Citizens' Attitudes Toward Local Government Public Services

Abstract

Local governments in China have adopted best practices from Western countries in managing the provision of public services. Measuring citizens' attitudes by conducting a survey is one of these practices. This study focuses on local government services in the city of Phoenix in the United States and the city of Xiamen in China. We compare and analyze the provision of public services by these two local governments based on the results of a survey of citizens' attitudes. The comparative analysis identifies and classifies the most essential similarities and differences between the citizen attitudes in the two cities. The results show that it is critical for both governments to improve their provision of such social services as elder care, services for the poor and the homeless, and availability of affordable housing. Moreover, Phoenix confronts greater pressures with regard to the provision of public safety and public transportation, whereas Xiamen has greater need to handle problems related to government reforms, such as improving government practices and controlling corruption.