courts – non-discretionary governmental duties – activist judiciary

• Effects – empowers interest groups– empowers unexpert, unelected judges

20

Enabling vs. action-forcing legal standards

Discretionary (enabling)

• BC Wildlife Act 6(1) Where the Minister considers that a species of wildlife is threatened with imminent extinction, the Governor in Council may by regulation designate the species as an endangered species.

Non-discretionary (action-forcing)

• US NFMA Regs: fish and wildlife habitat shall be managed to maintain viable populations of existing native and desired non-native vertebrate species in the planning area

21

Legalism limited in Canada because of discretionary statutes

– exception: First Nations

http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/stat/W/96488_01.htm

http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/stat/W/96488_01.htm

http://www.fs.fed.us/forum/nepa/rule/nfmareg.html

http://www.fs.fed.us/forum/nepa/rule/nfmareg.html

Bureaucracy

• Minister – elected MLA appointed by Premier

• Deputy Minister – unelected senior bureaucrat

• Assistant Deputy Minister


Steve Thomson, Minister of Forest, Lands, and Natural Resource OperationsMLA Kelowna-Mission

Governance – Broad Themes

• provincial dominance

• executive dominance

• legitimacy problems

• minor modifications

• policy style: executive-centered bargaining– norm of consultation


http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcgovphotos/6163866483/sizes/l/in/photostream/



Official Themes so far1. Policies are produced through

governance processes, influenced by environment and markets.

2. Governance addresses who decides, who participates, at what level of government, and with which instruments

3. Canadian forest policy is dominated by the provincial level of government

4. BC’s government is dominated by the executive, particularly the premier

5. Courts have played a limited role in forest policy, with the exception of Aboriginal issues, because of the discretionary nature of BC statutes


Values spectrum

26


On a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being extremely supportive of jobs in the forest industry and 5 being extremely supportive of environmental conservation, how would you rate your simulation group's values?




Institutional Design

• Core issue: allocation of decision making authority

• Organizations have biases– balance of preferences can change as location of

authority changes


Institutional design - horizontal

28





MFLNRO MoE

Institutional Design - vertical

29





Global Markets

CanadaBCForest Dependent Communities

Government Actors -Objectives, Resources: Politicians• resource: authority• Objectives: reelection,

policy objectives, power– reelection comes first --

fundamental constraint– effect: public opinion

matters


• resources– authority– expertise

• objectives– policy objectives– power (budgets, jurisdiction)– autonomy

• effect: powerful organizational inertia


Government Actors -Objectives, Resources: Bureaucrats

Themes so far1. Policies are produced through

governance processes, influenced by environment and markets.

2. Governance addresses who decides, who participates, at what level of government, and with which instruments

3. Canadian forest policy is dominated by the provincial level of government

4. BC’s government is dominated by the executive, particularly the premier

5. Courts have played a limited role in forest policy, with the exception of Aboriginal issues, because of the discretionary nature of BC statutes

6. Institutional design matters because the balance of preferences may change as the location of authority changes

7. Politicians are primarily driven by electoral incentives, making public opinion a significant constraint on government action


Government and Governance

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