Studying Public Policy: Policy Cycles and Policy Subsystems Michael Howlett and M. Ramesh Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp. viii, 239

Some of the best chapters recount the intriguing tale about the political battles and the reforms that emerged from these confrontations. Hodgetts uses the tension between the legislature and the executive to underline the fact that there are serious contractions within a system where the political executive is fused with the legislature. In his prologue, Hodgetts notes that he regards this current work as a sequel to his earlier study, Pioneer Public Service: An Administrative History of the United Canadas, 1841-1867. While he makes no mention of a trilogy, he does offer a number of tantalizing hints in his epilogue as to what such a final study would entail. After reading this book, scholars with an interest in Canada's administrative history will certainly be left hoping that he will once again enter the archives and complete the important and fascinating story of the development and growth of our largest provincial bureaucracy.