Professional Affiliation

Associate Professor of Public Policy, Queen's University, Ontario, Canada

Wilson Center Project

"The Next Crisis in Governance: Planning for Public Sector Reform in 2010"

Project Summary

After 2010, demographic trends will produce demands for increased government spending on health care and income security programs. To avoid contentious entitlement cuts, governments are likely to impose severe expenditure restraints on all aspects of their operations. The study will consider what threats this government-wide austerity might pose to critical government capabilities, such as the capacity to formulate policy, produce services, enforce regulations, and maintain popular legitimacy. After examining current attempts to "reinvent government," the study will consider what reforms could be undertaken to avoid harm to these capabilities, and whether any reforms will be euqal to the demographic pressures that will arise after 2010.