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Collateral damage: The short and turbulent life of Quebec's agency for public‐private partnerships
Author(s) -
Facal Joseph,
Demers Guillaume
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
canadian public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.361
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1754-7121
pISSN - 0008-4840
DOI - 10.1111/capa.12148
Subject(s) - opposition (politics) , demise , political science , public administration , politics , legislature , agency (philosophy) , government (linguistics) , political economy , sociology , law , social science , linguistics , philosophy
This article seeks to explain the surprisingly short lifespan of the Quebec government's central unit for promoting public‐private partnerships (PPPs), the Agence des partenariats public‐privé du Québec (APPP). I used a theoretical framework based on neo‐institutional analysis informed by empirical research including interviews with key actors, a review of all briefs submitted to the Quebec legislature and pertinent parliamentary debates, and a partial review of the media coverage. The government severely underestimated the strength of the opposition to its plan. Electoral cycles and elements of the dominant political culture in Quebec also help to explain its demise. However, the prospects for PPPs may not be as negative as the rise and fall of the APPP might suggest.