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IPAC releases New Directions #18: key international thinkers weigh in on the regulatory state

Toronto, February 23, 2006: A paradox of public sector management over the last decades has been evident in an extraordinary expansion of regulatory growth. The actual paradox is that this expansion has occurred against the backdrop of a persistent rhetoric of privatization, deregulation and reduced government. This, as some have called it, “re-regulation” has moved away from the older command-and-control model to more nimble – market, negotiated, responsive, etc. – approaches. The Institute of Public Administration of Canada has captured unprecedented analyses of this heightened regulation under conditions of restricted state purview and resources in the eighteenth publication of its New Directions Series: Dreaming of the Regulatory Village; Speaking of the Regulatory State.

With a synthesizing introduction that integrates and expands upon the key themes running throughout, this publication draws together the papers presented by twelve of the world’s leading thinkers on regulatory governance at IPAC’s “International Brainstorm: The Regulatory State of Tomorrow,” held in December 2004, in Toronto. The participants came from seven different countries and four continents, representing a range of disciplines, solid scholarly credentials and many with extensive experience as practitioners and consultants.

The articles in this collection revisit the debates over regulatory governance and the regulatory state arising in the aftermath of the New Public Management agenda of horizontal management, partnered service delivery and reduced red tape. As the state becomes increasingly networked, and concerned with steering rather than rowing, how does it act to preserve public welfare? In one capacity or another, all the articles contribute to the dissecting of rhetoric and arguments about the role and potential of regulation under current conditions. The complications of conflicting values, technological panaceas, globalization, public participation and deliberation, and capacity limitations are among the complex issues addressed by these influential scholars.

“There is no escaping a serious confronting of the challenges posed by contemporary regulation,” said Joseph Galimberti, Executive Director of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. “With this publication, IPAC expands its already salient role in advancing this important discussion among public administration scholars and practitioners.”

Created in 1947, IPAC is a private, non-profit organization and the leading Canadian organization concerned with the theory and practice of public management. Its scope covers public administration and governance from the global to the local level. It is an association with 17 regional groups across the country providing networks and forums at the regional, national and international levels. It enables public servants from all spheres of government, university and college teachers, staff, students, and others interested in public sector management to exchange ideas on trends, practices and innovations in public administration.

For further information on IPAC, please visit the website at www.ipac.ca, or contact:

George Khoury
Director of Membership and Marketing
Institute of Public Administration of Canada
gkhoury@ipac.ca
(416) 924-8787 ext 234.