CMNS 261 Finding Public Policy Documents Sylvia Roberts

Policy: Definition   …an overall plan embracing general goals and procedures and intended to guide and determine decisions.. The Penguin English Dictionary.(2000). Retrieved 04 February 2006, from xreferplus.

Public policy changes initiated by…   Political parties (election promises)   International treaties   Government departments responding to environmental influences, e.g. technology, other gov’t policy   Interest groups such as consumer or trade associations   Expert bodies

Public policy documented in…   Legislation: bills, statutes, regulations   Committee reports, proceedings, evidence   Record of debates (Hansard)   Case law   Annual reports & budgets for ministries, government agencies   Position papers by ministries, NGOs, industry associations, think tanks, etc.   Policy manuals

Event Document Legislation introduced Debate in parliament at 2 nd reading Referred to committee for study rd reading Senate Royal assent In force Specific aspects regulated   1 st reading bill   Hansard for record of debates   Committee report   3 rd reading bill   Possible amendments   Annual statutes   Order in Council   Regulations

Public policy research   Both primary & secondary sources are important in understanding public policy   Ask yourself: What’s the subject of the policy? What jurisdiction is responsible: federal, provincial, municipal / local? Is the policy based on law or some other authority? What documents express this policy?

Primary sources   Crucial in defining policy   Primary public policy documents produced and distributed by government departments & agencies   Documentary research into public policy involves records of Intended policy Implementation & interpretation of policy Review of policy

Secondary sources   Provide background for in-depth analysis   Provide clues to help identify primary documents   Examples: Monographs & research reports Academic journal articles News articles Reports from think tanks & policy institutes Position papers produced by interest groups (industry, NGOs, consumers, professionals)

How to find policy sources?   Continue by searching for secondary sources that discuss the policy issues raised in the document   Use these both for their content and to identify leads to additional primary sources for further research

How to find policy sources?   START by reading your policy document   Note significant groups, events and documents, especially: Government (ministries, agencies, committees) Interest groups, researchers, lobbyists (witnesses, submissions) Legislation, law cases, policy papers Significant events and dates

Executive Branch – Types of policy documents  Position papers  Program reports  Studies  Proposed budgets  Task force & Royal Commission reports  Annual reports & other administrative materials

Finding Executive Branch documents  Search the top level web site at the appropriate jurisdictional level, e.g. Government of Canada, to identify key gov’t agencies concerned with this topic Government of CanadaGovernment of Canada  Continue by searching/browsing web sites for these specific ministries or government agencies  Use the Canadian Research Index to identify gov’t reports and policy papers by topic Canadian Research IndexCanadian Research Index  Look for references to gov’t bodies and specific policy documents in academic literature and news articles

Legislative Branch - Types of policy documents  Bills  Statutes  Regulations,  Record of debates (Hansard)  Committee reports  Minutes & proceedings of committee meetings

Finding Legislative Branch documents  Pending legislation (bills) found on the Parliamentary web site web siteweb site  Current statutes on the Dept of Justice web site web siteweb site  Search the text of the Debates of the House of Commons in Hansard Hansard  Commons /Senate Committee reports via the Parliamentary web site web siteweb site  Use secondary source (specialized encyclopedias, indexes, articles) to find relevant legislation by topic

The Judiciary (law reports)  Law reports are published judicial decisions e.g. CCH Canadian Ltd v. Law Society of Upper Canada CCH Canadian Ltd v. Law Society of Upper Canada CCH Canadian Ltd v. Law Society of Upper Canada  Use secondary sources specific to legal materials to identify case reports by topic: secondary sourcessecondary sources The Canadian encyclopaedic digest, western,The Canadian encyclopaedic digest, western, The Canadian Abridgement DigestsThe Canadian Abridgement Digests Index to Canadian Legal LiteratureIndex to Canadian Legal Literature  You can also find references to case law in academic literature and news articles

Interest Groups  Legislation & government policy is influenced by consultation with constituents / citizens and with interest groups  Interest groups may focus on a single issue or represent a specific political perspective on many issues

Interest Groups may represent:  Industry  Professionals  Consumers  Citizens  Think tanks  Trade unions  Bureaucrats  Activists  NGOs  Cultural perspectives (language, religion)  Demographic perspectives (disabilities, seniors, poverty)

Identifying Interest Groups  Start to identify stakeholders for your policy issue by looking at list of witnesses and submissions in your policy document policy document policy document  Supplement this with individuals or groups named in secondary sources (e.g. news) and on association web sites  Check out the lobbyist registry lobbyist registrylobbyist registry

Identifying Interest Groups’ Positions  Go to the Parliamentary web site to find Committee proceedings, minutes and evidence Parliamentary web site Parliamentary web site  Look for publications by or about these groups on the web, such as: the webthe web position papersposition papers listserv discussionslistserv discussions letters to governmentletters to government  Use news sources to search for articles that mention or quote them news sourcesnews sources

Other national policy documents  Secondary sources can provide names of specific documents or agencies  Use article indexes, web searches  Can search portal sites for specific governments OR legislative or executive branch web sites  Government structures or their approach to policy issue may differ from Canada

PROCESS   Use the research guides and read your course notes   Take good notes as you go   Follow your leads   Talk to librarians (in person or via AskAway) if you encounter difficultiesAskAway   Citation guides for government documents at the end of the guide