A Government Reinvented A Study of Alberta's Deficit Elimination Program

by Bruce, Christopher; Kneebone, Ronald; McKenzie, Kenneth

• ISBN13: 9780195412697
• ISBN10: 0195412699
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-06-26
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This volume is the culmination of an objective, in-depth study of the aggressive attack on the Alberta deficit launched by Premier Ralph Klein's government in 1993. Klein's was the first Canadian province to introduce drastic measures to eliminate its deficity--solely by means of expenditurecuts. After only two years, a $3.4 billion deficit had become a $958 million surplus. A Government Reinvented answers the question, 'How was the goal achieved so quickly?' The research needed to answer this question was distributed among nine experts in the fields of economics, education, and political science. The resulting papers were presented and critiqued at a conference in Banff, Alberta in November 1995. A Government Reinvented features the revised research papers, with parallel commentaries by specialists in economics, law, and public administration. The book examines not only the Klein government's specific cost-cutting strategies, but also general topics such as: theories of government budgetingand bureaucracy, institutional design and public policy, and the delivery of government services.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction	1	(15)
Christopher I. Bruce
Ronald D. Kneebone
Kenneth J. McKenzie
Part I Overview and Theory	16	(160)
2. Fiscal Restructuring in Alberta: An Overview	16	(61)
Robert L. Mansell
Comments on Chapter 2	74	(3)
Kenneth Norrie
3. Institutional Design and Public Policy: A Microeconomic Perspective	77	(53)
Kenneth J. McKenzie
Comments on Chapter 3	124	(6)
Stanley Winer
4. Institutional Design and Public Policy: A Macroeconomic Perspective	130	(46)
Ronald D. Kneebone
Comments on Chapter 4	169	(7)
Bryne Purchase
Part II The Process Behind the Reforms	176	(74)
5. The Process Behind Institutional Reform in Alberta	176	(40)
Ronald D. Kneebone
Kenneth J. McKenzie
Comments on Chapter 5	211	(5)
Michael J. Trebilcock
6. The New Approach to Budgeting in Alberta	216	(15)
Paul Boothe
7. Alberta's Budgetary Response to Fiscal Shocks	231	(19)
Ronald D. Kneebone
Kenneth J. McKenzie
Part III Implementation by Department	250	(212)
8. Family and Social Services, the Alberta Deficit Elimination Program, and Welfare Reform	250	(33)
M. S. Shedd
Comments on Chapter 8	275	(8)
Douglas W. Allen
9. The Role of Health Care Reform in the Reinventing of Government in Alberta	283	(57)
Richard H. M. Plain
Comments on Chapter 9: The Effects of Institutional Changes on Health Care Reform	328	(12)
R. G. Beck
10. New Directions? Government Spending Cuts and Alberta's Institutional Resilience in Advanced Education	340	(43)
J. C. Herbert Emery
Comments on Chapter 10: Advanced Education Policies in Canada: Restraint for What Purpose?	369	(14)
Jonathan Kesselman
11. Education: Meeting the Challenge	383	(38)
Christopher J. Bruce
Arthur M. Schwartz
Comments on Chapter 11	417	(4)
Stephen B. Lawton
12. Rethinking the Delivery of Government Services	421	(41)
Christopher J. Bruce
Comments on Chapter 12	456	(6)
Douglas S. West
Part IV Public Opinion and Commentary	462	(43)
13. What Do Albertans Think? The Klein Agenda on the Public Opinion Landscape	462	(28)
Keith Archer
Roger Gibbins
Comments on Chapter 13	486	(4)
Linda Trimble
14. A Government Reinvented?	490	(15)
Christopher J. Bruce
Ronald D. Kneebone
Kenneth J. McKenzie
Notes on Contributors	505	(3)
Index	508	(11)
Acknowledgements	519