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Johns, Carolyn

Carolyn Johns

Professor
EducationPhD (Political Science, Comparative Public Policy), McMaster University
Phone(416) 979-5000 x 556146

Biography

Dr. Johns is currently the Interim Director of the School of Public Policy and Democratic Innovation. She was the inaugural Graduate Program Director (GPD) of the interdisciplinary doctoral program in Policy Studies, and has served as GPD of the MA program in Public Policy and Administration and the Undergraduate Program Director of the Public Administration and Governance program.

Dr. Johns is currently a Co-Principal Investigator on a new Global Center for Understanding Climate Change Impacts on Transboundary Waters with University of Michigan and McMaster University which received joint funding  from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).  This 5 year project (2024-2029) focuses on interdisciplinary research and climate vulnerable communities in the Great Lakes region and other North American and global transboundary water regions. 

Dr. Johns also serves as Chair of the Geoffrey Bruce Fellowships Program in Canadian Freshwater Policy; as a member of the International Joint Commission's Great Lakes Water Quality Board (external link)  (external link) ; and as a member of Toronto Met Urban Water.

  • C.Johns, 2024. forthcoming, Canada’s Green Transition: Where is Water Policy? In D.VanNijnatten, ed. Canadian Environmental Policy and Politics, 5th Edition, (Toronto: Oxford University Press).
  • Bassone-Quashie, Y., C. Johns and D.VanNijnatten, 2023. “Water, Climate Change and Uncertainty in the Great Lakes and Rio Grande/Bravo Regions: Implications for Adaptive Governance”, Journal of Water and Climate Change, 14(3), 712-729.
  • Johns, C. and D. VanNijnatten, 2022, “Embracing Complexity in Policy Implementation Research: A Comparison of Water Policy Implementation in the Great Lakes and Rio Grande/Bravo Regions”, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice DOI: 10.1080/13876988.2022.2086044 (external link) 
  • G.Inwood and C.Johns, 2022. “Commissions of Inquiry and Task Forces as Policy Tools”, in M. Howlett ed. Handbook of Policy Tools, Routledge Press, 210-221.
  • C.Johns, 2022. “Embracing the Complexity of Policy Success: The Great Lakes Case”, in E. Lindquist, M. Howlett, G. Skogstad, G. Tellier, P. ‘t Hart. eds. Policy Success in Canada: Cases, Lessons, Challenges. Oxford University Press, 348-372.
  • Johns, C. 2021. “Applying the OECD’s Water Governance Indicators in a Transboundary Case: The North American Great Lakes”, Water International, 46:7-8, 976-999.
  • Johns, C. and D.VanNijnatten, 2021. “Using Indicators to Assess Transboundary Water Governance in the Great Lakes and Rio Grande-Bravo regions”, Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, Vol.10, 100102-.
  • C.Johns and S. Stewart, 2021.‘Water Values and Public Policy’, in Catherine Febria and Gail Krantzberg ed. Inland Waters Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition, Oxford, UK: Elsevier Publishers, 1-12.
  • D.VanNijnatten and C. Johns, 2021. “Environmental vs. Territorial Borders: Canada-US Cooperation on Environmental Issues and the Resilience of Transboundary Governance”, in Geoffrey Hale and Greg Anderson ed. Navigating a Changing World: Canada’s International Policies in an Age of Uncertainties, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 255-282.
  • C. Johns, 2021. “Ideas, Values and Ethics: Integrating a Values-based Approach into Water Policy in Canada”, in I. Stefanovic and Zafar Adeel ed. Ethical Water Stewardship – Securing Water for Everyone, Springer Publishers, Netherlands, 261-292.
  • Johns, C. and D.VanNijnatten, 2020 Assessing the Proximity to the Desired End State in Complex Water Systems: Comparing the Great Lakes and Rio Grande Transboundary Basins" Environmental Science and Policy 114: 194-203.
  • “Ideas, Values and Ethics: Integrating a Values-based Approach into Water Policy in Canada.” In Ethical Water Stewardship – Securing Water for Everyone, ed. Ingrid Leman Stefanovic and Zafar Adeel, 261-292. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Netherlands, 2020.
  • "Public Administration in the Cross‐Hairs of Evidence‐Based Policy and Authentic Engagement: School Closures in Ontario” (with Duncan MacLellan). Canadian Public Administration 63:1 (March 2020): 117-139.
  • “The International Joint Commission and the Evolution of Environmental and Water Governance in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin: Accountability, Progress Reporting and Measuring Performance under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement” (with Debora VanNijnatten). In The First Century of the International Joint Commission, ed. Murray Clamen and Daniel Macfarlane, 395-430.  Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2019.
  • “Water Governance Indicators: Challenges and Prospects for Improving Transboundary Lake Governance.” In Transboundary Lake Governance, ed. Velma Grover and Gail Krantzberg, 11-39. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press (a division of Taylor and Francis), 2018.
  • “Transboundary Environmental Governance and Water Pollution in the Great Lakes Region: Recent Progress and Future Challenges.”  In Transboundary Environmental Governance Across the World's Longest Border, ed. Stephen Brooks and Andrea Olive, 77-112.  East Lansing Michigan: Michigan State University Press, 2018.
  • “Commissions of Inquiry and Policy Analysis” (with Gregory J. Inwood). Ch. 11 in Policy Analysis in Canada, 2nd ed., ed. Laurent Dobuzinskis and Michael Howlett, 233-254. Bristol, UK.: Policy Press, 2018.
  • “Environmental regime effectiveness and the North American Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement” (with Adam Thorn and Debora VanNijnatten).  International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics (January 2018): 1-19. Online first (external link) .  DOI: 10.1007/s10784-018-9385-1
  • “The Great Lakes, Water Quality and Water Policy in Canada.” In Water Policy and Governance in Canada, ed. Steven Renzetti and Diane Dupont, 159-178. New York: Springer Publications, 2017.
  • "Intergovernmental Policy Capacity and Practice in Canada” (with Patricia O’Reilly and Greg Inwood).  Policy Work in Canada: Professional Practices and Analytical Capacities, ed. Michael Howlett, Adam Wellstead and Jonathan Craft, 100-110.  Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016.
  • “Transboundary Governance Capacity in the Great Lakes Basin” (with Debora VanNijnatten, Kathryn Bryk Friedman, and Gail Krantzberg). International Journal of Water Governance 4:1 (2016): 7-32.
  • “ (PDF file) Testing a Framework for the Effectiveness of Programs and other Measures Related to the Implementation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (external link) ” (with Debora VanNijnatten and Adam Thorn). Research paper commissioned by the International Joint Commission, 30 October 2015.
  • “Commissions of Inquiry and Policy Change: Comparative Analysis and Future Research Frontiers” (with Greg Inwood).  Canadian Public Administration 59:3 (September 2016): 382-404.
  • “Great Lakes Water Policy: The Cases of Water Levels and Water Pollution in Lake Erie” (with Mark Sproule-Jones).  In Canadian Environmental Policy and Politics: Prospects for Leadership and Innovation, 4th ed., ed. Debora VanNijnatten, 252-277.  Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2015.
  • “Subnational Diplomacy in the Great Lakes Region: Towards Explaining Variation between Water Quality and Quantity Regimes” (with Adam Thorn). Canadian Foreign Policy Journal 21:3 (September 2015): 195-211.
  • “The State of Policy Research in the Great Lakes Basin: A Review of Publications in the Journal of Great Lakes Research in the Past 40 Years” (with Rebecca Teare). Journal of Great Lakes Research 41:3 (September 2015): 697-706.
  • Commissions of Inquiry and Policy Change: A Comparative Analysis (with Gregory J. Inwood, eds.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, 2014.
    • “Why Study Commissions of Inquiry?” (with Gregory J. Inwood). Introduction in Commissions of Inquiry and Policy Change: A Comparative Analysis, ed. Gregory J. Inwood and Carolyn M. Johns, 3-19. Toronto: University of Toronto Press and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, 2014.
    • “The Theoretical Framework: Commissions of Inquiry and Policy Change” (with Gregory J. Inwood). In Commissions of Inquiry and Policy Change: A Comparative Analysis, ed. Gregory J. Inwood and Carolyn M. Johns, 20-48. Toronto: University of Toronto Press and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, 2014.
    • “The Walkerton Inquiry and Policy Change.” In Commissions of Inquiry and Policy Change: A Comparative Analysis, ed. Gregory J. Inwood and Carolyn M. Johns, 214-43. Toronto: University of Toronto Press and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, 2014.
    • “Commissions of Inquiry and Policy Change: A Comparative Analysis” (with Gregory J. Inwood). In Commissions of Inquiry and Policy Change: A Comparative Analysis, ed. Gregory J. Inwood and Carolyn M. Johns, 261-301. Toronto: University of Toronto Press and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, 2014.
  • Intergovernmental Policy Capacity in Canada:  Inside the Worlds of Finance, Environment, Trade, and Health (with Gregory J. Inwood and Patricia L. O’Reilly).  Montréal and Kingston:  McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2012. 
  • “Transboundary Water Pollution Efforts in the Great Lakes: The Significance of National and Sub-national Policy Capacity.”  In Environmental Governance on the 49th Parallel: New Century, New Approaches,  ed. Barry Rabe and Stephen Brooks, 63-82.   Washington, DC:  Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Canada Institute, 2010.
  • “Water Pollution Policy in Canada” (with Mark Sproule-Jones).  In Canadian Environmental Policy and Politics: Prospects for Leadership and Innovation, 3rd ed., ed. Debora Vannijnatten and Robert Boardman, 216-35.  Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2009.
  • “Water Pollution in the Great Lakes Basin: The Global-Local Dynamic.”  In Environmental Challenges and Opportunities: Local-Global Perspectives on Canadian Issues, ed. Christopher Gore and Peter Stoett,  95-129.  Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2009.
  • Canadian Water Politics: Conflicts and Institutions, ed. (with Mark Sproule-Jones and B. Timothy Heinmiller).  Montréal and Kingston:  McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008.
    • “Introduction.”  In Canadian Water Politics: Conflicts and Institutions, ed. Mark Sproule-Jones, Carolyn Johns, and B. Timothy Heinmiller, 3-15.  Montréal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008.
    • “Water as a Multiple-Use Resource and Source of Political Conflict” (with Mark Sproule-Jones, and B. Timothy Heinmiller).  In Canadian Water Politics: Conflicts and Institutions, ed. Mark Sproule-Jones, Carolyn Johns, and B. Timothy Heinmiller, 19-55.  Montréal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008.
    • “Institutions for Water Resource Management in Canada” (with Ken Rasmussen).  In Canadian Water Politics: Conflicts and Institutions, ed. Mark Sproule-Jones, Carolyn Johns, and B. Timothy Heinmiller, 59-89.  Montréal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008.
    • “Non-point Source Water Pollution Institutions in Ontario before and after Walkerton.”  In Canadian Water Politics: Conflicts and Institutions, ed. Mark Sproule-Jones, Carolyn Johns, and B. Timothy Heinmiller, 203-239.  Montréal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008.
    •  “Conclusion: Institutions and Water Governance” (with B. Timothy Heinmiller and Mark Sproule-Jones).    In Canadian Water Politics: Conflicts and Institutions, ed. Mark Sproule-Jones, Carolyn Johns, and B. Timothy Heinmiller, 308-331.  Montréal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008.
  • "Case Studies and the Case Study Method in Canadian Public Administration."  In Professionalism and Public Service: Essays in Honour of Kenneth Kernaghan, ed. David Siegel and Ken Rasmussen, 304-327.  Toronto:  University of Toronto Press, 2008.
  • “Formal and Informal Dimensions of Intergovernmental Administrative Relations in Canada” (with Gregory J. Inwood and Patricia L. O'Reilly). Canadian Public Administration 50:1 (Spring 2007): 21-41.
  • “Intergovernmental Innovation and the Administrative State in Canada” (with Gregory J. Inwood and Patricia L. O'Reilly). Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions 19:4 (October 2006): 627-49.
  • "Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations." In Canadian Politics: Democracy and Dissent, ed. Joan Grace and Byron Sheldrick, 85-116. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada Inc., 2006.
  • "Looking Back, Looking Forward: the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management 1994-2004," (with Gordon Draper). Toronto: Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management, 2004.
  • “Intergovernmental Officials in Canada” (with Gregory J. Inwood and Patricia L. O'Reilly). In Canada: the State of the Federation 2002: Reconsidering the Institutions of Canadian Federalism, ed. J. Peter Meekison, Hamish Telford and Harvey Lazar, 249-284. Montréal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2004.
  • Reflections on the Second Four Years: The Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management 1998-2002. Toronto: Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management, August 2003.
  • Current Good Practices and New Developments in Public Sector Management: A Portfolio (co-edited with S. Agere and A. Stevenson). London: Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management and the Commonwealth Secretariat, September 2002.
  • Policy Instruments to Manage Non-point Source Water Pollution: Comparing the United States and Ontario. Paper Commissioned for Part II of the Walkerton Inquiry 2001. Toronto: Queen's Printer Ontario, 2002. 

Research interests include environmental policy, water policy, intergovernmental administrative relations, public administration, network analysis and policy capacity issues in the public sector.

Carolyn Johns teaches public administration, public policy and environmental policy at the graduate and undergraduate levels. In addition, she has taught in both the First Nations and the Fire Services partnership programs.