Canada’s Senior Public Service and the Typology of Bargains: from the Hierarchy of Senior Civil Servants to A Community of ‘‘Controlled’’ Entrepreneurs

Abstract

New Public Management (NPM) developments have changed the way the Canadian public service works. Specifically, they have changed a number of aspects of the work, role and management of the senior public service and its relationship with politicians. Hood and Lodge have proposed a typology of these relationships, and if their typology is applied to Canada, we find that senior officials used to adopt a hierarchist-type position with respect to political leaders. But has their position changed since the advent of NPM? The evidence shows that senior executive profiles and practices have become managerialized. In terms of the typology, the change has been relatively small, and the push toward entrepreneurship and individualism has been offset by an increasing number of systemic controls.