Des pouvoirs et des hommes

An examination of the history of municipal administration in Montreal during the first half of this century.

Provides an examination of the history of municipal administration in Montreal.Basing her work on extensive study of Montreal's city records, Dagenais gives us a view of city government from inside city hall, showing how the city's institutions really functioned. From 1900 to 1950, the municipal administration underwent a decisive transformation to become a modern bureaucracy. Dagenais explores the forces behind modernization by illuminating the roles played by city hall's main actors; elected officials, department heads and civil servants. Dagenais presents the municipal government from three perspectives. She first views it as a public administration whose history is marked by the numerous power struggles which brought elected officials into conflict with professional bureaucrats. Secondly, she sees it as a large enterprise which was notably influenced by modern management techniques, and finally she shows it to be a working environment shaped by professional relationships. Dagenais provides the first detailed history of a municipal administration in Canada, one that is particularly important as Montreal was at the economic and financial centre of Canada during this crucial period of urban and industrial development.