Critical Policy Studies

"Critical Policy Studies" describes the emergence of new issues in Canadian public policy in the neoliberal era and surveys the recent evolution of critical approaches to policy studies.

Traditional definitions of public policy in Canada have been challenged by globalization, the transition to a knowledge-based economy, and the rise of new technologies.

These changes are catapulting new issues onto the Canadian policy agenda and transforming the policy problems that have existed for decades.

Mad cow disease, border screening, and global warming are just some of the new policy problems.

Contributors describe these issues, conceptualize the ways in which public policy questions cut across the traditional fields of policy, and present critical approaches to policy studies.

Chapters cover both topical approaches, including Foucauldian and post-empirical analysis, as well as new applications of established perspectives, such as political economy.

These perspectives are applied to a variety of important topics, including security issues, Canadian sovereignty, welfare reform, environmental protocol, Aboriginal policy, and reproductive technologies. "Critical Policy Studies" provides an alternative to existing approaches to policy studies, and will be welcomed by scholars, students, and practitioners of political science and public policy.