{"product_id":"9780776618258","title":"Defending a Contested Ideal: Merit and the Public Service Commission, 1908-2008","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1908, after decades of struggling with a public administration undermined by systemic patronage, the Canadian parliament decided that public servants would be selected on the basis of merit, through a system administered by an independent agency: the Public Service Commission of Canada. This history, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Commission, recounts its unique contribution to the development of an independent public service, which has become a pillar of Canadian parliamentary democracy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Ottawa Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47116876710128,"sku":"9780776618258","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780776618258_p0.jpg?v=1763661991","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780776618258","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}