This study, jointly conducted by the University of Warwick Institute for Employment Research (IER) and SQW Ltd., discusses the UK Government's intention to accelerate the process of ceding more responsibility for delivering a range of services to the local level. The logic is that local actors are better placed to identify local priorities. This…

The University has embarked on a project to design and implement collaborative learning hubs that provide tertiary courses in a number of local councils. The project builds on the strategic directions of both the councils and the University, which sees itself as the University of Opportunity for people who would traditionally struggle to be…

The ability to think in terms of a system is critical to achieving common direction, alignment, and commitment in highly distributed health systems. In Canada, provincial and territorial ministries of health provide leadership on the direction of health reform while leadership to align system levels is determined by a far more distributed group of…

Despite decades of efforts to achieve gender equity in political life, women remain underrepresented in nearly all levels of government. In this paper, we explore the experiences offered by women who have been elected to local government in the province of British Columbia, Canada, to illustrate the persistence of gendered discourses and…

The latest round in Canada's History Wars was set off by reports on May 2, 2013, that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage was going to "undertake a thorough and comprehensive review of significant aspects in Canadian history." As details of the Heritage Committee's review emerged, controversy erupted as politicians, historians,…

We provide new evidence on the effects of workplace smoking restrictions by studying more than 100 local smoking ordinances in Ontario, Canada from 1997-2004. We advance the literature by examining local (as opposed to state or provincial) laws in a quasi-experimental framework and by explicitly testing for effects on worksite compliance and…

Research messages 2010 is a collection of summaries of research projects published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The summaries are clustered under five broad themes used by NCVER to organise its research and analysis: Industry and employers; Students and individuals; Teaching and learning: VET system; and VET in…

Rural development is a multidimensional phenomenon. The political dimension, relating as it does to power, resources, accountability, priorities and choice, is a pivotal aspect of rural development. Local government is often the centrepiece of rural political systems. Interventions to reconfigure local government are therefore quintessentially…

The study of the adoption of activities to protect the natural environment has tended to focus on the role of organizational fields. This article advances existing research by simultaneously examining conflicting processes that operate in nested organizational fields at local, national and supra-national levels. It examines the recent spread of an…

Lists and comments upon some basic and critical local powers that school boards should have in order to enjoy that degree of autonomy and flexibility consistent with our constitutional constraints. (Author/RK)

An overview of municipal political studies in Canada is provided. A case study approach to city politics is suggested. (DE)

The author documents the design and development of an employment-related training program for local government administrators in Saskatchewan. (CH)

Describes activities that can be adapted for students in elementary to high school grade levels that link teaching about local government to the concept of community and provide starting points for project ideas centering on the active involvement of students, teachers, and local government officials. (CMK)

A study was conducted to evaluate alternative methods of delivering professional development programs to local government personnel in Alberta. It consisted of the development of the analysis model, the identification and evaluation of selected alternative delivery systems, and the formulation of recommendations based on the study. Three major…

Reviews 559 documents from local, state/provincial, and national governments, as well as from international organizations worldwide, that were received by libraries from mid-year 1988 through mid-year 1989. Some of the major issues covered by the documents include health care services, business and economic developments, and the environment. A…