Aux frontières des écologies professionnelle et politique : l'audit de performance dans le gouvernement canadien

La présente communication vise à interroger, au travers d’un cas empirique, la relation entre System of Professions (1988) et Linked Ecologies (2005) d’Andrew Abbott. Bien qu’il confère, contrairement aux approches critiques (Champy, 2009 :32-3), une spécificité au phénomène professionnel, le System d’Abbott revendique une applicabilité à tout arrangement de division du travail impliquant une abstraction (1988 : 387, note 10). Ecologies est présenté comme un complément non problématique au premier ouvrage, précisant les dynamiques à l’œuvre dans l’auditoire de l’Etat lors de l’octroi de juridictions professionnelles formelles (2005 : 246-7). Toutefois, dans la mesure où la situation d’un acteur dans une écologie exclut sa situation dans une écologie voisine, Ecologies remet indirectement en question le champ d’application de System. Ce problème apparait clairement à l’intérieur de l’Etat, où certaines organisations publiques se voient mandatées par l’Etat à appliquer à l’intérieur de celui-ci un savoir abstrait à des cas particuliers. Convient-il, conformément aux critères développés dans System, d’inscrire ces acteurs dans l’écologie professionnelle, et/ou, dans la lignée d’Ecologies, de les envisager dans leur relation aux autres corps de l’Etat ? Dans cette communication, nous proposons d’examiner cette question au travers de l’analyse du développement de l’audit de performance dans le gouvernement fédéral du Canada. Cette question ne pouvant appeler à une réponse univoque, l’analyse nous amène à considérer deux hypothèses. Dans un mouvement fractal ascendant, la première suggère que les différentes écologies, à l’instar des acteurs qui les constituent, sont en compétition pour l’appropriation relativement exclusive de certains lieux. La seconde interroge l’existence d’une écologie politico-professionnelle distincte, et les conditions de son émergence éventuelle. En faisant pénétrer l’œuvre d’Abbott dans un domaine où son application est moins évidente, cette contribution vise à en éprouver ses limites et permet ainsi d’envisager les conditions de son application à d’autres domaines caractérisés par une forte interpénétration des champs politique et professionnel.status: publishe

Professionalizing Public Administration(s)? The Cases of Performance Audit in Canada and the Netherlands

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS V ACRONYMS VII INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I – RESEARCH PROBLEM: THE PERFORMANCE AUDIT SYSTEM 15 PART ONE: THEORY 35 BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION 35 CHAPTER II – PERFORMANCE AUDIT LITERATURE REVIEW 41 CHAPTER III – PROFESSIONAL THEORIES 87 CHAPTER IV – THE SYSTEM OF PROFESSIONS 113 CHAPTER V – COINING AN EQUATION 143 PART TWO: CANADA 171 INTRODUCTION 171 CHAPTER VI – PROFESSIONAL POLITICS GOES DOWN TO OTTAWA 173 CHAPTER VII – ESCAPING THE AUDIT SOCIETY? 217 CHAPTER VIII – BACK TO THE FUTURE 253 PART THREE: THE NETHERLANDS 289 INTRODUCTION 289 CHAPTER IX – ISLANDS OF PERFORMANCE 293 CHAPTER X – THE DEPLOYMENT OF THE ARK 329 CHAPTER XI – VBTB: THE DEVIL LIES IN THE DETAILS 373 EPILOGUE – A SPECIAL PURPOSE VEHICLE? 423 PART FOUR: CONCLUSIONS 435 INTRODUCTION 435 CHAPTER XII – VALUING THE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE: MEASUREMENT ISSUES 437 CHAPTER XIII – CROSS-CASE COMPARISON 481 CHAPTER XIV – PROFESSIONALIZING PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (S)? 507 ABSTRACTS 529 REFERENCES 535 TABLE OF CONTENTS 569 LIST OF TABLES 581 LIST OF FIGURES 583 DOCTORATEN IN DE SOCIALE WETENSCHAPPEN EN DOCTORATEN IN DE SOCIALE EN CULTURELE ANTROPOLOGIE IThis dissertation is the output of a deductive research into the emergence, in OECD's countries, of a performance audit system composed of three somewhat coordinated layers: performance audit, internal audit, and internal control. The objective is to anticipate the emergence of a debate as to the implementation of such a system in federal Belgium. Two research questions are derived: a theoretical one (how to explain the emergence of the research objects?) and an empirical one (do the research objects actually emerge in OECD countries?). Part one reviews the performance audit and sociology of professions literature in search for an explanatory hypothesis. The will of synthesizing the incommensurable but equally relevant hypotheses of functionalism (public audit fulfils a given policy objective) and monopolism (public audit results from the imperialism of the accounting profession) brought forward in both fields leads to adopt Andrew Abbott's System of Profession theory as main theoretical hypothesis. In order to falsify it empirically, it is translated into the equation "Y = ABC + ABcDeF". This means that a given public administration, in order to obtain a jurisdiction like performance audit, internal audit and internal control, should first, claim it ("A"). This claim should moreover fit in a public policy ("B"). Theoretically, these two conditions are sufficient for a jurisdiction to emerge, provided that no other public administration already performs it ("C"). If this jurisdiction is already occupied ("c"), the claimant group should moreover ambit the jurisdiction ("D"), the incumbent must be perceived as having failed to perform its work on a satisfactory way ("e"), and the local system of professions should allow such shifts occurring ("F"). It is proposed to systematically confront empirical evidence from Canada and the Netherlands with this theoretical hypothesis in order to assess its explanatory value. Part two analyses seven cases in Canada. Performance audit emerges shortly after another jurisdiction related to the scientific establishment of the budget. It carries with it another jurisdiction, related to the organization of the departmental production of effectiveness studies to be reviewed by the performance auditor. The latter even tries to federate both groups in a wider one of comprehensive auditors, but fails. Jurisdictions of internal audit and financial internal control are carved out of a more general management jurisdiction in the aftermath of a political scandal. Part three analyses nine cases in the Netherlands. Performance audit first fails in the absence of a professional provider. It is the delegation of the financial audit jurisdiction to public accountants that frees up the resources for developing performance audit. Internal audit is a remote consequence of this delegation: when a reform expands departmental reports to financial and management information beyond financial one, the public accountants are upgraded to internal auditors; internal control being the object of their work. In the current case study, departmental internal auditors are merging together. Aimed at sparing on financial audit work to develop consulting activities, this episode could threaten at term the performance audit jurisdiction. Part four bridges the gap between theoretical expectations and empirical evidence. After having re-examined the measurement decisions, it proceeds to the cross-case comparison. This confirms that the equation "Y = ABC + ABcDe" adequately explains the emergence of performance audit, internal audit and internal control in the public sector of OECD countries, with, however, two nuances. On the one hand, the within-case analyses have allowed deleting condition "F": theoretically suspending competition, it requires suppression because competition is an emerging phenomenon. On the other hand, the cross-case analysis indicates that conditions "C" and "c" could be deleted from the equation, with an eye on theoretical parsimony: they are somewhat implied by the relevance or not of conditions "D" and "e". But because conditions "C" and "c" allow observing the transition from a non-competitive to a competitive situation, they are kept in the equation in order to emphasize this transition. This finding that a growing share of public administrations tasks are organized in jurisdictions and that this leads over time to the emergence of a competitive system of professions inside the state is discussed as a conclusion: some further research needs on systems are identified, the insights this approach could deliver in Belgium are previewed, and the role of the discipline of public administration in this context of professionalization is considered.nrpages: 583status: publishe

De la société de l'audit au système des professions : l'histoire insttutionnelle de l'audit dans le service public canadien

While Michael Power’s theory of the “audit society” is useful for explaining the expansion of auditing in the public sector, it nevertheless fails to explain why auditing practice occasionally contracts. This difficulty can be surmounted, however, through Andrew Abbott’s “system of professions” theory, which generalizes the mechanisms of professional turf battles brought out by Michael Power and which highlights interprofessional competition. This theory is used to review the institutional history of auditing in the Canadian federal public sector. It is of greater use in developing a detached approach to history and suggests that in the long run, rebalancing will occur between the Office of the Auditor General, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, and the Office of the Comptroller General.status: publishe

Participatieve Analyse van de Governance in de Tak Kinderbijslag van de Werknemers

Analyse van het governance-systeem in de tak kinderbijslag van de werknemers, van de risico's die er volgens de actoren zijn voor de doelstellingen ervan, en vervolmakingssporen.nrpages: 114status: publishe

De la société de l’audit au système des professions : l’histoire institutionnelle de l’audit dans le service public canadien

Si elle permet d’expliquer la croissance de l’audit dans le secteur public, la théorie de la société de l’audit de Michael Power échoue à expliquer pourquoi l’audit, quelquefois, se rétracte. En généralisant les mécanismes de conquêtes professionnelles mises en lumière par Michael Power et en mettant en évidence la compétition interprofessionnelle, la théorie du système des professions d’Andrew Abbott permet de surmonter cette difficulté. L’histoire institutionnelle de l’audit dans le secteur public fédéral canadien est revisitée à l’aide de cette théorie. Elle permet une approche dépassionnée de l’histoire et laisse entrevoir à terme un rééquilibrage des forces professionnelles entre le Bureau du vérificateur général, le Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor et le Bureau du contrôleur général.While Michael Power’s theory of the “audit society” is useful for explaining the expansion of auditing in the public sector, it nevertheless fails to explain why auditing practice occasionally contracts. This difficulty can be surmounted, however, through Andrew Abbott’s “system of professions” theory, which generalizes the mechanisms of professional turf battles brought out by Michael Power and which highlights interprofessional competition. This theory is used to review the institutional history of auditing in the Canadian federal public sector. It is of greater use in developing a detached approach to history and suggests that in the long run, rebalancing will occur between the Office of the Auditor General, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, and the Office of the Comptroller General

Evolution de l'audit dans le gouvernement du Canada

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De l'arbre et de sa forêt: Enjeux locaux d'un instrument de gestion dans deux branches de la sécurité sociale belge

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Participatieve Analyse van de Governance in de Tak Jaarlijkse Vakantie van de Arbeiders

Analyse van het governance-systeem in de tak jaarlijkse vakantie van de arbeiders, van de risico's die volgens de actoren bestaan voor de doelstellingen ervan, en vervolmakingssporennrpages: 82status: publishe

De l'Arbre et de sa Forêt: Enjeux Locaux d'un Instrument de Gestion dans Deux Branches de la Sécurité Sociale Belge

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Consultant diversiteitsscan

Vertrouwelijk rapportnrpages: 16status: publishe