GOVERNANCE KNOWLEDGE HUB

Governance Resources

The IOG Governance Resources page is a digital collation of sources related to the practice and study of governance accessible to all. This list is updated regularly to reflect emerging trends in Canada and around the world.

If you have any material to suggest, please contact Dr. Lori Turnbull at lturnbull@iog.ca

Primary Texts

The following is a list of primary documents that are relevant to governance in Canada and elsewhere. Primary documents are those that are created directly for the purpose of governing and are, themselves, governing tools. For example, among the items listed here are the respective cabinet manuals that apply in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. These documents help to bring clarity to the laws, rules, and constitutional conventions that apply to the operation of government. Canada does not have a cabinet manual, but Open and Accountable Government is a similar type of document.

Open and Accountable Government

Secondary Texts

The following is a collection of scholarly publications, media reports, and other commentaries relevant to the topic of governance. This list is focused primarily on Canada but includes some documents related to other jurisdictions. We group them according to sub-theme for ease of reference. This is not a comprehensive list of sources. We will continue to add to these lists as we become aware of relevant publications, and we welcome suggestions for sources to include.

1. Parliamentary Democracy and Governance

Bost, Marc and Andre Gagnon. 2017. “House of Commons Procedure and Practice, 3^rd Edition.” Available at: https://www.ourcommons.ca/procedure/procedure-and-practice-3/index-e.html

Canadian Parliamentary Review. Available at: http://www.revparlcan.ca/en/home/

Responsible Government (Parliament of Canada, date unknown)

Reforming the Vote of Confidence: A Role for the Speaker in the Standing Orders (Canadian Parliamentary Review, 2023)

Women’s political representation, good governance and human development (Mechkova et al, 2022)

2. Disinformation, Populism, and Governance.

Government of Canada. 2024. Countering Disinformation: A Guidebook for Public Servants. Available at: Countering Disinformation: A Guidebook for Public Servants – Democratic Institutions – Canada.ca

House of Commons. 2019. “Disinformation and ‘fake news’: Final Report.” Digital Culture Media and Sport Committee. Available at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmcumeds/1791/1791.pdf

Place matters: Analyzing the roots of political distrust and Brexit narratives at a local level (Osuna et al, 2021)

Compliance with government policies during emergencies: Trust, participation and protective actions (Mizrahi et al, 2022)

The public, the pandemic, and the public service: The case of Alberta (Wesley and Ribeiro, 2024)

Fatal remedies. How dealing with policy conflict can backfire in a context of trust-erosion (Wolf and Dooren, 2021)

When blame avoidance backfires: Responses to performance framing and outgroup scapegoating during the COVID-19 pandemic (Porumbescu et al, 2022)

Penal Populism and the Public Thermostat: Crime, Public Punitiveness, and Public Policy (Jennings et al, 2016)

Electoral integrity and disinformation (podcast from Dubois et al, 2019)

Public service reflections: Why the role of civil servants must evolve to ensure public trust (Boyd, 2024)

3. Collaborative Governance

Clement, Fiona and Michael Law. 2024. “National Pharmacare: Laying the Groundwork.” Institute for Research on Public Policy. Available at: https://irpp.org/research-studies/national-pharmacare-laying-the-groundwork/

The Future of Canadian Federalism (Canadian Study of Parliament Group, 1990)

Federalism in Canada (Canada, 2021)

“We have a very colonial way of thinking…”: Ontario municipalities’ climate collaborations with Indigenous Peoples (Gillis, 2023)

Measuring accountability in interlocal agreements between Indigenous and local governments (Spicer et al, 2023)

Deliberating with purpose: Deliberative civic engagement for health policy (Massie, 2023)

How well do participatory governance arrangements serve political leadership? (Winsvold and Vabo, 2023)

Reversing delegation? Politicization, de-delegation, and non-majoritarian institutions (Thatcher et al, 2022)

The role of municipalities within Federalism (podcast from Han et al, 2023)

Federalism Structures and Relationships with Indigenous Peoples (podcast from Han et al, 2023)

Building the Federation: Infrastructure within Federalism (podcast from Han et al, 2023)

The renewed Canadian Senate (podcast from Martin et al, 2019)

4. The Future of Public Service Work

Government of Canada. 2023. “Deputy Ministers’ Task Team on Values and Ethics Report to the Clerk of the Privy Council.” Available at: https://www.canada.ca/en/privy-council/services/publications/deputy-ministers-task-team-values-ethics-report-clerk-privy-council.html

Government of Canada. 2024. “Guide on the use of Generative AI.” Available at: https://www.canada.ca/en/government/system/digital-government/digital-government-innovations/responsible-use-ai/guide-use-generative-ai.html

OECD. 2020. “The Future of Work in the Public Service.”Available at: https://www.oecd.org/gov/budgeting/the-future-of-work-in-the-public-service-2020.htm

Institute for Government. 2024. “Power with Purpose: Final Report of the Commission on the Centre of Government.” Available at: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/2024-03/Centre-Commission-final-report.pdf

Public Service in Canada post-COVID-19 pandemic: Transitioning to hybrid work and its implementation challenges (Gintova, 2024)

Government of Canada’s teleworking and hybrid policies in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic (Champagne et al, 2023)

“@Government There’s a pothole in my street!”: Canadian citizens’ adoption choices of social media use in citizen-government relations, Homburg and Moody, 2021)

Regulating the wild west? Management consulting reform in Canadian government (Zaman et al, 2023)

Digital era open government and democratic governance: The case of Government of Canada Wikipedia editing (Clarke and Dubois, 2020)

The Open Government Guidebook (Canada, 2023)

Real Talk: How Generative AI Could Close Canada’s Productivity Gap and Reshape the Workplace—Lessons From the Innovation Economy (The Conference Board of Canada, 2024)

ChatGPT: Organizational and Labour Implications (Burt, 2023)

ChatGPT : Répercussions pour les organisations et les travailleurs (Burt, 2023)

Effective Leadership in a Hybrid World of Work (Conference Board Inc., 2023)

Why Employees Choose Work Over Wellness: The Links Between Absence Policies, Attendance, and Mental Health (Leman et al, 2023)

Pourquoi les employés préfèrent le travail au mieux-être : Les liens entre les politiques d’absentéisme, l’assiduité au travail et la santé mentale (Leman et al, 2023)

Real Connections in a Virtual World: Designing Remote Workplaces for Social Connections (Leman et al, 2024)

De véritables relations dans un monde virtuel : Concevoir des milieux de travail à distance permettant de créer des liens sociaux (Leman et al, 2024)

Quels sont les liens entre la décision de se présenter au travail et la santé mentale? (Leman at al, 2023)

Opportunity for All: Improving Workplace Experiences and Career Outcomes for Canadians With Disabilities (Hutchison and Faisal, 2023)

Breaking Down Barriers: Improving the Workplace Experience for Neurodivergent Canadians (Hutchison, 2023)

All on Board: Does Disclosure Help Create More Inclusive Boardrooms? (Yap et al, 2021)

The Role of the CEO in Driving ESG (Conference Board Inc., 2023)

5. Public Governance Frameworks

OECD. 2018. “Draft Policy Framework on Sound Public Governance.” Available at: https://www.oecd.org/governance/policy-framework-on-sound-public-governance/draft-policy-framework-on-sound-public-governance.pdf

Good Governance Institute. 2019. “Modern Governance in the Public Sector: The First Report from the National Commission on the Future of Governance in the Public Sector.” Available at: https://www.good-governance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GGI-NatComm-Phase1-FrameworkReport-201119-Final-1.pdf

International Framework: Good Governance in the Public Sector (IFAC and CIPFA, 2014)

Governance frameworks (Deloitte, 2022)

Social policy responsiveness in multilevel contexts: How vertical diffusion of competences affects the opinion-policy link (Peters, 2021)