Quotes from Donald J. Savoie

Those who hold power and influence in government either have limited interest in implementation or, in particular in the case of the prime minister and his most senior advisors, cannot find time in their busy agenda to think about implementation. They all too often assume that the machinery of government will do as it is told.

Government is good at generating ideas. In

Citizens expect quick responses to their questions or perspectives, putting enormous pressure on the machinery of government to react quickly and to get it right, which it was hardly designed to do, given its reliance on hierarchy.

Social cohesion and volunteering encourage good citizenship

27 per cent of Canadians think that Ottawa deals with issues that are important to them.

today influence belongs to a carefully selected handful of partisan advisors and senior deputy ministers.

Canadians believe that MPs do a better job pursuing the interest of their political parties than of those they represent,

They fall short on holding the government to account, scrutinizing and authorizing the spending of public money, reviewing and refining legislation, and acting as an effective forum to debate the important issues of the day.

Mark Bevir argues, "Democracy now seems less a means of expressing a common good and more a contest among factions or classes.

government should be good at, relative to the private sector – namely, equality, efficiency, merit, fairness and justice.

If the government is no longer as good as it once was in providing clear answers, the courts are now there to do so.