What Is Government Good At? Quotes

“Government is good at generating ideas. In”
― Donald J. Savoie, What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer

“Those who hold power and influence in government either have limited interest in implementation or, in particular in the case of the prime minister and his most senior advisors, cannot find time in their busy agenda to think about implementation. They all too often assume that the machinery of government will do as it is told.”
― Donald J. Savoie, What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer

“today influence belongs to a carefully selected handful of partisan advisors and senior deputy ministers.”
― Donald J. Savoie, What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer

“If the government is no longer as good as it once was in providing clear answers, the courts are now there to do so.”
― Donald J. Savoie, What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer

“government should be good at, relative to the private sector – namely, equality, efficiency, merit, fairness and justice.”
― Donald J. Savoie, What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer

“Mark Bevir argues, “Democracy now seems less a means of expressing a common good and more a contest among factions or classes.”
― Donald J. Savoie, What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer

“They fall short on holding the government to account, scrutinizing and authorizing the spending of public money, reviewing and refining legislation, and acting as an effective forum to debate the important issues of the day.”
― Donald J. Savoie, What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer

“Canadians believe that MPs do a better job pursuing the interest of their political parties than of those they represent,”
― Donald J. Savoie, What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer

“27 per cent of Canadians think that Ottawa deals with issues that are important to them.”
― Donald J. Savoie, What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer

“Citizens expect quick responses to their questions or perspectives, putting enormous pressure on the machinery of government to react quickly and to get it right, which it was hardly designed to do, given its reliance on hierarchy.”
― Donald J. Savoie, What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer

“One in four Canadians now reports being unsure that the charities are honest about their spending.83”
― Donald J. Savoie, What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer

“Social cohesion and volunteering encourage good citizenship”
― Donald J. Savoie, What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer