Abstract

The cover story for a 1989 issue of TIME magazine asked “Is Government Dead?” Since then, similar deadly questions about the raison d’etre of government are being asked by other pundits and publications throughout the world. Eminent scholars and popular journalists alike have noticed many disturbing trends which show that governance is not what it used to be. Once the exclusive domain of statesmen and politicians, government has now become too important and incontinent to be left to the governors alone.

Currently, a plethora of books and articles have been published analyzing various aspects of the governance malaise by exploring the political agenda as it is debated in various institutes and academies. For some, it is a passing phase of the growing pains into post-modernity, while for others it may be the terminal illness of a dying civilization. As in many cases, reality probably lies closer to the middle. Although there is something wrong here, rumors of the imminent demise of government are rather premature.

Here, we examine only the tip of this massive discussion about the deteriorating political climate and declining governmental role in post-modern societies, by perusing two thousand pages of its recent annual crop. Of these, the five books listed below are of particular interest because they consist of compiled reports or edited anthologies involving the expertise of up to a hundred specialists in political science and public administration, about fifty of whom wrote particular articles on various aspects of this critical subject. They are therefore quite representative of the academic discourse and professional discord surrounding this issue, both in Canada and abroad.