What is Government Good At? by Donald J. Savoie

I picked this up shortly after it was published in 2015, but never managed to finish it.  I started eagerly, but then reached a point where my day-to-day frustrations working in government were being described so accurately and framed as global problems in the current practice of governing, that I got discouraged and eventually gave up: first the book and then the job.

However, I recently noted that the author has published a new title, Looking for Bootstraps: Economic Development in the Maritimes, which looks really interesting. But I have this little rule...I am not allowed to get a new book, if I have not yet finished an earlier book by the same author that is in my collection.  So I went back to What is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer with new determination and the fresh perspective of someone who now works in an opposition office. And I am glad I did.

In some ways What is Government Good At? provides a history of the rise and fall of public confidence in government from the post-World War II period when the public believed that government could solve all the big problems, to today when there is widespread public disdain for the government's ability to provide public services: a disdain that is often encouraged by our own politicians. Throughout Savoie points out both the social and political evolution over the past seventy years and its impact on how we are governed.  Although he primarily focuses on the federal government, his work applies equally well to provincial governments.

One of the Savoie's central premises is that government functions on two levels: above the fault line and below the fault line.  Power resides above the fault line, and the main goals there are to generate new policy, manage the blame game, avoid risk, respond to the priorities of the Prime Minister, keep ministers on message, and interpret it all through the lens of how to win the next election. Below the fault line is the day-to-day operations of government: the administration and implementation of policy. These days there seems to be a growing disconnect between those above and those below the fault line. Those above do not have the time--and do not consider it their job-- to engage in implementation, yet are unable or unwilling to delegate decision-making power below the fault-line. This disconnect then creates a situation where "public servants below the line will continue to attend meetings, exchange documents, and prepare briefing notes in the hope that some day someone above the line takes an interest." In that sentence, Savoie summed up about 57% of my frustration with my former job.

Unfortunately, it also creates a "a disbelief culture below the fault line--the view that no reform from above will stick or work. Thus, when reforms are announced, public servants downstairs simply go through the motions of implementation, convinced that this is just another passing fad that will soon die out, and things will shortly get back to normal. The instinct is to batten down the hatches and wait out the passing storm, knowing that those above the fault line and the authors of the latest reform efforts will soon be pursuing other priorities."

Savoie points out many of the factors that have led to this situation, including: the breakdown of social cohesion as communities have abandoned organized religion; the increased influence of the courts in the Charter era; the power of lobbyists; the centralization of power in the Prime Minister/Premier's office; the tendency of managers in government to manage up and ignore what is happening below them; the natural bureaucratic impulse to accumulate more staff and larger budgets; the 24 hour news cycle; the development of the never-ending election cycle; politicians who serve their party ahead of their constituents; and apathy and disengagement among the electorate.

Throughout Savoie provides provocative insights into why so many people, both inside and outside of government, are frustrated by the status quo, and much of it rings true to my own experience working within government.  If you have even a passing interest in learning more about how we ended up with the systems we have, and how some changes can be made to improve governance, this would be an excellent starting point.

Four and a half smileys out of five. 😀😀😀😀😶