Between them, Brian Mulroney and Jean Chretien radically altered the structure and functions of the Canadian federal government. This text analyzes the Mulroney-Chretien era's impact on Canadian governance through two related factors, globalization from without and neoconservatism from within.

The impact of globalization and neoconservatism is examined extensively in the second part of Clarkson's study, which examines how the functions of the Canadian state have altered. Clarkson addresses the changes in a number of policy areas such as macro and monetary policy, regulatory, industrial and trade policy, as well as social, labour, environmental, cultural and foreign policy. In linking external forces and internal factors in his analysis, Clarkson seeks to bring together separate aspects of the Canadian state into a comprehensive understanding of the Canadian political climate. He combines a global knowledge of the international political economy with a micro concern for detailed analyses of policy issues, and concludes that the responsibility for Canada's predicament lies less with external forces, than with Canadians and the governments they elected. He ends with a hopeful look into the future, pointing towards a realization of the shortcomings of neoconservative globalization, and the expectation of a new governing paradigm.