In this seminal work, Greg McElligott traces neoconservative labour market policy from its international origins to the local offices of the Canadian state. In doing so he challenges the elite focus of most policy studies and shows how resistance and informal policy-making among frontline state workers can lay the foundations for a new, more democratic, state.

This study concerns one department of Canadian government - Employment and Immigration Canada (EIC) - and one policy field - labour market policy from 1976-1991. Professor McElligott unearths resistance in workplaces where...