Katherine Fierlbeck
Professor / McCulloch Professor of Political Science - on sabbatical

Email: K.Fierlbeck@dal.ca
Phone: (902) 494-6629
Mailing Address:
- Health care politics
- Health care governance
- Comparative health policy
- Canadian political thought
- Theories of governance and policy formation
- Normative and historical political theory
- Epistemological political theory
Education:
- University of Alberta (B.A. Hon.)
- York University (M.A.)
- Cambridge University (Ph.D.)
- University of Alberta (PDF)
Selected Publications:
Books:
- Fierlbeck, K., ed. Public Policy Challenges in Rethinking Public Health: Comparative Perspectives. World Scientific Publishing, 2024.
- Fierlbeck, K., and Gregory P. Marchildon. The Boundaries of Medicare: Public Health Care Beyond the Canada Health Act.McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023.
- Fierlbeck, K.,and Joaquin Cayon de las Cuevas, eds. Health Law and Policy from East to West: Analytical Perspectives and Comparative Case Studies. Thomson Reuters/Editorial Aranzadi SAU, 2022.
- Fierlbeck, K., J. Graham, and M. Herder, eds, Transparency, Power, and Influence in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Policy Gain or Confidence Game, University of Toronto Press, 2021.
- Fierlbeck, K.Health System Profiles: Nova Scotia. University of Toronto Press, 2018.
- Fierlbeck, K. and H. Paley, eds. Comparative Health Care Federalism. Routledge, 2015.
- Fierlbeck, K.and Bill Lahey, eds.Canadian Health Care Federalism. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press, 2013.
- Fierlbeck, K. Health Care in Canada: A Citizen’s Guide to Politics and Policies. University of Toronto Press, 2011.
- Fierlbeck, K.Canadian Political Thought: An Intellectual History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006.
- Fierlbeck, K, ed. The Development of Political Thought in Canada: An Anthology, University of Toronto Press, 2005.
- Fierlbeck, K.Globalizing Democracy: Power, Legitimacy, and the Interpretation of Democratic Ideas.Manchester and New York: University of Manchester Press, 1998. Second edition published July 2008.
Special Issues
Fierlbeck, K. ed. Special Issue of the Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law.Vol. 46, No. 1 (February 2021).
Reports and Decisions
- Katherine Fierlbeck. Reinterpreting the Canada Health Act.C.D. Howe Institute, May 2025
- Katherine Fierlbeck. The Scope and Nature of Private Health Care in Canada. C.D. Howe Institute, January 2024
- Katherine Fierlbeckand Gaynor Watson-Creed. Municipal Governance and Public Health.Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG), Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto, 2022
- Judge F.P. Hoskins, R. Daren Baxter, Q.C., and Katherine Fierlbeck, Ph.D. Decision of the Review Committee in the Matter of Complaints against Judge Gregory Lenehan, made pursuant to the Provincial Court Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c.238 (with.) 29 March 2018
Articles
- Fierlbeck, Katherine, Lara Gautier, Susan Usher, Sara Allin, Veena Sriram, and Peter Berman (2025). “Testing ‘the science’: A comparative analysis of COVID-19 testing policy across four Canadian provinces. Social Science & Medicine, v, v. 371 (April)
- Caldwell, H.A.T.,Yusuf, J., Carrea, C., Conrad, P., Embrett, M., Fierlbeck, K.,Hajizadeh, M., Kirk, S.F.L., Rothfus, M., Sampalli, T., Sim, S.M., Tomblin Murphy, G., Williams, L (2024). Strategies and indicators to integrate health equity in health service and delivery systems in high income countries: A scoping review. JBI Evidence Synthesis.
- Fierlbeck, Katherine. “Healthcare in federal systems.” Politics and Governance. Vol. 11, No. 3 (2023), 289-299.
- McGibbon, Elizabeth, Katherine Fierlbeck, and Tari Ajadi.“Institutional Ethnography as Critical Policy Analysis: Innovations for Guiding Policy Research.” Critical Studies. Vol. 17, No.1 (2023).. 57-78
- Sim, Meaghan, Hilary Caldwell, Sara Brushett. Emma Cameron, Mohammed Hajizadeh, Sara Kirk, Katherine Fierlbeck,Tara Sampalli, Mark Embrett, Melissa Rothfus“What strategies and indicators are health service and delivery systems using to address health equity? A scoping review protocol.” JBI Evidence Synthesis.. (2021) Aug. DOI: 10.11124/jbies-21-00001. PMID: 34374690
- McGibbon, Elizabeth, Katherine Fierlbeck, and Tari Ajadi.“Health inequity and institutional ethnography: mapping the problem of policy change." Witness: The Canadian Journal of Critical Nursing Discourse. Vol.2, No. 3 (2021)
- Caldwell, Hilary, Sara Scruton, Katherine Fierlbeck,Mohammad Hajizadeh, Shivani Dave, Meaghan Sim, Sara F. L. Kirk. “Fare well to Nova Scotia? Public health investments remain chronically underfunded.” Canadian Journal of Public Health, 112, pages186–190 (2021) .
- Fierlbeck, Katherine. “Health care and the fate of Social Europe.” Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law, Vol. 46, No. 1 (February 2021)
- Edmonds, Sterling, Andrea MacGregor, Agnieszka Doll, Ipek Eren Vural, Janice Graham, Katherine Fierlbeck, Joel Lexchin, Peter Doshi, and Matthew Herder. “Transparency too little, too late? Why and how Health Canada should make clinical data and regulatory decision-making open to scrutiny in the face of COVID-19.” Journal of Law and the Biosciences. Vol. 7, No. 1 (2020) lsaa083,
- Lawrence, Logan, Katherine Fierlbeck, Patrick McGrath, Janet Curran. “An expert-generated tool for assessing policy capacity”, Canadian Public Administration Vol. 63, No. 2.(June 2020), 293-317.
- Fierlbeck, Katherine. “Amalgamating provincial health authorities: assessing the experience of Nova Scotia,” Health Reform Observer7/3, September 2019, Article 3. DOI:
- Murdoch, Jennifer, Gail Tomblin Murphy, Robert Alder, John Gilbert, Katherine Fierlbeck, and Audrey Steenbeek. “Readiness to collaborate scale: how ready are obstetrical practitioners to participate in an interprofessional healthcare team?” Journal of Interprofessional Education and Practice13. (December 2018), 73-80.
- Fierlbeck, Katherine,Bill Gardner and Adrian Levy“Is New Public Governance Useful in Thinking 51Թ Health Care? Health Technology Assessment in Canada.” Canadian Public Administration(March 2018).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Reforming the regulation of therapeutic products in Canada: The Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs Act(Vanessa’s Law).” Health Reform Observer4/4 (November 2016). Condensed version of this article (edited by Alex Titeu) also published in the Health Systems and Policy Monitor, October 2017
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“The Politics of Regionalization,” HealthcarePapers 16/1 (2016), 58-62.
- Lahey, William andKatherine Fierlbeck.“Legislating Collaborative Self-Regulation in Canada: A Comparative Policy Analysis.” Journal of Interprofessional Care30/2. March 2016, 211-216.
- Gardner, William, Katherine Fierlbeck, and Adrian Levy. “Breaking the Deadlock: Towards a New Intergovernmental Relationship in Canadian Healthcare” (with William Gardner and Adrian Levy). HealthcarePapers 14/3 (Oct 2014), 7-15.
- Fierlbeck, Katherine. “The Changing Contours of Experimental Governance in European Health Care,” Social Science and Medicine(v. 108, May 2014), 89-96.
- Fierlbeck, Katherine. “Public Health and Collaborative Governance,” Canadian Public Administration (March 2010).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine. “Canadian Democracy,” for Library and Archives Canada’s “Forum on Canadian Democracy “project. Published online by LAC 2008 at
- Black, Martha and Katherine Fierlbeck. “Whatever Happened to Regionalization? The Curious Case of Nova Scotia,” Canadian Public Administrationv.49, n.4 (Winter 2006), 506-526.
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Political Imperatives and Normative Justifications: Response to Joyce Green,” in The Canadian Journal of Political Science(June 2000).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Policy and Ideology: The Politics of Post-Reform Health Policy in the United Kingdom,” in the International Journal of Health Services, v. 26, n. 3 (1996).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“The Ambivalent Potential of Cultural Identity,” in The Canadian Journal of Political Science(March 1996).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Getting Representation Right for Women in Development,” in The IDS Bulletin, July 1995 (also published as a book chapter, as noted below).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Marketing Care: The Politicization of Health Care in Britain,” in Studies in Political Economy(Fall 1994).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Economic Liberalization as a Prologue to Democracy,” in The Canadian Journal of Development Studies(July 1994).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Redefining Responsibility: The Politics of Citizenship in the UK,” in The Canadian Journal of Political Science(September 1991).
Book Chapters
- Fierlbeck, Katherine. “Medicare,” in Daniel Beland, Riane Mahon, and Alison Smith, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Social Policy in Canada. Oxford University Press
- Fierlbeck, Katherine and Peter Berman. “Introduction: themes and choices,” inPublic Policy Challenges in Rethinking Public Health: Comparative Perspectives. World Scientific Publishing (2024).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“What is meant by a ‘right’ to health care? (And why should we be careful in demanding them?)”, in Katherine Fierlbeck and Joaquin Cayon de las Cuevas, eds. Health Law and Policy from East to West: Analytical Perspectives and Comparative Case Studies. Thomson Reuters/Editorial Aranzadi SAU (2022),
- Fierlbeck, Katherineand Joaquin Cayon de las Cuevas. “Analysing and comparing health care systems from an interdisciplinary approach”, in Katherine Fierlbeck and Joaquin Cayon de las Cuevas, eds. Health Law and Policy from East to West: Analytical Perspectives and Comparative Case Studies. Thomson Reuters/Editorial Aranzadi SAU (2022).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine, Kevin McNamara and MaureenMacDonald. “Policy, politics, and pandemics,” in Public Health Political Science: Integrating Science and Politics for Public Health,. Patrick Fafard, Evelyne de Leeuw, and Adele Cassola, eds. Palgrave-Macmillan (2022).
- Fierlbeck, Katherineand Lorian Hardcastle .“Have the Post-SARS Reforms prepared us for COVID-19? Mapping the Institutional Landscape” (with). Vulnerable: The Policy, Law, and Ethics of COVID-19.Colleen Flood, Vanessa MacDonnell, Jane Philpott, and Sophie Theriault Sridhar Venkatapurum, eds. University of Ottawa Press (2020), 31-48.
- Fierlbeck, Katherine. “Health Care in the Provinces,” in Provinces: Canadian Provincial Politics, 3rded. Christopher Dunn, ed. University of Toronto Press, (2015); 442-470.
- Fierlbeck, Katherineand H. Paley. “Introduction,” inComparative Health Care Federalism. Ashgate (2015).
- Fierlbeck, Katherineand H. Paley. “Canada,” in Comparative Health Care Federalism. Ashgate (2015).
- Fierlbeck, Katherineand H. Paley “Conclusion,” in Comparative Health Care Federalism. Ashgate (2015).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Mon Pays, C’est l’Assurance-Maladie,” in Policy Thinking Outside the Box: Innovation in Policy Ideas.K. Banting, R. Chaykowski and S. Lehrer, editors.School of Policy Studies, in association with McGill-Queen’s University Press(2015) 67-90.
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Three Approaches to Cost Containment in Health Care Federalism,” in Greg Marchildon and Livio de Matteo, eds. Bending the Cost Curve. University of Toronto Press (2014); 169-191.
- Fierlbeck, Katherine“The Political Dynamics of Health Care Federalism,” in Fierlbeck and Lahey, eds. Health Care Federalism in Canada: Critical Junctures and Critical Perspectives. McGill-Queen’s University Press (2013); 45-70
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Renewing Federalism, Improving Health Care: Can This Marriage Be Saved?” in Fierlbeck and Lahey, eds. Health Care Federalism in Canada: Critical Junctures and Critical Perspectives. McGill-Queen’s University Press (2013); 3-23.
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“The Dialectics of Law and Politics: Federal Health Policy in Canada and the EU,” in Finn Laursen, ed. The European Union and Federalism: Polities and Policies Compared. Ashgate Press (2010).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Romancing the State”, in Bruce Morrison, ed.Transnational Democracy: Lessons from the Nation State. Ashgate Press (2003).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine. “Paying to Play: Government Financing and Health Care Agenda Setting,” in Gregory Marchildon, Tom McIntosh, and PG Forest, eds. The Fiscal Sustainability of Health Care. Toronto: University of Toronto Press (2003).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine. “Cost Containment in Health Care: The Federalism Context,” in Duane Adams, ed. The Canadian Social Union: Case Studies from the Health Sector, McGill-Queen’s University Press (2001).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“The Right to Health Care,” in Don Carmichael, Tom Pocklington, and Greg Pyrcz, eds.Democracy, Rights, and Well-Being in Canada. Harcourt-Brace Canada (1999).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine. “Multiculturalism and the Right to Recognition,” in Don Carmichael, Tom Pocklington, and Greg Pyrcz, eds.Democracy, Rights, and Well-Being in Canada. Harcourt-Brace (1999).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Getting Representation Right for Women in Development,” in A.M. Goetz, ed. Breaking In, Speaking Out: Making Development Organizations Work for Women in Development. London: Zed Books (1998).
- Fierlbeck, Katherine.“Canadian Health Care Reform and the Politics of Decentralization,” in Christa Altenstetter and James Bjorkman, ed. Health Reform, National Variations, and Globalization. London: Macmillan (NY: St Martin’s Press) (1997).
Review Essays
- “No support,” in The Literary Review of Canada, April 2014.
- “Unchartered waters,” in The Literary Review of Canada, May 2012.
- “Canada’s Roots are more Liberal than Tory”, in The Literary Review of Canada, July/August 2007.
- “Dialogue or Monologue? The Limits to Lessons that Can be Learned,” in The Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law, June 1999.
- “Rosenau’s Post-modernism and the Social Sciences,” in History and Theory: Studies in the Philosophy of History, v.33, n.1, 1994.
Reviews
- Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. 2021. Theodore Dalrymple.False Positive: A Year of Error, Omission, and Political Correctness in the New England Journal of Medicine. Published online first on May 3, 2021. DOI:
- Canadian Journal of Political Science. 2021. Carey Doberstein,Distributed Democracy: Health Care Governance in Ontario Doi: 10.1017/S0008423921000172.
- Canadian Journal of Political Science.2019: Carolyn Hughes Tuohy, Remaking Policy: Scale, Pace, and Political Strategy in Health Care Reformand Raisa Deber, Treating Health Care: How the Canadian System Works and How It Could Work Better.52(1)
- Healthcare Quarterly. 2017. Joel Lexchin, Private Profits vs. Public Policy. 20(1),
- Canadian Public Administration. 2014: Lazar, Lavis, Forest and Church, eds. Paradigm Freeze: Why Is It So Hard to Reform Health Care Policy in Canada? 57(3), (September)
- Canadian Public Administration. 2009. Flood, Stabile, and Tuohy, eds. Exploring Social Insurance: Can a Dose of Europe Cure Canadian Health Care Finance?57(3), September
- Canadian Journal of Political Science. 2008. Simon Thompson, The Political Theory of Recognition. (December).
- Perspectives on Politics. 2005. Russell Muirhead, Just Work. (December).
- Canadian Journal of Political Science. 2005. David Laycock, ed. Representation and Democratic Theory. (March).
- American Political Science Review. 2002. Cecile Fabre, Social Rights Under the Constitution: Government and the Decent Life. (June).
- Journal of Health Policy, Politics, and Law. 2000. Carolyn Hughes Tuohy, Accidental Logics: The Dynamics of Change in the Health Care Arena in the United States, Britain, and Canada. (October).
- International Insights. 1997. Mervyn Frost, Ethics in International Relations: A Constitutive Theory. (Fall).
- American Political Science Review. 1997. Bernard P. Dauenhauer, Citizenship in a Fragile World. (September).
- Canadian Journal of Political Science. 1996. Susan Brown Eve, Betty Havens, and Stanley Ingman, eds., The Canadian Health Care System: Lessons for the United States. (September).
- Democratization. 1996. Will Kymlicka, Multicultural Democracy. (Vol.4, No. 1)
- Canadian Journal of Sociology. 1995. Anthony Giddens, The Nation-State and Violence. (Summer).
- Journal of Politics. 1995. H. Steiner, An Essay on Rights and A. Dyck, Rethinking Rights and Responsibilities. (Vol. 57, No.4)
- Canadian Journal of Political Science. 1995. R. Evans, M. Barer, and T. Marmor, eds, Why Are Some People Healthy and Others Not? The Determinants of Health of Populations. (June).
- Canadian Philosophical Reviews. 1994. W. J. Stankiewicz, In Search of a Political Philosophy: Ideologies at the Close of the Twentieth Century. (February).
- Canadian Philosophical Reviews. 1993. George Klosko, The Principle of Fairness and Political Obligation. (June).
- American Political Science Review. 1993. P. Taylor-Gooby, Social Change, Social Welfare, and Social Science. (March).
- Canadian Journal of Sociology. 1992. V. Pareto, The Rise and Fall of Elites.(October).
- British Journal of Canadian Studies.1990. R.L. Deaton, The Political Economy of Pensionsand M. Atkinson and W. Coleman. The State, Business, and Industrial Change in Canada. (Vol. 5, No. 1).
- British Journal of Canadian Studies. 1989. R.J. Thornton, T. Hyclak, and J.R. Aronson, eds. Canada at the Crossroads: Essays on Canadian Political Economy. (Vol. 4, No. 2).
- British Journal of Canadian Studies. 1989. W.D. Coleman, Business and Politics. (Vol. 4, No. 1).
- British Journal of Canadian Studies. 1988. L. Pal, State, Class, and Bureaucracy. (Vol. 3, No. 2).
- British Journal of Canadian Studies. 1988. M.P. Marchak, Ideological Perspectives on Canada. (Vol. 3, No. 2).
- British Journal of Canadian Studies. 1988. S.B. Barrett, Is God a Racist? The Right Wing in Canada. (Vol. 3, No. 1).
Service and Activity:
Dr. Fierlbeck is cross-appointed to the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology,the Department of International Development Studies, andthe European Studies Program. She is a Senior Research Fellow at the Healthy Populations Institute, and is on the research committee for the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy. Dr. Fierlbeck is Director of the Jean Monnet Network for Health Law and Policy (), an EU-funded network promoting research on health law and policy across Europe and North America. Her current CIHR-funded research includes a project investigatingupstream determinants of effective COVID-19 response: learning from comparisons across Canada's provinces and another looking at the impact of retirement income programs on health and health equity among Canadian seniors.