Neo-Weberianism and changing state-profession relations: the case of Canadian health care

Professions now operate in a more critical modern Western societal context. This has typically led to a major political challenge by the state to the self-regulation of such groups. It is argued, though, that the reasons for this are more complex than a knee-jerk reaction to the growing number of emerging professional scandals. Accordingly, tools are provided from a neo-Weberian perspective to analyse changes in state-profession relations — bringing state actors to the fore in a novel way. Their application is illustrated mainly through a case study of Canadian health profession regulation.