Rodney Haddow

Partisanship, Globalization, and Canadian Labour Market Policy: Four Provinces in Comparative Perspective

Acknowledgments Part 1: Context * Partisanship, Globalization, and Political-Economic Institutions in Labour Market Policy-Making * Welfare State, Production Regime, and Party System in Four Canadian Provinces * Historical and Federal Context of Canadian Labour Market Policy Part 2: Case Studies * Ontario: Policy Continuity amid Institutional Uncertainty * Quebec: Legacies of Political-Economic Distinctiveness * British Columbia: Right Hegemony in a Polarized Liberal Polity * Alberta: One-Party Dominance and Neo-liberalism * Social Assistance and Employment: An Anomaly? Part 3: Reflection * A Perspective from Abroad: Coordinative Institutions and Labour Market Reform in Germany STEFFEN SCHNEIDER * Conclusion: Stepping Back and Looking Forward Appendix: Criteria for Rating Labour Market Policy Change Notes Index

Partisanship, Institutions and Public Policy: The Case of Labour Market Policy in Ontario, 1990–2000

For historical institutionalist scholarship, partisanships impact on public policy is mediated by institutions; however there is disagreement about whether globalization has altered this nexus. In view of the importance of labour market policy for the equity and efficiency objectives of left– and right–wing parties, it is particularly significant as a domain for testing partisanships continuing relevance. This article examines the link between partisanship and policy outcomes, using the case of labour market policy in Ontario during the 1990s as its point of reference. It concludes that, in relation to three selected aspects of this field, institutions affected left– and right–wing partisan agendas quite differently, but that globalization has not transformed this relationship in recent years. Because of inter–sectoral institutional variations, this conclusion cannot be extended to other policy domains without further research.

Can Decentralization Alleviate Labour Market Dysfunctions in Marginal Jurisdictions? Active Labour Market Policies in Nova Scotia and Saxony-Anhalt

An influential discourse now promotes decentralization in the active labour market policy field. Drawing upon evidence from Nova Scotia and Saxony-Anhalt, two marginal jurisdictions within the Canadian and German federations, this article questions the decentralization argument. The institutional setting of policy making in these two jurisdictions differs in fundamental ways, but policy outcomes have been unsatisfactory because subnational governments in each region la ked the resources to exploit the particular advantages of their setting. Decent ralization may be workable in the active labour market field, but policymakers who wish to pursue it should first consider the kinds of obstacles, such as those identified here, that it can face.