RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Research Directorate, PSC

Here are samples of material you can find on our web site.

COMPARATIVE MERIT SYSTEM

This area of research is centred on comparative analysis of human resources management systems based on the merit principle. The studies support operations by advising on experiences in other jurisdictions across the world. For example:

Tracking the Role of the Public Service Commission in the Governance System of the Federal Public Service of Canada

This study has been tracing the history of the Commission's role in the broad governance system of the federal public service. It has documented those time periods where the Commission's contribution was discussed vis-à-vis personnel management, public sector values and governance institutions, and provided observations on factors that have been instrumental in shaping the Commission.

Overview of Public Services around the World

The overview draws a profile of civil service reforms being implemented by governments in Canada, Britain, Australia, New-Zealand and the United-States of America by examining legislation, organizational structures, organizational cultures, interpretation and implementation of merit, equity, and diversity principles in the management of human resources, and finally the impact of information technologies on the civil service.

Merit Systems in Western Democracies: Introduction to Merit in Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand

This is a comparative introduction to the values of the Public Service. Like Canada, some other democracies have established an explicit merit system and assigned to a specific organisation the responsibility of ensuring compliance to them. All of the countries that are discussed here have identified and implemented a family of values with which they associate merit. Many countries make an explicit distinction between "process" and "results-oriented" values.

Merit Systems in Western Democracies: Current Problems and Selected Best Practices

This study shows that Canada can avoid or mitigate the merit-related problems that other western democracies have experienced by focussing attention on the ethical dimension of public service reform, and by drawing from these countries' experience.