Co-Production and Public Service Management

1Rethinking Public Service Management and Renewing Democracy

Engaging Citizens as Co-Producers of Public Services

A. Introduction: Co-Production in a Participatory State

Social and welfare services in most developed countries face a complex and partly contradictory mix of financial, social and political challenges. Fiscal constraints combined with New Public Management agendas have resulted in severe cutbacks and calls for greater efficiency in public services that provoked a growing concern about service quality. This collection of essays explores the possibility of addressing these issues from a new perspective that emphasizes greater user participation. It is based on the idea that citizens can play a more active part in the provision of ...