Partisanship, Institutions and Public Policy: The Case of Labour Market Policy in Ontario, 1990–2000

For historical institutionalist scholarship, partisanship's impact on public policy is mediated by institutions; however there is disagreement about whether globalization has altered this nexus. In view of the importance of labour market policy for the equity and efficiency objectives of left– and right–wing parties, it is particularly significant as a domain for testing partisanship's continuing relevance. This article examines the link between partisanship and policy outcomes, using the case of labour market policy in Ontario during the 1990s as its point of reference. It concludes that, in relation to three selected aspects of this field, institutions affected left– and right–wing partisan agendas quite differently, but that globalization has not transformed this relationship in recent years. Because of inter–sectoral institutional variations, this conclusion cannot be extended to other policy domains without further research.

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