Charles Conteh

Professor, Political Science

Associate Editor, Canadian Public Administration (CPA)
The CPA is the flagship journal of public administration research in Canada.

PhD, McMaster
MA, Carleton
BA, Toronto

Office: Plaza 354
905-688-5550 x4075
[email protected]

LinkedIn
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Policy Governance in Multi-level Systems Website
Mediating Innovation Policy Delivery Website

Professor Conteh’s research and teaching interests include Canadian and Comparative Public Policy, Public Administration, Political Economy, and Multilevel Governance. His current research focuses on governance structures and processes in complex, dynamic policy systems, particularly collaborative and strategic policy formulation and implementation. Professor Conteh currently investigates how local, regional and national economies are reinventing themselves in the face of seismic global economic and ecological changes.

Professor Conteh won the Inaugural Faculty Distinguished Researcher Award in 2018. This is an award granted in recognition of “consistent record of outstanding research achievements and exemplary contributions to research and scholarship to the Faculty, Brock University, and the wider community.” Professor Conteh was also short-listed for the 2014 Ontario Speaker’s Book Award for his co-edited book published with the University of Toronto Press. He received the “Highly Commended Award” at the Literati Network Awards for Excellence in 2013, for an article published in the International Journal of Public Sector Management. In 2010, he received recognition at the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) annual conference for his co-authorship of one of the “Eight Most Downloaded Articles” published in the Public Management Review journal 2009.

Areas of specialization

  • Public Policy and Administration
  • Multilevel Governance
  • Political Economy
  • Agri-food Innovation Policy

Publications

Books:

  • Conteh, Charles. (2026). Mediating Innovation Policy Delivery: The Regional Innovation Centres of Ontario. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  • Conteh, Charles, T. J. Greitens, D. K. Jesuit, I. Roberge (Eds.). (2014). Governance and Public Management: Strategic Foundations for Volatile Times . London: Routledge.
  • Conteh, Charles and Shafiqul Huque (Eds.). (2014). The Unfinished Agenda of Public Sector Reform in Developing Countries: Paradoxes and Practices.  London: Routledge.
  • Conteh, Charles and Ian Roberge (Eds.). (2014). Canadian Public Administration in the Twenty-First Century. (Routledge, CRC Press: Taylor & Francis).
  • Conteh, Charles and Konah Koroma. (2014). Development Policy Governance. Lambert Academic Publishers (LAP).
  • Conteh, Charles. (2013). Policy Governance in Multi-Level Systems: Economic Development and Policy Implementation in Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press (MQUP).
  • Conteh, Charles and Robert Segsworth (Eds.). (2013). Governance in Northern Ontario: Economic Development and Policy Making. Toronto: University of Toronto Press (UTP).

Recent Book Chapters:

  • Charles Conteh and Jörg Broschek. (2026). “Turbulence, Federalism and Multi-level Governance: Delivering and Managing Through Complex Systems” in Governance in Turbulent Times: Canada in Comparative Perspective, Jonathan Craft and Evert Lindquist (Co-editors). UBC Press.
  • Charles Conteh and Sandra Appiah. (2025). “Policy Legacies and Sustainable Mining Reforms in Ghana” in Routledge Handbook of Public Policy in the Global South, Ishtiaq Jamil and Gedion Onyango (Eds.). Routledge.
  • Conteh, Charles. (2024). “Member state implementation in Canada” in Handbook of Public Policy Implementation, Fritz Sager, Céline Mavrot and Lael Keiser (Eds.). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  • Conteh, Charles. (2023). “Canada and the United States: A Symbiotic Relationship or Complex Entanglement?” in Asymmetric Neighbours and International Relations: Living in the Shadow of Elephants, I. Roberge, N. Park and T. Klassen (Eds.).  Abingdon: Routledge. Pp. 13-28.
  • Conteh, Charles. (2021). “Development, Governance and Policy: A Multilevel Governance Framework” in Handbook of Development Policy, H. Zafarullah and A Shafiqul Huque (Eds.).  Edward Elgar. Pp. 35-47.
  • Conteh, Charles. (2018). “Public Administration and Management Reforms” in Issues in Canadian Governance, Amanda Clarke and Jonathan Craft (Eds.). Toronto: Emond Publishing. Pp. 183-200.
  • Conteh, Charles. (2017). “Concerted Action in Complex Environments: A Comparison of Industrial Restructuring in Mid-Sized City-Regions in Canada and the United States” in Public Policy, Governance and Polarization, David K. Jesuit, Russell Alan Williams (Eds.). Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. Pp. 1-30.

Recent Refereed Journal Articles:

  • Conteh, Charles. (2026). “Advancing Co-creation in Local Governance: The Role of Coping Strategies and Constructive Hybridization.” Edited by Asbjorn Roiseland, Eva Sorensen, and Jacob Torfing, Publius: The Journal of Federalism.
  • Conteh, Charles and Brittany Harding. (2023). “Boundary-Spanning in Public Value Co-Creation through the Lens of Multilevel Governance.” Public Management Review, 25(1): 104-128.
  • Conteh, Charles, Jiyoung Park, Kathryn Friedman, Ha Hwang, and Barry Wright. (2023). “Strengthening the Competitiveness Productivity and Innovation of Cross-Border Industrial Corridors.” Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy, Vol. 12(1), 75-100.
  • Conteh, Charles. (2022). “Build Intergovernmental Partnerships to Empower Small and Mid-Sized Municipalities” in “Who Does What Series: The Municipal Role in Economic Development.” The Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG). University of Toronto.
  • Conteh, Charles. (2021). “Strategic adaptation of city-regions in federal systems: comparing Canada and the United States.” Territory, Politics, Governance, 9(1), 56-75.
  • Conteh, Charles. (2020). “Multilevel Governance through a Strategic Lens: Innovation Policy Delivery in Ontario.” Canadian Public Administration, Vol. 63(3): 429-449.
  • Conteh, Charles and Diana Panter. (2017). “Path-Dependency and the Challenges of Institutional Adaptability: The Case of City-Regions in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science, 50(4): 938-1004.
  • Conteh, Charles. (2016). “Rethinking Accountability in Complex and Horizontal Network Delivery Systems in Canada.” Canadian Public Administration, 59(2): 224-244.
  • Conteh, Charles, O. Kusi-Ampofo, J. Church, and B.T. Heinmiller. (2015). “Resistance and Change: A Multiple Streams Approach to Understanding Health Policy Making in Ghana.” Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 40(1): 195-220.

Recent Policy Reports:

Awards

Awards

  • SSHRC Standard Research Grant
  • SSRRC Workshop and Book Publication Grants
  • BUAF & BSIG Research Grants
  • Institute for Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) Research Grant (in collaboration with Dr. B. Segsworth)
  • The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Grant. (in collaboration with the Director of World Hope International, Canada)

 

Recognition of Research Excellence 

  • Finalist, 2014 Speaker’s Book Award  (Book published with the University of Toronto Press)
  • “Highly Commended Award” at the Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2013, for article published in the International Journal of Public Sector Management.
  • One of the “Eight Most Downloaded Articles” published in the Public Management Review journal 2009.

Teaching

Courses taught at Brock University:

  • Business-Government Relations
  • Machinery of Government
  • Local Government
  • Issues in Local and Regional Governance

Student supervision

Professor Conteh is open to supervising graduate students interested in any subject area of public policy and administration.