Tackling Wicked Policy Problems

Politics & Social Sciences

Gilles Paquet

Politics & Government

Invenire

<p>A Cascade of Governance Failures Canada experienced a tainted-blood crisis in the latter part of the 20th century. It left a number of Canadians dead, and a large number incapacitated or seriously handicapped. It has been established by the court that there was no criminal negligence at the source of this event, but there were most certainly governance failures. This latter aspect of the tragedy has not received the attention it deserves. These governance failures have transformed the crisis into a tragedy, and the tragedy generated a miscarriage of justice if justice delayed for decades may be regarded as justice denied. This book has been written by a specialist on governance, and a medical doctor and scientist, who managed the Canadian blood transfusion system for 17 years. It challenges the conventional wisdom that underpinned the four ill-founded accusations against a few persons levied by interest groups, the media, and the Office of the Solicitor General of Ontario, and it argues that the tragedy was the result of a cascade of pathologies of governance. A systemic reconstruction of the tragedy is proposed, the administrative processes that we argue were responsible for the pathologies of governance are exposed, and suggestions are made to neutralize such malefits in the future. The full-text of the judgment and reasons provided by Justice Benotto, when one of the ill-founded accusations was brought to court, is enclosed. This led the Crown to drop the other three ill-founded accusations. A postface underlines the lack of critical thinking that has allowed such a tragedy to follow its course.</p>

The Tainted Blood Tragedy

Roger. A. Perrault

Striking the right fit between resources, processes and outcomes in complex environments, where different groups have something to contribute towards joint outcomes, even though they partake in joint operations in the pursuit of their own objectives This is what intelligent governance is all about. It is the practical application of an evolving worldview that is a less conflictive, more intelligent, more cooperative and a wiser mode of human coordination. This short book proposes some guideposts for intelligent governance. It does not put forward a rigid blueprint or a recipe that could mechanically and blindly be followed, but a prototype for a process of inquiry seeking to help organizations find a way forward (through innovation and value adding), some general indications about the most toxic pitfalls likely to materialize mental prisons, lack of mindfulness, etc. and comments about the most promising opportunities or initiatives likely to nudge the coordinating inquiries into successful directions. As professionals know, each situation must be contextually ascertained, its complexity and circumstances fully appreciated, its plurality of stakeholders and their worldviews taken into account, its various dynamics probed, and the wayfinding for the organization or the socio-economy must be understood, as distilled by a mix of self-organization and the work of evolving inquiring systems constantly fuelled by social learning. The assemblage of sensors and levers on which we focus constitutes an enabling core checklist for a wide range of inquiring processes in order to avoid major pitfalls and to elicit the most promising wayfinding and stewardship.

Intelligent Governance

Pasquinades in E

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Books by Gilles Paquet