Citizen participation and citizen satisfaction in the New Rural Development in Nha Be District between 2016-2020

Abstract

The ultimate goal to building a New Rural Development (NRD) (similar to Saemaul undong in Korea) is to sustainably improve the material and spiritual life of the people. Our study investigates how citizen participation may influence effectiveness of the NRD program and citizen satisfaction in implementing the NRD in Nha Be District in the period of 2016-2020. Our work adopts a questionnaire-based survey designed to gather data from 780 participants using random cluster sampling technique. Our findings reveal that citizen participation significantly affects citizen satisfaction via the mediating role of the NRD program effectiveness but not directly between citizen participation and citizen satisfaction. Finally, our study offers theoretical contributions and policy implications for decision makers and NRD program managers.

Citizen Participation in Policy Decision-Making

“…Governments often implement legal requirements to include public input in policy-making activities to encourage and facilitate citizen participation (Huang & Feeney, 2015). This involvement of citizens in decision-making processes not only improves policy performance but also enhances decision legitimacy, citizen response, and trust in the government (Tri & Thuy, 2021).…”