Citizen Satisfaction in the Public Sector

Abstract

Citizen satisfaction refers to how citizens evaluate government services based on their prior expectations. Reflecting the growing importance of citizens’ role in public administration, citizen satisfaction has been widely studied in recent decades, leading to developments in the theory, datasets, methodology, and scope of the literature in this area. To date, the research has mainly focused on whether citizen satisfaction can serve as an effective performance measure, with mixed findings. Some scholars question the validity of citizen satisfaction as a performance measure, suggesting that citizens may not be able to properly evaluate the quality of service, but more recent empirical studies have found congruence between government performance and citizen satisfaction. Citizen satisfaction is an effective form of public participation that enables citizens of different backgrounds to participate in government by reducing geographical and time barriers. Finally, citizen satisfaction can also advance various public values including accountability, trust, and social equity.