Two Philosophical Issues Surrounding the Structure of Public-Policy Recommendations

One of the key responsibilities of public institutions in liberal democracies is to formulate recommendations for decision makers. However, public institutions realize that decision makers will often partly ignore their recommendations. This situation of "partial compliance" with recommendations raises a number of philosophical issues for institutions. Based on an analysis of 570 recommendations drawn from 40 Quebec public-sector documents and reports, we identify two issues surrounding the structure of public-policy recommendations. L'une des fonctions des institutions publiques des democraties liberales est de formuler des recommandations a l'attention des decideurs. Or, les institutions publiques savent que leurs recommandations seront souvent ignorees en partie par le decideur. Cette situation de << conformite partielle >> aux recommandations souleve plusieurs problemes de nature philosophique pour les institutions. En nous appuyant sur une analyse de 570 recommandations tirees de 40 documents et rapports du secteur public quebecois, nous identifions deux enjeux entourant la structure des recommandations issues du secteur public.