Alasdair S. Roberts

Dec 4

Review of “Adaptable Country” in PAR

Public Administration Review has published a review of my book The Adaptable Country. Eric Zeemering writes: “This book is a valuable contribution to public administration scholarship. The Adaptable Country demands attention to big picture questions that do not receive enough attention from public administration’s scholarly community . . . For public administration scholars around the globe, this book should be taken as a challenge to ask more difficult questions about the extent to which governing systems can deliver security and prosperity for democratic societies.” Read the full review here.

Dec 2

Review of “The Adaptable Country” in Publius

Thanks to Michael Atkinson for his review of The Adaptable Country in Publius: The Journal of Federalism: “A sober look at Canada’s political architecture in light of the social and economic challenges the country is facing. The strong admonitions and constructive advice contained in this excellent book could not come at a more opportune time.” Read the full review.

Nov 29

Conversation at Canada School of Public Service

On December 18, I visited the Canada School of Public Service for a webcast conversation about my book The Adaptable Country. Available on YouTube. And in French.

Nov 9

Bloomberg post on FDR’s ‘dictatorship plan’

icKR6Dza2gHs — *Buffalo News*, February 11, 1937

This short piece was published by Bloomberg Opinion in March 2012 to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of FDR’s proposals to renovate the executive branch and Supreme Court. Some critics called it the “dictatorship plan.” I covered some of this history in journal articles published a few years back.

FDR’s `Dictatorship Plan’

In February 1937, Franklin D. Roosevelt was beginning his fifth year as U.S. president. His first term had been grueling, as the administration improvised a response to the country’s unprecedented “national emergency.”

He had been assailed by critics for trampling on rights and creating an unmanageable sprawl of new federal agencies. But now, three months after an election that he took as vindication, the president’s mood lightened. He told friends that he had earned some political capital, and he was going to spend it.