NCJ Number
102919
Date Published
1986
Length
108 pages
Annotation
With a view to improving the design and application of Canadian public policy and the use of legal instruments as vehicles for policy implementation, this report examines the relationship between policy implementation and compliance with the law.
Abstract
Following a discussion of the language and philosophy of policy implementation, the implementation process is examined in terms of an ongoing interaction among government, the private sector, and the public. The capabilities of and limitations of instruments used to influence private sector behavior are examined, including financial incentives (grants, low-interest loans), persuasion (advertising, information campaigns), and command penalty instruments (regulatory offenses, licensing). Policy implementation is next examined from the perspectives of the involved parties. It is concluded that while law and legal instruments are useful for framing, facilitating, or constraining activities of administrators or private parties, the law has been too event-specific. The law has been unable to reflect the complexity of the ongoing relationships involved. It is hoped that by linking law and implementation, a synthesis may be forged between what lawyers and other parties do in the implementation of policy. Tables of cases and statutes and approximately 350 references.