Abstract
Many countries in Europe are searching for new ways to engage citizens and involve the third sector in the provision and governance of social services in order to meet major demographical, political and economic challenges facing the welfare state in the 21st century. Co-production provides a model for the mix of public service agents and citizens who contribute to the provision of a public service. New Public Governance (NPG) puts much greater emphasis on citizen participation and third sector provision of social services than either traditional public administration or New Public Management. Co-production is a core element of NPG that promotes the mix of public service agents and citizens who contribute to the provision of a public service. This paper explores the implications of two comparative studies of parent participation in preschool services in Europe. They observe that citizen participation clearly varies between different providers of social services, as too does client and staff influence. This empirical overview concludes that some third sector providers can facilitate greater citizen participation, while a ‘glass ceiling’ for participation exists in municipal and for-profit preschool services. These findings can contribute to a better understanding of the emerging paradigm of New Public Governance.Key words: Participation, co-production, New Public Governance, third sector and socialservices.
Highlights
The concept of governance gained extensive attention recently, becoming a buzz word in the social sciences
This paper focuses on co-production, of social services, and discusses the third sector and the role of citizens in the provision and governance of such services
We found different levels of parent participation in different countries and in different forms of provision, i.e., public, private for-profit and third sector preschool services
Summary
The concept of governance gained extensive attention recently, becoming a buzz word in the social sciences. Some third sector providers can facilitate greater citizen participation and thereby help to breach the ‘glass ceiling’ found in public and for-profit social services. We found different levels of parent participation in different countries and in different forms of provision, i.e., public, private for-profit and third sector preschool services.
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