Channels of Influence: The Interaction between Canada and the OECD

After many years of neglect, the OECD has attracted significant scholarly attention in the past decade (P. Alasuutari & A. Rasimus, 2009; Armingeon & Beyeler, 2004; Carroll & Kellow, 2011; Grinvalds, 2008; Mahon & McBride, 2008; Marcussen, 2004; Ougaard, 2010; Pal, 2008, 2012; Woodward, 2009). Despite this new work, however, relatively little is known about how member states of the OECD interact with the institution, how they exercise influence, and how the OECD influences them.

The larger issue addressed in the paper is the role of international governmental organizations in the policy transfer of public management ideas. Obviously, there is a global conversation about public management practices, a conversation that started in earnest with debates about New Public Management, but it continues apace with calls for reform in the face of the financial crisis. We know that public management ideas do not exist in a domestic vacuum, and we know anecdotally that domestic governments are constantly being scolded about their management systems and “best practices.” There is even a literature on policy transfer that tries to conceptualize this dynamic (D. Dolowitz & Marsh, 1996; D. P. Dolowitz, 2009; D. P. Dolowitz & Marsh, 2000; McCourt & Minogue, 2001), but in-depth case studies remain rare.