Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

Political Science Public Affairs & Administration

Fields of Authority

Special Purpose Governance in Ontario, 1815-2015

by (author) Jack Lucas

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
May 2016
Category
Public Affairs & Administration, General, City Planning & Urban Development
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781487500184
    Publish Date
    May 2016
    List Price
    $78.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781487510374
    Publish Date
    Jun 2016
    List Price
    $66.00

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Everywhere we turn in Canadian local politics – from policing to transit, education to public health, planning to utilities – we encounter a peculiar institutional animal: the special purpose body. These “ABCs” of local government – library boards, school boards, transit authorities, and many others – provide vital public services, spend large sums of public money, and raise important questions about local democratic accountability.

 

In Fields of Authority, Jack Lucas provides the first systematic exploration of local special purpose bodies in Ontario. Drawing on extensive research in local and provincial archives, Lucas uses a “policy fields” approach to explain how these local bodies in Ontario have developed from the nineteenth century to the present. A lively and accessible study, Fields of Authority will appeal to readers interested in Canadian political history, urban politics, and urban public policy.

About the author

Jack Lucas is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Calgary.

Jack Lucas' profile page