Symposium & Dinner in Honour of
Peter C. Aucoin

On November 12-13, 2009, a colloquium celebrating the scholarship and influence of Professor Peter Aucoin in shaping new directions in public policy and management will be held at Dalhousie University in Halifax where Peter has taught for nearly 40 years. An international and interdisciplinary group of leading scholars and researchers will present papers and engage in a critical discussion of democratic governance, Canadian electoral law, public management and its reform, and accountability. The papers and discussion will both reflect on Peter's contributions to our current understanding of the issues addressed and generate new insights. The symposium will also set an agenda for future research on salient issues in public administration and representative governance.

The primary theme of the conference, one that permeates much of Peter's work, is the inherent tension between ensuring democratic control over the bureaucracy yet at the same time allowing the public service sufficient flexibility to exercise the discretion, judgment and professional expertise necessary for the implementation and management of programs. This tension or paradox is explicitly identified in Peter's writing on New Public Management and what he has recently coined, the New Political Governance.

We invite you to attend the conference and the celebratory dinner and participate in the discussion of the papers presented and in honouring Peter Aucoin and his work.

• Aucoin Conference Announcement
  
• Career Publications of Peter C. Aucoin
• Detailed Conference Program
  
• Presenter Biographies
• Paper Abstracts 

From ‘New Public Management’ to ‘New Political Governance’ - A Conference in Honour of Peter Aucoin

November 12 - 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and November 13 - 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
University Hall, MacDonald Building, Dalhousie University

Agenda

November 12

• Speaker: Bridging the Gap Between Government and Academia
  
• Panel 1: The Dilemma of Democratic Governance
• Lunch Keynote Speaker: The Cuban Connection: Peter’s International Contributions
• Panel 2: The Paradoxes of Electoral Democracy: Electoral Law and its Reform
• Panel 3: Public Management and Reform

Reception 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Celebration Dinner at Pier 21: Peter Aucoin and His (Royal) Commissions 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

• People who worked with Peter on the Macdonald and Lortie Commissions, will reflect on Peter’s influence as well as the role and future of Royal Commissions generally.

November 13

• Panel 4: Accountability, Democracy and the New Political Governance
• Panel 5: The Political-Bureaucratic Interface in the Era of the New Political Governance
• Lunch:
  • Comments and reflections on discussion and papers presented by the symposium Rapporteurs - G. Bruce Doern and Ken Kernaghan; and,
  • Comments, reflections and rebuttals by Peter Aucoin
• Conference Closing

Online registration form

Printable registration form

Hotel accommodation

Map to dinner reception

Conference Conveners

Herman Bakvis, University of Victoria

Mark D. Jarvis, University of Victoria

Program Committee

Herman Bakvis, University of Victoria

Mark D. Jarvis, University of Victoria

Robert Finbow, Dalhousie University

Fazley Siddiq, Dalhousie University

Support from the following is gratefully acknowledged:

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Institute of Public Administration of Canada

Government of Nova Scotia

Dalhousie University

University of Victoria

Institute of Research on Public Policy

Additional information:

Please note that there is limited parking on campus. Parking permits can be purchased for $9/day at the registration desk. Other administrative inquiries can be directed to psadmin@dal.ca.

For further information please contact the conference conveners Herman Bakvis (hbakvis@uvic.ca) or Mark D. Jarvis (mdjarvis@uvic.ca).