Citizen Relationship Research Articles

The promise of education and the practice of filial duty: a story of inter-generational aporias in contemporary China

Based on ten months of research at an elite university in Beijing (Qinghua University) this article focuses on the conundrums of life for young people in China today. It addresses the paradoxical situation faced by many young people, who are among the lucky few, who have made it to the top of a very competitive educational system yet feel deeply ambivalent about their own futures. Through a detailed ethnographic case story of a particular young woman, Jing Jing and her family history going back several generations, it explores the existential dilemmas imbedded in intergenerational and state citizen relationships in contemporary China. It sees these as linked to but not entirely reducible to China’s historical and political transformations, including the Chinese state’s educational policies focused on improving the “quality” of the population. I argue that Jing Jing faced a double-bind, in the form of two opposing social imperatives, those of “self-sacrifice” and “self-actualization”. In Jing Jing’s case this is accentuated by an inability to reconcile the wish to live up to her moral duty to take care of her mother during her old age with her wish to live out her own dreams of higher education. Drawing on an existential approach to anthropology, the authors seems these as tied to existential aporias, moral dilemmas that admit no resolution and reflect contradictions intrinsic to the human condition. http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/223667257930

FTiS: A new model for effective urban management: A case study of urban systems in Iran

As citizens’ needs increase and become more complex, governments must implement special policies and services to improve citizens’ satisfaction levels. In this context, the municipality of Tehran, the capital of Iran, established an urban management system to respond to complaints about urban services. The system’s database includes detailed information about citizens’ calls and can be analyzed to identify their needs. One of the techniques that can be useful for extracting useful knowledge is data mining. In this paper, we use the citizen relationship management (CiRM) and data mining approaches to identify urban citizens’ primary needs. Accordingly, a novel model is presented that is composed of three major factors: “Frequency”, “Time interval” and “Satisfaction”. Using these variables and the clustering technique, a new division of urban needs is proposed based on primary, secondary and uncommon needs. The results show that the data mining and CiRM approaches are useful for improving urban management. This approach could also be used in customer relationship management (CRM) in the public sector domain.

EGovernment: evolving relationship of citizens, government and domestic development – case of Jordan

eGovernment: evolving relationship of citizens, government and domestic development – case of Jordan

Parliaments' Endless Pursuit of Trust: Re-focusing on Symbolic Representation

This conclusion reviews the styles of relationship between parliament and citizens visible in very different political systems across the world. It shows that increasingly this relationship follows different styles according to specific contexts and beyond the traditional perception of a specific type of representation. It then demonstrates that parliaments have finally become public institutions with the new millennium, opening up considerably by becoming more transparent, accessible and visible institutions. However, when it comes to developing real links between parliaments and citizens, the reality is very patchy. These developments are then assessed in light of levels of trust in parliament, to note that decline in trust may have little do to with poorer performance from parliaments. The study concludes by showing that re-focusing our understanding of the parliament–citizen relationship on symbolic representation allows us to understand what is missing in that relationship.

Understanding risks, benefits, and strategic alternatives of social media applications in the public sector

Social media such as blogs, microblogs or electronic social networks can transform the ways in which we relate to other people and organizations. Government organizations are experimenting with social media to communicate with their constituents, and many analysts see in these media a powerful set of tools to reinvent government–citizen relationships. In this paper, we present the perceptions of risks, benefits and strategic guidelines about social media applications gathered from 250 public servants from Central Mexico, most of them working in information technology, as web masters or responding to Freedom of Information Act requests. The conclusions of the analysis are 1) that governments' participation in social media may result in improved communication and citizen participation, more transparency, and transfer of best practices among government agencies; 2) that a good implementation strategy is necessary to realize these benefits and to avoid risks; and 3) that the implementation of social media highlights the importance of updating laws and regulations, and of promoting changes in government culture and organizational practices.

“My forest, my kingdom”—Self-referentiality as a strategy in the case of small forest owners coping with government regulations

Social research that informs the implementation of natural resource policies is frequently driven by the logic of the policy system itself. A prevailing concern with achieving policy outcomes can lead, however, to lack of attention to equally important aspects, for example the challenges the policy instruments present to those they are targeting and the consequences this might have for government–citizen relationships. To help guide research into these issues we have developed a situational–interactional approach to interpretive policy analysis that seeks to examine the processes involved when people collectively make sense of government instruments. The theoretical basis is provided to a large extent by Luhmann’s theory of self-referential social systems. In addition, we operationalise the concepts of interactional framing and resemiotisation to capture the active work of the citizens in sense-making processes. We then apply our situational–interactional analysis to small-scale forest ownership in Flanders. Analysis of data from focus groups with forest owners reveals how interactions build on each other in the co-development of particular strategies to cope with government intervention. Finally, we discuss two future directions for research. First, the forest owners find themselves in an inescapable relationship with the government, and feel their autonomy is threatened. Government intervention, therefore, will almost necessarily lead to resistance. Second, forest groups enhance compatibility between the government system and the forest owners, but rather than narrowing the gap between the two worlds they tend to emphasise it.

New steering methods in regional policy — Transforming the alliance of ‘state feminism’

In this article, the theory of ‘state feminism’ is applied on the area of regional development policy, supplementing existing research about state–citizen relationships in northern and southern Europe. Based on Swedish data, it is argued that the former alliance between the women's movement and the welfare state has been transformed as a result of new steering methods in regional development policy in a way that is best understood as a paradox. This paradox includes both stronger and weaker relations. The public support to Women Resource Centres (WRCs) in Sweden is used as an example of ‘state feminism’. The ability of the WRCs to affect policy has changed over time, however, due to the adoption of new steering methods based on networks and market-orientation in Swedish regional development policy. The conclusions induce further development of ‘state feminism’ theory, making it more up-to-date with the prevalent interaction between women's movements and European welfare states.

Policy pragmatism: Qatar and the global events circuit

PurposeThe paper aims to give an interesting insight into the rise in event bidding and delivery of sports mega‐events from Qatar and the Middle East. This paper seeks to examine the shift in government policies and citizen relationships in the Middle East and Gulf Region, focusing on the specific case of Qatar from its staging of the 15th Asian Games in 2006 to present.Design/methodology/approachThe paper begins with an overview of the main literature on the importance of sport events as a vehicle for securing global profile for cities and nations. The paper draws upon the authors' participation at the 15th Asian Games and interviews conducted there and latterly, desk‐based research involving scrutiny of Qatar's recent policy pronouncements and published materials pertaining to sporting events in the intervening period since the 2006 Games.FindingsThe findings are presented in the form of a case study, using the Asian Games as a starting point and finishing with Qatar's latest bids for sporting mega‐events. The paper presents a conceptual analysis of the situation in Doha and reveals a ten‐year strategy from Qatar to set itself apart from its neighbors in bidding to host mega‐sporting events and in its progress in terms of civil rights for women. This has allowed wider participation in sport and ensured Qatar can bid for the most prestigious global sporting events.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper adds to the wider public policy discussion and contributes to the body of knowledge in this area. The authors have written extensively on events policy but believe issues of democracy versus ruling states, emotional bidding and awarding to such states will continue to rise over the coming years and these have significant implications for both event owners in awarding such bids but also for policy makers in legitimizing bidding for such events in this context.Originality/valueThe paper reveals that the currency of awarding events to countries in the Middle East, Africa and South America is politically and socially important and of major interest to both the public and academics at present.

Exploring the Textured Landscape of Water Insecurity and the Human Right to Water

he last decade has seen historic advances in the formal establishment of the human right to water and global agreements on development goals that target improved access to water and sanitation. How...

Situating banal nationalism, the culture wars, and civil religion: governing localized geographies of national identity in Indiana

Various material forms of national identity have become ubiquitous features of the post-9/11 American cultural landscape. This research specifically examines the ‘In God We Trust’ (IGWT) license plate in the state of Indiana as a material expression and territorialized form of national identity. While conceptually anchored in banal nationalism research, exploring the spatial patterns of adoption or non-adoption of IGWT license plates by Indiana residents is only possible through situating this research through the mediating lens of the culture wars and civil religion. Although the IGWT license plate project legislatively materialized through the localized spatial networks of non-state actors in the context of a new and conservative state–citizen relationship firmly anchored in the culture wars, adoption behavior is also mediated through the much broader influence of civil religion. We conduct a quantitative analysis to determine license plate spatial distribution by county, but more importantly to explore the sociodemographic dimensions of IGWT license plate adoption and non-adoption. While our results generally mirror the sociodemographic findings of social issue-based electoral geography, the imbrication of banal nationalism, the culture wars, and civil religion as materially expressed by the IGWT license plate yields an ideologically different and broader dynamic when compared to culture wars defined by national identity.

English

Nowadays governments have recognized the need to improve their relationship with citizens, and to put citizens’ needs at the center of government thinking. Citizen relationship management (CzRM) is derived from the commercial concept customer relationship management (CRM). In this paper, the value chain model of CzRM is proposed, which combines a set of functionalities obtained from CRM and good governance literature. This model is a framework for understanding current situation of CzRM and opportunities for improvement which enables governments to become more citizens centric. Finally, the results of implementing the proposed model in an Iranian governmental organization are presented as an empirical study.   Key words: Value chain, citizen relationship management, good governance. &nbsp

Caught in Their Own Speed Trap

Empirical work examining the effects of police legitimacy has primarily focused on traffic stop procedures with less attention given to traffic enforcement policies. The current study takes advantage of a natural experiment in which a rural town with a strict speed enforcement policy was labeled a “speed trap” through the introduction of a billboard advertisement funded by the American Automobile Association. Drawing on theories of police legitimacy, we hypothesize the label will result in an abrupt-permanent increase in speeding citation contestation rates, despite the fact that the billboard actually increases predictability of citation issuance. Results of an interrupted time-series analysis indicate statistically significant abrupt-permanent increases in the speeding citation contestation rates for the intervention city. Further analyses reveal that significant intervention effects are confined to drivers with higher opportunity to contest tickets (in-state drivers) and to majority subgroups (Whites and men). The implications of these findings for policy and police–citizen relationships are discussed.

Determinants of Citizens’ Perceptions of Police–Community Cooperation in India: Implications for Community Policing

In this study, we examine citizens’ perceptions of police–community relationships in India. More specifically, in this exploratory study, we examine the extent to which factors such as general satisfaction with police services, police professionalism, feeling of safety, and perception of police integrity all explain the public confidence in police–citizen relationships. Those who are generally satisfied with police like to work with police and view police–community relationships positively. Further, we find that those who feel police are fair in dealing with citizens, irrespective of social status, and those who feel more safe in their communities are those who are most willing to work with police.

Injonction de mixité sociale et écueils de l'action collective des délogés. Comparaison entre les années 1970 et 2000

This paper offers a socio-historical analysis of the relationship of French citizens to legislations and public policies’ programmes aimed at developing social mix. While, in the seventies, opposition to urban renewal programmes excluding the poorest from the city centers was seen as a legitimate form of action, the injunction to social mix is nowadays largely imposed on people. Associations and collectives fighting against the demolition of housing or the expulsion of poor tenants have changed their discourse and repertoire of actions. The collective conception of the category of citizen has melded into a personal relationship to institutions, while French professionals feel no legitimacy to advise, judicially and strategically, the renovated neighbourhood’s inhabitants. Finally, this paper tries to list the explanations of the contemporary lack of democratic debate about urban renewal projects in comparison with the seventies.

Citizen Relationship Management Critical Success Factors: an empirical study of Municipality of Tehran

Nowadays, governments realise that they must deliver services to citizens efficiently and effectively in a customised way to citizens' needs. These changes lead governments to Citizen Relationship Management (CzRM). The same as many new technologies; CzRM has faced many implementation failures. This paper presents a model for assessing critical success factors (CSFs) of CzRM strategies and their effects on successful CzRM implementation. Municipality of Tehran was chosen as a case and quantitative methods were selected with explanatory research approach by means of a survey strategy. The findings show that all of the CSFs are highly correlated with CzRM success.

In what we trust? A multi-level study into trust in parliament as an evaluation of state characteristics

A basic level of trust in the political system is considered to be the cornerstone of modern-day democracy. Consequently, scholars and politicians have been concerned with low or declining levels of trust in political institutions. This article focuses on trust in parliament. Many theories have been offered to explain cross-national differences or longitudinal changes in trust, but they have not been subject to systematic empirical tests. This article aims to fill that theoretical and empirical gap. I conceptualize trust in parliament as citizens’ rather rational evaluations of the state—citizen relationship along four dimensions: competence, intrinsic care, accountability, and reliability. Next, I relate state characteristics to each of these four aspects, and hypothesize how they might affect political trust. These hypotheses are tested simultaneously by multi-level analysis on stapled data from the European Social Survey 2002—06. The tests show that three factors explain very well the cross-national differences in trust: corruption, the electoral system, and former regime type. Somewhat surprisingly, economic performance is not related to trust in parliament. Although the analyses do not explain changes in trust across time very well, they at least dismiss some of the existing explanations. Points for practitioners This article describes to what extent levels of trust in parliament differ across countries and change across time, and tests several explanations for comparatively low or longitudinally declining levels of trust. It offers practitioners a theoretical approach to make sense of trust issues by distinguishing four trust aspects. Moreover, it shows that objective state characteristics are crucial in explaining cross-national differences. Widespread perceptions of corruption are most harmful to trust in parliament, while democratic rule and a proportional electoral system are beneficial. Equally important, actual economic performance is unrelated to trust. Institutional designs that emphasize care and integrity appear to be more beneficial than ones that emphasize competence and performance.

E‐governance for improved public sector service delivery in India, Ethiopia and Fiji

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the extent of corruption in India, Fiji and Ethiopia and survey citizen perception of how e‐governance could fight corruption. The main objective is to investigate and explore the potential of e‐governance applications in three countries representing three different regions of Asia, Africa, and Oceania.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted over 918 citizens in India, Ethiopia and Fiji using convenience random sampling. A structured questionnaire was used. The main emphasis of the survey was on citizen perception about corruption and poor service. It further asked respondents on how e‐governance can cut corruption.FindingsBenefits of e‐governance in developing countries are the same as those in developed countries but there are many potential benefits that remain unreaped by developing countries as a consequence of their unlimited use of e‐governance. Based on these assertions, the researchers tried to evaluate and assess the potential of e‐governance initiatives in India, Ethiopia and Fiji. By exploring the role of e‐governance for reducing corruption that has afflicted the entire public sector in these countries, the main finding is that e‐governance is positively related to government, “citizen relationship and corruption reduction”.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is highly empirical and does not provide case studies to further extend on the findings.Practical implicationsThe implications of the research are that information communication technology (ICT) needs to be effectively integrated in the development agenda of government plans in Ethiopia and Fiji. Government agencies in Ethiopia and Fiji do not seem to be much motivated to build sound government‐citizen partnerships. Citizens can see little of the internal workings of government. However, for India, where there are many e‐governance projects underway, and which is normally considered to be awakening to the challenges of e‐governance and which has to date many success stories relating to e‐governance, it is surprising to see that citizens find various existent formats of corruption and non‐transparent service delivery activities. It is quite evident that bureaucracy is more or less opaque and very little attention has been paid to improving transparency, including through the use of e‐governance processes. Time, cost and red‐tape procedures are major constraints in public service delivery.Originality/valueThe paper explores a problem that is of practical importance using principal‐agent theory, which is very applicable to the public sector context.

Impact of Citizen Relationship Management (CRM) on Government: Evidence from U.S. Local Governments

This paper examines the impact of Citizen Relationship Management (CRM) technology adoption on local governments in the United States. The purpose of the paper is to determine whether this technolo...

Creating Public Value in E‐Government: A Public‐Private‐Citizen Collaboration Framework in Web 2.0

Whether dealing with Public‐Private Partnerships (PPP), or with other forms of service provision and delivery, public managers face difficulties in responding to ever‐growing demands for more and better quality services. The question of how to do more, but without doing more of the same, can perhaps be answered partially through the use of some of the recently developed and innovative tools that build on Web 2.0 and by the application of Citizen Relationship Management. This article discusses a simple input‐output Public‐Private‐Citizen Collaboration (PC2) framework which reflects the collaborative interactions through which public and private stakeholders can exchange and process information with citizens. The framework highlights the need for genuine involvement of the public and suggests that by utilising new Web 2.0‐based tools citizens can participate both in the processes of creating and crafting web‐based content and in enhancing service design. If used in relation to PPPs such tools may very well be able to help governments access much needed information so as to both better visualise and actualise public value in PPP‐based service delivery.

Alienating identification: Black identity in The Brother from Another Planet and I Am Legend

This article examines The Brother from Another Planet (Sayles US 1984), in which the protagonist's status as both extraterrestrial and black man lends insight into the black citizen's relationship to an alienating urban environment in the context of a Reagan-era retreat from federal government support for inner cities. I compare and contrast Sayles' film with the more recent Will Smith vehicle, I Am Legend (Lawrence US 2007), focusing on the racial implications of a lone black protagonist in a post-9/11 apocalyptic landscape and analysing Will Smith's star persona and representation of blackness in a neoliberal context. Ultimately I argue that sf films act as a valuable testing ground for theories of identity as the creation of alienating worlds reveals the play of alienation and identification at work in the recent history of race and representation.