As Canada’s older demographic has expanded in recent decades, increasing attention has been focused on home care as part of a broader trend in health reform emphasizing Aging-in-Place. However, despite this, public home care policies and programs across Canada have generally stagnated over the same period, struggling to keep up with growing demand. To help understand why this has happened, this study compares the evolution of home care policies in Ontario and Saskatchewan from the late 1980s to early 2000s using a process-tracing approach. It finds that policy legacies established by early institutional decisions in each province’s home care program shaped the ideas of policymakers and empowered some interest groups over others to cause divergent home care reform choices in response to common challenges experienced within each province’s health system. These reform trajectories set Ontario and Saskatchewan on different reform paths,which occurred despite increased interest in seeing home care play a greater role in each province’s health system. However, the study also identified provincially distinct dynamics by which home care found itself temporarily the focus of increased attention from governments. Specifically, distinct legacies of policy decisions made in the early years of each province’s home care program formation led to the establishment of different ideas regarding home care’s potential as a cost-saving alternative to acute care. These provincially distinct decisions in home care program development also established a unique arrangement of stakeholders in home care, who had differing degrees of influence on policy directions considered during the study period. The thesis concludes by suggesting that home care’s historically marginal role as the “poor cousin” of provincial healthcare systems is the result of a lack of sustained interest from policymakers in investing in home care for the sake of home care, rather than as a means of achieving ulterior goals in health system reform. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The purpose of this study is to explain the variation in approaches to gender equality and innovation in Canada and Sweden through the study of policy, performance measurement, and resource allocation. This is the first study of its kind in comparative public policy to explore differences in gender equality and innovation policy in Canada and Sweden. This research also contributes more widely to the existing body of gender and public policy and innovation literature in Canada and Sweden respectively. This qualitative case study includes 44 interviews with innovation leaders in the public sector, private sector, and academia as well as policy experts at the OECD. This dissertation challenges assumptions about the social and economic power dynamics reflected in current innovation systems in both countries, through the theoretical lens of feminist institutionalism. The findings highlight similarities in the challenges faced in both countries to create gender equality in innovation spaces, despite differences in economic assets and welfare state models. The findings also explain the multiplicative effects of gender inequality at the intersection of institutions: university, government, and private sector. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Within the under-populated realm of scholarship on legislative committees, there have been numerous studies which have looked at the ability of legislative committees to achieve policy influence in the wider legislature. However, fewer have examined the ability for non-governmental organizations – particularly those with relative outsider status in the policymaking process – to influence the policy recommendations of committee members. As environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) have often worked through legislative committees to try to influence policy, this dissertation examines how the characteristics of different legislative institutions work to facilitate or limit influence by representatives of ENGOs. This is done by comparing the interactions of ENGOs with legislative committees in Canada, the United States, and Russia – countries which respectively have parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential systems, and hold in common the derivation of a large portion of the country’s GDP from natural resource-based industries. The central research question for this study asks how the institutional organization of legislative committees affects the ability of ENGOs to achieve influence through engaging the committees, and how other factors interact with this to increase or decrease the potential for ENGO influence. A key finding that emerges out of this line of inquiry is that there is evidence that some conditions for influence in committees cannot be seen as extensions of the wider legislature but can rightly be seen as unique to the committees themselves or as manifesting in unique ways within them. / Dissertation / Candidate in Philosophy

Empirical investigation into afforestation and bioenergy carbon finance projects in Tanzania, Uganda and Moldova demonstrates that effective projects—both in terms of sustainable development and the generation of genuine carbon credits—are more likely to result when the state is able to bring carbon finance initiatives into alignment with national development objectives. Amongst the countries investigated, the most important factor in such alignment was, paradoxically, commitment liberal economic reforms. Contrary to the expectation that the performance of projects under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) would be the same in states with similar administrative capacities, carbon finance projects were more effective in Uganda and Moldova than Tanzania. Commitment to liberal economic reforms in Uganda functions as an animating set of ideas that allows the state apparatus to work in a more purposeful manner and establish institutions and organizations which allow it to generate state power for low-carbon development. For CDM forest and bioenergy projects, the risk of unsustainability is mitigated by a land tenure system and investment regime that (i) offer opportunities for individual smallholders to engage directly with the carbon market and create incentives for domestic investors while (ii) also accommodating historical land governance practices. Genuine carbon credits were associated with project developers who possessed a latent organizational capacity for implementation and were motivated to pursue market opportunities—state forest agencies in Uganda and Moldova. However, the ability of the state to retain latent organizational capacity was restricted to sectors such as forestry that are less sophisticated technically; in the energy sector, such capacity was ceded to the private sector in Uganda and Moldova during structural adjustment. More skeptical of liberal economic policy, Tanzania has retained capacity in the energy sector; however, for the same reasons, it has not treated the CDM as a genuine opportunity. At current carbon prices, CDM projects investigated were effective when the state was able to play a developmental role in the economy. Whether commitment to liberal economic reforms can have similar developmental effects in other parts of the developing world is questionable—a different animating set of ideas may be important.

Empirical investigation into afforestation and bioenergy carbon finance projects in Tanzania, Uganda and Moldova demonstrates that effective projects—both in terms of sustainable development and the generation of genuine carbon credits—are more likely to result when the state is able to bring carbon finance initiatives into alignment with national development objectives. Amongst the countries investigated, the most important factor in such alignment was, paradoxically, commitment liberal economic reforms. Contrary to the expectation that the performance of projects under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) would be the same in states with similar administrative capacities, carbon finance projects were more effective in Uganda and Moldova than Tanzania. Commitment to liberal economic reforms in Uganda functions as an animating set of ideas that allows the state apparatus to work in a more purposeful manner and establish institutions and organizations which allow it to generate state power for low-carbon development. For CDM forest and bioenergy projects, the risk of unsustainability is mitigated by a land tenure system and investment regime that (i) offer opportunities for individual smallholders to engage directly with the carbon market and create incentives for domestic investors while (ii) also accommodating historical land governance practices. Genuine carbon credits were associated with project developers who possessed a latent organizational capacity for implementation and were motivated to pursue market opportunities—state forest agencies in Uganda and Moldova. However, the ability of the state to retain latent organizational capacity was restricted to sectors such as forestry that are less sophisticated technically; in the energy sector, such capacity was ceded to the private sector in Uganda and Moldova during structural adjustment. More skeptical of liberal economic policy, Tanzania has retained capacity in the energy sector; however, for the same reasons, it has not treated the CDM as a genuine opportunity. At current carbon prices, CDM projects investigated were effective when the state was able to play a developmental role in the economy. Whether commitment to liberal economic reforms can have similar developmental effects in other parts of the developing world is questionable—a different animating set of ideas may be important.

This thesis focuses on the implementation of state-administered integration exams as part of the naturalization and settlement process in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Through analysis of key government documents and interviews with public servants and the experts involved, I argue that the actualization of the exam is a critical point in the policy process through which to understand how particular norms become embedded in not only the content, but the different requirements of each exam. In particular, I consider the role language-education experts, settlement experts, and the notable absence of migrants in the actualization of the exams under consideration. More importantly, I argue that while the state employs expert advice as a means through which to depoliticize the issue, the mechanisms through which this is done can in fact create spaces for the contestation of ideas. Drawing on the governmentality literature I argue that the British and Dutch borders are constructed and reified through the developing of test content, while also pointing to the ways in which non-state actors can mobilize their expertise to push for alternative, more open imaginings of the border. Through my comparison I also consider how integration has been framed as a problem with immigrants who do not have the right kind of orientation toward their ‘host’ community. The solutions to issues within immigrant communities (i.e. unemployment, poverty, poor health outcomes) rest in individuals moving from outsider to insider because these problems stem from the community’s position on the periphery of society. I argue that the immigrant’s affective orientation towards society becomes viewed as the source of these problems, and not the community's or society's orientation towards them. I then argue that the integration exam becomes a suitable solution because it solves multiple problems at once. The exam works as the mechanism through which desire is manufactured by making tangible the object of desire in the first place and by making society itself more exclusive. In this sense, the exam not only seeks to “ensure that those who desire ‘us’ are desirable to ‘us’” (Fortier, 2013, 3) by making immigrants prove themselves worthy, but also serves as a mechanism through which the state reasserts its authority over society. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>My research examines the political role of unions, as the collective voice of Canadian cultural workers, in connection to the cultural policies that shape their memberships’ personal and professional lives. I examine the policy advocacy strategies of Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists; the Directors Guild of Canada; the Writers Guild of Canada; the Communication, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada; and the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees IATSE, as members of federal and provincial cultural policy networks.</p> <p>I argue that changes in cultural policy influence the level of participation and the political strategies of the unions and guilds in federal and provincial cultural policy networks. Shifts in organizational and political strategies affect the ways that unions articulate their interests as policy problems; this, in turn, affects the ways in which issues and problems are understood and acted upon by decision-makers in policy reforms. While most of the unions and guilds, particularly at the federal level, have been active in cultural policy networks for several decades, unions at both federal and provincial levels are increasingly partnering with the employers – the independent producers – in their policy interventions. Analysis of my case studies leads me to conclude that this strategy is paradoxical for unions. While a partnership approach from a “production industry” standpoint arguably increases union access to and credibility with policy decision-makers, it can compromise or obscure how unions articulate cultural policy problems as <em>labour</em> problems. When unions engage in policy advocacy either independently or as a labour coalition, the direct relationship between cultural policy and its specific impact on labour markets and working conditions is most evident.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis advances our understanding of how ideas play a role in policy making by examining the processes and conditions that facilitate their international diffusion into domestic debates, their acceptance by policy actors, and the ways in which their acceptance alters policy processes and policy itself. Specifically, the thesis studies the impact of labour market policy ideas from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and its large-scale study on unemployment, the Jobs Study, in three OECD member states: Canada, Denmark and Sweden. This thesis shows that ideas play a number of roles: sometimes they are simply employed to help legitimize pre-determined policy positions; but sometimes a process of learning takes place, and new ideas change actors’ beliefs about what is and what ought to be, and as well their conception of their own interests and goals. Consistent with previous research, policy failure and uncertainty open actors up to the policy learning process and acceptance of new ideas. More than earlier studies, however, this thesis highlights the role of pre-existing beliefs. Accepting one new idea over another is largely determined by the values and beliefs actors bring to bear when judging new ideas; and thus, the cases show a pattern of acceptance for OECD ideas that largely follows along professional boundaries and/or ideological leanings. Moreover, pre-existing beliefs that are intertwined with an actor’s identity tend to be more resistant to change. As other ideational scholars argue, a change in individuals’ beliefs can alter both the policy process and policy itself. When acceptance of an idea is widespread, problems of collective action can be overcome. When beliefs are not as widely shared, their impact on policy depends on many factors. Fragmentation of power and accountability can create “veto players,” and previous policies can create constituencies of supporters, some of whom may resist change. However, during a policy paradigm change, a shift in authority over policy can alter the political landscape and whose ideas matter. Given all these variables, the impact that a belief in new ideas can have on policy is highly mediated, and policy reforms, therefore, may not resemble the ideas which triggered the acceptance of change in the first place. / Thesis (Ph.D, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2011-01-31 12:49:18.185

Infertility politics implies a role for the state in regulating the relationships between different parties involved in the medicalized process of reproduction, namely would-be-parents (infertile couples or individuals), gamete donors, surrogate mothers, fertility specialists, etc. Policies adopted by the Canadian federal government in 2004 as regards assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) were largely inspired by British regulations. Despite this similar start, Canadian policies never lead to implementation; the province of Quebec rapidly contested the federal Assisted Human Reproduction Act before the courts; and many issues of assisted conception were regulated in a heterogeneous manner by the provinces. Meanwhile in Britain, the implementation of the policies created many disparities among the regions of the country; the principle of the law was thoroughly contested and scrutinized; and the sites of deliberation were multiple in spite of the existence of a national regulatory agency. First, the author argues that assisted reproduction technologies cannot be taken as one policy domain, but is an umbrella label for a variety of policy issues. In that context, ARTs are unpacked in order to study, at the system level, the practices related to the overcoming of infertility. I focus on three sub-issues: access to fertility treatments, including the question of public funding and access criteria; gamete and embryo donation, including the question of filiation and donor conceived children’s right to know their biological origins; and surrogacy or the enforcement of pre-natal gestational surrogacy arrangements. Second, by mapping the variety of discourses and arenas mobilized by a range of actors, this study shows how framing and reframing dynamics influence public policies and their implementation. Third, by comparing frame mobilization and discursive dynamics between Quebec, Ontario and England this analysis demonstrates how frame alignment can be a necessary condition for a frame to be performative and influence policy outcomes. Depending on the context in which it occurs, frame transformation, amplification, extension or bridging can induce stability or trigger a cascade of events that will lead to policy change or to a change in the implementation of a policy.

Infertility politics implies a role for the state in regulating the relationships between different parties involved in the medicalized process of reproduction, namely would-be-parents (infertile couples or individuals), gamete donors, surrogate mothers, fertility specialists, etc. Policies adopted by the Canadian federal government in 2004 as regards assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) were largely inspired by British regulations. Despite this similar start, Canadian policies never lead to implementation; the province of Quebec rapidly contested the federal Assisted Human Reproduction Act before the courts; and many issues of assisted conception were regulated in a heterogeneous manner by the provinces. Meanwhile in Britain, the implementation of the policies created many disparities among the regions of the country; the principle of the law was thoroughly contested and scrutinized; and the sites of deliberation were multiple in spite of the existence of a national regulatory agency. First, the author argues that assisted reproduction technologies cannot be taken as one policy domain, but is an umbrella label for a variety of policy issues. In that context, ARTs are unpacked in order to study, at the system level, the practices related to the overcoming of infertility. I focus on three sub-issues: access to fertility treatments, including the question of public funding and access criteria; gamete and embryo donation, including the question of filiation and donor conceived children’s right to know their biological origins; and surrogacy or the enforcement of pre-natal gestational surrogacy arrangements. Second, by mapping the variety of discourses and arenas mobilized by a range of actors, this study shows how framing and reframing dynamics influence public policies and their implementation. Third, by comparing frame mobilization and discursive dynamics between Quebec, Ontario and England this analysis demonstrates how frame alignment can be a necessary condition for a frame to be performative and influence policy outcomes. Depending on the context in which it occurs, frame transformation, amplification, extension or bridging can induce stability or trigger a cascade of events that will lead to policy change or to a change in the implementation of a policy.