New Public Governance, the Third Sector, and Co-Production

1  Co-Production as aMaturing Concept

Taco Brandsen, Victor Pestoffand Bram Verschuere

INTRODUCTION

The concept of co-production has been around for decades, but in recent years it has experienced a revival. Public management research in a variety of disciplines has paid increasing attention to the role of citizens and the third sector in the provision of public services. The growth of interest in co-production during the past ten years provides important insights into, and at the same time poses important challenges for, public management.

Following previous work in this field, particularly in the tradition of Ostrom, we will define co-production as

the mix of activities that both public service agents and citizens contribute to the provision ...