Policy Initiatives and Individual Policy Capacity: Three Papers Based on the Canadian Federal Experience

This dissertation explores the intersection of policy capacity and policy work, centering on policy analysts within the Canadian federal government.Through three papers, it offers novel insights into individual level policy capacity.The first paper sets the scene by presenting various initiatives that the Canadian government launched to enhance policy capacity.Rather than assessing and commenting on the state of policy capacity (for example, see Bakvis (2000)), it starts out with the optimistic premise that Canadian efforts have been deliberately designed to disrupt the current state and enhance policy capacity across the board.The findings, however, indicate to the contrary.The reality behind the initiatives has been happenstance -piecemeal initiatives have been created to reinstate the value of internal policy advice at predictable junctures, but these efforts have only benefited a small group of policy analysts instead of the majority.The paper concludes that, to lift the policy game, activities, roles, and competencies of policy analysts must be charted to develop models that can engage contributions of all players instead of a select few.Building upon the conclusion of the first paper, the second paper in this dissertation examines the activities of Canadian federal policy analysts and the various roles they play.Drawing upon results of a survey administered to policy analysts in the Policy Analyst Recruitment and Development Program at Natural Resources Canada and interviews with key informants in 2021, the paper presents a picture of policy analysts' activities in the Canadian federal government and proposes an updated taxonomy of policy roles for the contemporary context.In addition to Meltsner (1975)'s original articulation (entrepreneur, technician, and broker), roles of innovator, designer, process expert, and engagement specialist are presented.These additions bring evolving public expectations to the forefront, aim to reignite a conversation about the nature of policy work at the federal level, and provide a framework for policy analysts to keep in mind while fulfilling their roles and obligations.The final paper in this dissertation compares the individual level of Wu, Howlett, and Ramesh (2015; 2018)'s Policy Capacity Framework with the literature to date on policy competence, frameworks developed for policy practitioners in New Zealand, the United Kingdom (UK), and Canada as well as an empirical analysis of 647 job posters used as proxies of demand for policy competencies required in the Canadian federal context in 2019.Content analysis of job posters reveals that the most frequently mentioned competencies include specialized knowledge or experience; data and analysis; ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing; stakeholder engagement; research and analysis; program and project management; managerial/operational skills; time management skills; evaluation (including planning and reporting) skills; working inter-governmentally, synthesizing information from various sources; understanding of economic concepts; and, an ability to work under pressure.While these findings are largely in alignment with previous work at the subnational level, frameworks developed for practice, and the prevailing Policy Capacity Framework, there are elements that can be integrated to enhance existing understanding.More specifically,

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