Evaluation, learning and the effectiveness of public services

Abstract

Attempts to locate the legitimatory nature of the discourse of quality in the wider context of prevailing ideas about the role of government in the promotion of social welfare and how public service organizations can deliver quality services. Elaborates on the prevailing conventional wisdom underpinning the “New Right” project to restructure public service. Gives a critique of this conventional wisdom which addresses the limitations of “consumerist” notions of quality and the role of instrumentally rational discourses in legitimizing the New Right project of restructuring the State. Develops an alternative conception of public service quality and finally outlines the role for evaluation in promoting social learning as the basis for achieving effectiveness in public services.

Effects of different modes of local public services delivery on quality of life in Spain

“…In consequence, functional decentralisation is considered the most appropriate way to manage local public services, as this allows higher quality public services to be provided, thus improving the QoL of the population (Sanderson, 1996;Hong, 2011). On the other hand, the disadvantages identified in outsourcing (Williamson, 1975;Wolf, 1993;Martin, 2000;Savas, 2005;Fernández, 2007;Norton and Blanco, 2009;Gazzola and Pellicelli, 2009;González et al, 2011b) provoke a negative effect on QoL.…”

“…The better organisation of service provision raises the quality of services, and thus enhances the QoL of the population (Sanderson, 1996). Nevertheless, public administrations are frequently confronted with difficult economic situations (Domínguez, 1997;García, 2000) that oblige them to seek alternatives in order to satisfy citizens' needs, as regards both the quantity and the quality of the services provided.…”

The Business Model Evaluation Tool for Smart Cities: Application to SmartSantander Use Cases

“…Very few take into account other benefits considered more ambitious like social justice [61] which shape the three dimensions of corporate sustainability: economic, environmental and social [68]. However, local governments have to consider not only cost efficiency, but also other outcomes like the quality of the service provided to the citizens in itself, environmental impact, social issues, etc.…”

“…The NPM proposed solutions for reinventing, modernizing and improving the public management through the adoption of instruments from the business world [59][60][61]. The public sector was opened up to greater private sector influence which is reflected in the promotion of various types of relationships with private firms and the development of complex performance management systems that entails a customer service orientation [62].…”

“…Evaluation provides the public sector with useful information for the improvement of management performance, accountability and transparency [64,65]. Evaluation potentially provides the key to improved effectiveness at both organizational and policy levels as defined in terms of capacity to satisfy needs and improve the citizen's quality of life [61].…”