Cycling into Saigon
224 pages, 6 x 9
Paperback
Release Date:01 May 2001
ISBN:9780774808149
Hardcover
Release Date:15 Nov 2000
ISBN:9780774808132
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PDF
Release Date:01 Oct 2007
ISBN:9780774852043
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Cycling into Saigon

The Conservative Transition in Ontario

UBC Press
The essence of democracy is the peaceful and legitimate transfer of government. In 1995 in Ontario, the omens for a successful transition weren’t promising. Almost no one had expected Mike Harris’s Common Sense Revolution to catapult his Progressive Conservatives from third-party obscurity to victory in the June election. The Harris manifesto declared its intention to dismantle almost every policy of the defeated NDP administration of Bob Rae. Weeks of confrontation and confusion seemed inevitable. Yet, as Cameron and White compellingly describe, the transition was a surprising success, involving necessary co-operation between political mortal enemies. Cycling into Saigon has important lessons for everyone involved or interested in this key stage of the electoral process, wherever it takes place.

Awards

  • 2001, Shortlisted - Donner Prize, Donner Foundation
[This book] makes an important contribution to the sparse literature on transitions in Canada and in parliamentary regimes generally … A concluding section neatly sums up the authors’ advice on transition planning. It is so wise and plainly stated that their book will almost certainly become essential reading for future transition teams in Canada, and it merits attention in other parliamentary democracies as well. S.R.J. Noel, American Political Science Review
In this fascinating work, the authors examine how the transition of government in Ontario in 1995 was a surprising success involving, as it did, the necessity of co-operation between political mortal enemies. Cycling into Saigon has important lessons for everyone involved or interested in this key stage of the electoral process, wherever it takes place. The Donner Prize Jury
David R. Cameron and Graham White are professors in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto.

Preface

1 Transitions

2 The 1985 and 1990 Transitions

3 Transition Building Blocks: Bureaucrats, Politicians, and Mandates

4 Bureaucratic Preparations

5 The Parties Prepare for Power

6 Cycling into Saigon: The Common Sense Revolutionaries Take Over

7 Not Politics but Good Government: Making Transitions Better

Appendices

A Two Public Policy Forum Documents Given to Opposition Parties

B Excerpts from Mission ’97

C The Liberal Approach to Organization, Management, and Decision-Making in the Government of Ontario

D The Conservative Transition Team

E Introduction to Political Briefing Material Given to Conservative Ministers

F Speech by Premier Harris to Deputy Ministers, 27 June 1995

G On the Record: Ensuring a Place in History / Peter DeLottinville and Ian E. Wilson

Notes

Bibliography

Index

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