Participation In Public Services Research Articles

State, Market and Development: Private Sector Participation in Public Services

K. B. Saxena, Private Sector Participation in Public Services—Health (Aakar Books, 2022), 296 pp., ₹995, ISBN: 978-9350027615 (Hardback). K. B. Saxena, Private Sector Participation in Public Services—Education (Aakar Books, 2022), 348 pp., ₹995, ISBN: 978-9350027622 (Hardback). K. B. Saxena, Private Sector Participation in Public Services—Civic Amenities (Aakar Books, 2023), 492 pp., ₹1,200, ISBN: 978-9350028070 (Hardback).

Local government innovation towards good governance through public service malls

Public Service Mall (MPP) is an initiative to ensure good governance in Indonesia by improving the standard of good governance public services. Cirebon Regency Government continues to make various innovations through the implementation of the public service mall managed by the Investment and One-Stop Integrated Services Office (DPMPTSP) in the form of licensing and non-licensing in one place for various public services from several agencies. The author tries to provide several recommendations as follows: (1) Strengthening human resources to ensure that fresh initiatives in carrying out government duties; (2) Strengthen cooperation partners with related bureaucracy to improve the quality of services; (3) Pay attention to the technical aspects of successful implementation; (4) Increase bureaucratic commitment to the implementation and contributing to the distribution of duties and participation in public services towards good governance.

Book review: K. B. Saxena (Ed.), Private Sector Participation in Public Services: Health

K. B. Saxena (Ed.), Private Sector Participation in Public Services: Health. Noida: Aakar Books, 2022, 293 pp., ₹995. ISBN 978-93-50002-761-5 (Hardbound).

Digital Leadership In Managing Public Organization Indonesia

The development of information and communication technology (ICT) has brought fundamental changes in the world of public organizations. This study aims to analyze the role and impact of digital leadership in managing public organizations in the digital era. The research method used is a qualitative approach using case studies from several public organizations that have implemented digital leadership. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with government officials, managers and staff of organizations involved in digital transformation. The results of the study show that digital leadership functions as a catalyst in facing the challenges of rapid change in the digital era. Digital leadership encourages public organizations to adopt and apply relevant information technologies, and enhance digital skills and literacy at all levels. In addition, digital leadership also creates a culture of innovation and collaboration within public organizations. The digital leader encourages the active participation of staff and members of the organization in creating technology-based solutions to improve the quality of public services and operational efficiency. During the digital transformation process, digital leadership also focuses on managing change and overcoming emerging obstacles. Digital leaders have an important role to play in unifying the vision and building commitment to digital transformation, as well as helping to overcome resistance from those who are less familiar with new technologies. However, this research also identifies several challenges in implementing digital leadership in public organizations. Some of these are the lack of adequate resources and budget, and the need to address concerns regarding data security and privacy. In conclusion, digital leadership has proven itself as a key factor in managing public organizations in the digital era. Digital transformation led by digital leaders brings positive changes in efficiency, transparency and citizen participation in public services. To address these challenges, governments and public organizations need to invest in human resource training and development, and design policies and strategies that support technological innovation and adaptation to achieve success in digital leadership.

College Students’ Moral and Prosocial Responsibility: Associations with Community Engagement Experiences

Background: Social responsibility and democratic citizenship are essential outcomes of a college education. Yet limited research has examined how college experiences may relate to students’ moral and prosocial development, qualities that ground responsibility and citizenship. Purpose: This research sought to identify the college experiences, including six types of community engagement, associated with moral and prosocial developmental outcomes. Methodology/Approach: Participants ( n = 675) completed a survey consisting of items addressing their college experiences, attitudes and beliefs concerning social inequity and responsibility toward others, and six moral and prosocial outcomes. Blocked regression models assessed relationships between predictor variables (experiences and attitudes/beliefs) and the outcomes. Findings/Conclusions: Participation in public service was the only community engagement experience to predict any of the six outcomes. Rather, the attitudes and beliefs students hold seem to have a much greater relationship with moral and prosocial outcomes. Implications: Students’ existing attitudes and orientations to moral and prosocial concerns may determine which types of community engagement experiences they are attracted to and how these experiences may influence students’ development. Colleges and universities should therefore provide multiple modes of participation in community engagement rather than assuming a single type of engagement fosters all students’ development.

The Influence of Work Ethic on Public Services: Lessons from a Distant Indonesian Local Public Organization

This research aimed to identify and analyze the principles, standards, elements, and quality of public services at the Office of Industry, Trade, and Cooperatives of Yahukimo Regency, Indonesia, located in a remote area. The research method applied was a qualitative descriptive survey with observation and interviews. The interviewees in this study were from 15 informants of different position levels. This study employed an interactive model to analyze the interview data. There were four main findings; firstly, in terms of the principle of public service transparency, the public was increasingly motivated to convey their demands, requests, and aspirations to the government. Meanwhile, accountability services were satisfactory per the provisions of laws and regulations, but public participation in public services was still lacking. Secondly, public service standards and service procedures were implemented following the stipulated provisions and competencies of officials. Those public officers had related-abilities in the form of knowledge, prowess, skill, attitude, and behavior that are required in completing their duties. Thirdly, in terms of public services, the public officers’ work ethic was a driving force for the officials to comply with the prior-set and agreed with rules and work procedures. At the same time, the facilities and infrastructure were adequate. Finally, regarding the quality of public services, the goals and targets of the service were well achieved.

Development and Application of Housing and Interior Design Courses Work for the Promotion of Service-Learning in Home Economics Education

This study develops and applies a service learning course that integrates university curriculum with the local community in housing and interior design. The results of the study are as follows.<br/>First, the service learning course of the housing and interior design was developed as a six-week lecture based on the project model with the theme of housing for the socially disadvantaged. Second, this course was implemented with faculty, students, interior designers, and service recipients to engage in activities to improve the educational environment of local child centers. Next, students engaged in the service learning course and continuously conducted reflection activities to enhance the effectiveness of learning. In reflection activities, students assessed that self-directed capabilities increased as has employing the coordination and applicability to meet identified community needs. Finally, faculty, students, and experts (including institutional experts and supervising departments) evaluated course practice and educational outcomes. Experts assessed that the course clarified course objectives, utilized various learning strategies, and showed that the structural reflection mode of learners and professors was overwhelmingly positive.<br/>The results indicated that service-learning courses enable students to integrate academic study with social work to better understand course content through direct engagements in experience learning. Furthermore, students are empowered by participation in public services that benefit service clients and consultants as students take more personal responsibility for learning.

Implementing Transparency and Participation: An Overview in Public Service

This research aims to know and explain the application of the principles of good governance, namely the principles of transparency and participation and the constraints of applying the principles of transparency and participation in public services. The research method used is empirical research method, to achieve this goal, so this research uses data collection techniques through interviews, observations, document studies, and documentation. While the data sources used are primary and secondary data sources. The approach of this research is conceptual approach that is moving from the views or doctrines that develop in the science of law and the approach of the Law, namely the approach carried out by edilah regulation related to legal issues that are being studied. The results revealed that the principle of transparency has not run optimally because the SOP has not been informed to the public, the principle of participation has not run optimally because the management of complaints has not been good. Therefore, in the context of public services that are a very strategic part in measuring good governance needs to be optimized by providing SOP information on information boards, websites, brochures, opening complaints through social media or working with village officials, head of Cluster Area to directly socialize public service procedures and policies to the community.

The impact of retention time of donation list on cooperation in public goods game

The donation list contains a lot of information, and the way it is published will affect the development of cooperation. This article incorporates comments and individuals’ tolerance of their own reputation evaluation into public goods game and then explores the influence of list retention time on cooperation. Evolutionary results show that introducing the time factor into the donation list will attract more public donations. Furthermore, by putting a small percentage of players on the list, more players’ participation in public services can be leveraged. Compared with the immediate announcement, a relatively large list retention time not only inspires people’s enthusiasm for donation but also achieves a higher level of cooperation. Historical information and diffusion probability have something to do with cooperation. Our research helps organizers to effectively solve the dilemma of insufficient public participation in public utilities.

Co-Creation of Public Services; Levels of Customers’ Participation

Customer participation is one of the critical research issues in service management. This study draws on the client participation concept to explore the content and levels of customer participation in public services (Lithuanian elderships). By integrating Unified Service theory, Service Dominant logic, and using a research design with 12 interviews and 600 participating customer surveys, the study confirms the three level customer participation model, identifies four categories of participating customers and shows how sociodemographic characteristics affect customer participation level. Data suggest that public service providers need to pay attention to customer participation management (identification, selection, education and motivation).

Citizen Participation in Local Government Services: İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Example

The aim of this study is to demonstrate citizen participation in local government services in Turkey, for example in İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. In accordance with the amendments made in the Municipal Law and the Special Provincial Administration Law in 2005, the Regulations published by the Ministry of Interior in 2006 opened the way for citizen participation in the execution of public services in local governments. Despite the past decade, citizen participation in local services is still in its infancy, with few exceptions today. Programs that include citizen participation in İzmir Metropolitan Municipality which is one of these exceptions are analyzed with this study and it is presented as an example to other local administrations. A reason for the selection of a metropolitan municipality within the scope of the study is that the metropolitan municipalities of 30 provinces, which are metropolitan with an amendment made in Law No. 6360 in 2012, are responsible for providing services on the provincial property boundary. In spite of the increased service obligation and responsibility of the metropolitan municipalities, the cost of services has also increased, and at the extreme, it seems difficult to take local services effectively and efficiently. The study suggests that the metropolitan municipalities should make widespread use of this method in the welfare services that affect people's daily life and quality of life. Citizen participation in services has a critical prescription for the success of local programs and for institutional performance. In the study, voluntary participation in local services is linked to the New Public Service (NPS) approach within the framework of democracy, citizen participation and democratic governance concepts. Among public service delivery and distribution methods is very important, and although the New Public Management approach is an alternative model to privatization practices, the citizen participation in public services has been underestimated in Turkey. This study aiming to fill this gap aims to attract the attention of the academic field to this topic and to give new ideas to the local politicians and practitioners. In this context, first of all, the issue of NPS approach and citizen participation in the services is discussed. Later, information on citizen participation in local government services in Turkey is given and the existing applications of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality are examined. Following the presentation of the findings and suggestions, a general evaluation is made and the study is terminated.

Varieties of Participation in Public Services: The Who, When, and What of Coproduction

AbstractDespite an international resurgence of interest in coproduction, confusion about the concept remains. This article attempts to make sense of the disparate literature and clarify the concept of coproduction in public administration. Based on some definitional distinctions and considerations about who is involved in coproduction, when in the service cycle it occurs, and what is generated in the process, the article offers and develops a typology of coproduction that includes three levels (individual, group, collective) and four phases (commissioning, design, delivery, assessment). The levels, phases, and typology as a whole are illustrated with several examples. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for research and practice.

The Politics of Regional Disadvantage: Regional Differences in Public Sector Employment

The notion of regional disparity has received attention by government as entire regions may lag national average indictors of wellbeing and performance through lack of natural resources or access to human capital. Regional prosperity is affected by many different circumstances, including government activities and public service participation in regional labour markets. This research offers a new conceptualisation of space, place and scale in the public employment context. It examines public service jobs across regions in a particular jurisdiction and analyses how public employment compares to other jobs in each regional labour market. The research concludes that public services and public employment policies play an important role in the quantity and quality of regional job opportunities, and that public service restructuring that involves job cuts and outsourcing will affect this regional prosperity in unforeseen ways.

Innovative regulations, incomplete contracts and ownership structure in the water utilities

Using an incomplete contract framework, we analyse new forms of regulation and private participation in public services. This paper explains contractual efficiency in the absence of financially guaranteed investments in public private partnerships. The example of a number of African countries underlines how a series of national, normative law reforms can give rise to innovations in approaches to regulation. This new hybrid form of regulation, inspired by a French regulation approach combining commission regulation and franchise bidding, could be more effective than previous approaches to regulation, in the sense of being more stable and more closely aligned with stakeholder expectations. This approach to regulation would appear to be more efficient economically, while integrating the objectives of solidarity tariffs and social water access connections. Based on these analyses, our results show (1) the impact on the robustness of new lease contracts on financing constraints, and (2) the advantages of Asset Owner Companies that reconcile explicit commitments and special purposes. We demonstrate that this achieves optimum efficiency by encouraging parties to determine jointly the optimal level of costs and investment. In addition, the mechanism fosters discussion about the possibility of institutionalizing Asset Owner Companies by predetermining the distribution of risk in lease contracts.

Male and female involvement in the birth and child‐rearing process

To know the male involvement during pregnancy and childbirth, with special attention to their participation in public services of perinatal health and the impact that this participation has on their subsequent involvement in child-rearing, to compare the male and female involvement in child-rearing and to identify the factors associated with a greater male involvement. Most of the research on male involvement in birth and child-rearing comes from Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian countries. These studies show a lower involvement of men in relation to women, even in countries with instruments to promote gender shared responsibility. The Spanish Ministry of Health has developed strategies to improve the male involvement in the public services of perinatal health to advance in gender equality. This is a suitable context to contribute to the lack of information about fatherhood and the gender inequalities in the Spanish context. Transversal design. A questionnaire was administered to 150 fathers and 157 mothers residing in Granada, with at least one biological child aged 2 months to 3 years. A minority of the men attended the childbirth education whereas most of them attended pregnancy check-ups and were present at birth. Women spent more time with their children and took charge of tasks of child-rearing to a larger extent. The profile of an involved father is a man with a higher level of education, not married, his partner has a full-time employment, born in Spain and attended to the childbirth education classes. This study shows gender inequalities in the reproductive field beyond the biological conditions. The challenge of the health services is to promote social change and identify areas for improvement to include the father figure in public services of perinatal health.

A critical assessment of the incomplete contracts theory for private participation in public services: the case of the water sector in Ghana

This paper provides a critical analysis of the recent developments in the incomplete contracts theory and its conclusions for privatisation of public services. Drawing on a case study of management contract for urban water services in Ghana and highlighting the flaws in the theory, the article argues that contractual incompleteness does not provide a uniform guidance on efficient forms of ownership. We argue that methodological individualism utilised in the theory is particularly ineffective for its application to public services where direct or indirect contractual role of the state cannot be eliminated. The sterility of the theory with respect to political, institutional and distributional context of public service delivery is identified as an important weakness. Copyright , Oxford University Press.

‘Putting our mark on things’: The identity work of user participation in public services

New relationships between service users and the welfare state have emerged as a result of governmental strategies of public service reform in which participation has appeared as the cure for a putative welfare dependency. A new public has been invoked in technologies of governance which have conflated responsible citizenship with participation in the marketplace and have aimed to change the behaviour of welfare service users accordingly. This paper investigates the ability of welfare service users to resist, or amend, the disciplinary intentions of these discourses, to constitute ‘counter-publics’, and to formulate their own visions of public services. Drawing on research with English social housing tenants engaged in participation with their quasi-public landlords, and applying a theoretical framework based on the work of feminist and queer theorist Judith Butler, the paper explores the behavioural effects of participation on tenants and evidences their use of consumerist and communitarian discourses to construct alternative perceptions of a ‘public’, and re-imagine their relationship with public services.

Participation of Clients in Public Services: the Aspect of Motivating

Client motivation to participate in co-production of public services, a relevant object of market research, is analysed in the paper. The object is analysed from the interdisciplinary viewpoint, i.e. from the perspectives of marketing and public administration. Client motivation is analysed as one of the activities of managing client participation which is essential seeking client active co-production of public services. A necessity to manage client participation has been in the focus of research works but the managing process itself has been scarcely analysed. Research, where managing client participation has been analysed as a purposefully influencing and behaviour-oriented activity, has been lacking. From the marketing viewpoint clients must be motivated to actively participate in co-production of services. Summing up research findings, it is stated that studies, where client motivation has been systematically analysed, are scarce. The influence of the ways of motivating clients to actively participate in co-production of services has not been evaluated either (active participation is understood as productive and beneficial public service clients’ activities by providing the necessary resources). Problem question raised: How (in what ways) to motivate clients so that they became active co-produces of services? Research object: Ways of motivating clients employed by the public service providers. Aim of research: Having defined the concept of motivating clients to participate in public services to identify the ways of motivating employed by the public service providers and to rank these ways by the strength of influence on activeness in participation. In the first part of the paper managing of client participation in public services is defined and the role of client motivation in it is showed. Further, the concept of motivating clients is defined and clients‘ motives to participate in public services are identified. Research methodology is presented. The research field, elderships of Lithuania, was chosen. Personal purposeful interviews were conducted to identify the ways of motivating. Employees only of those elderships, where population participation in services is of a relatively high level, were drawn to the sample. Real clients of public services were surveyed to establish the relationship between the ways of motivating and activeness in participation. The paper is concluded by presenting the identified material and non-material ways of motivating employed in practice in Lithuanian elderships and the findings of qualitative research – the relationship among particular variables. Ranks of the ways of motivating by the strength of influence on a dependent variable, i.e. client activeness in participation, are presented. The following conclusions are drawn: motivation is established as identification of motives for client behaviour and employment of suitable material and non-material ways seeking to motivate clients to participate as the co-producers of public services. Material and non-material ways of motivating clients employed in practice in the elderships have been identified. Most often employed ways of motivating: appreciation expressed by the elder in person; appreciation/congratulation in public events; events as a reward for participating in co-production of public services, etc are presented. It has been identified that non-material ways of motivating more strongly correlate with the level of client participation in services than the material ones. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.23.3.1375

Neither Honor nor Compensation

Land-grant institutions that are also research extensive may face the unique position of asking faculty to fulfill a historical mission with low consideration of public service in the reward structure. This paradox between mission and reward results in the socialization of many faculty away from participation in public service. This article discusses a study of faculty perception of values regarding public service at a large, land-grant, and research extensive institution. Results from the study support the notion that both tenure and pay rewards may be inaccessible to faculty who perform public service at land-grant institutions with research emphases.

Interaction of activity involvement and recreational location selection behavior in Lowland City: A case study of public parks in Saga City, Japan

Public parks provide many benefits to the community as the representatives of green area. The allocation of public places plays an extremely important role in the daily lives of inhabitants especially for recreational use that could enhance the quality of life of residents in the vicinity. To understand park users' behavior is one of the most important prerequisites for as- sessing the participation in public service from the park users' point of view. The pattern of park utilization on location and activity selection are important elements in behavioral study, while the public parks topograph may also influence the typical user's be- havior. Questionnaire survey on park utilization was used to investigate the interaction between activity involvement and recrea- tional location with the use of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) model. The study found that public park users' behavior is influenced not only by social characteristics but also by the recreational activities and their specific location characteristics. We found that about 45 percent of park visitors are local residents living within a radius of 3 km preferred travel to parks near their residential area. This implies that location selection behavior is correlated with travel distance, travel time and travel cost. Visit frequencies and on site expenditures reflect the recreation behavior for different type of activities. The overall information can be usefully applied by decision makers to launch appropriate public policy in consistence with the useful results of this study.