Executive Styles in Canada: Cabinet Structures and Leadership Practices in Canadian Government

Canada's political regime is centred on the existence of a federal system of government within the institutions of Westminster parliamentary democracy. This system places a great deal of political power in the hands of cabinet ministers, and while cabinet systems of government in Canada have evolved at different speeds in different federal and provincial governments, they have, over the last two decades, increased centralization of administrative and legislative control in ever fewer hands.

This shift has been well demonstrated by scholars such as Donald J. Savoie regarding the federal system, but little examined in the context of provincial governance. Executive Styles in Canada places equal emphasis on both levels, explaining how and in what way cabinet systems have conformed to or diverged from this general pattern. This unique collection is the only systematic, cross-provincial study of its kind, and is certain to be of great benefit to anyone interested in the structure of government in Canada.

Luc Bernier is the directeur de l'enseignement et de la recherche at l'École nationale d'administration publique. Keith Brownsey teaches political science at Mount Royal College in Calgary. He has published extensively in the area of Canadian politics, specializing in provincial politics. Michael Howlett is Burnaby Mountain Chair in the Department of Political Science at Simon Fraser University and Yong Pung How Chair Professor in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.