Managing Public Perception towards Local Government Administration

Abstract

This paper highlights the efforts by the Seremban Municipal Council in encouraging participation among local community at their administrative area. Public participation is the most vital component in a good governance model for local governments in achieving effective and efficient administration. It is very important for the local government to ensure the local community participates in the activities carried out by the council. Through interviews with public administrators of local authorities and secondary data gathered from the Seremban Municipal Council as well as the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the findings showed that there are challenges in public participation at the local government level. This is due to the public"s perceptions towards the local authority"s activities. In managing this challenge, awareness campaigns on local government activities should be conducted regularly. The findings from this study are significant in ensuring two-way communication and rapport between the communities and the local authority. This way, value added benefits can be shared between the stakeholders on a win-win situation.Contribution/ Originality: This study contributes in the public participation literature by revealing that the public has an idea and perception that they should not interfere in the administration of the council. The wrong understanding should be managed by the council to ensure that public participation can successfully be implemented.

Fiscal decentralization and efficiency of public services delivery by local governments in Ghana

“…Residents' perception of the activities of MMDAs is crucial to the efficient delivery of local services. This is because erroneous perceptions about local government activities are likely to crowd out local participation by residents (Zulkifli et al 2016). Therefore, we include the perceived competence of MMDAs in our Tobit model and expect a positive relationship with efficiency.…”

Fiscal decentralization and efficiency of public services delivery by local governments in Ghana

“…Residents' perception of the activities of MMDAs is crucial to the efficient delivery of local services. This is because erroneous perceptions about local government activities are likely to crowd out local participation by residents (Zulkifli et al, 2016). Therefore, we expect a positive relationship with efficiency.…”

“Sana All”: Netizens’ Perception of Government Responses to COVID-19

“…These studies' results might have come from research authorities but their limitations should be acknowledged. There have been concerns found from earlier literature regarding the processes of such studies, including the limited focus of analysis of these perceptions from the participants (van der Weerd et al 2011), selection criteria of participants gathered (Zulkifli et al 2017), and the development of the instrument used in gathering perceptions (Baticulon et al 2020). Studies regarding perceptions have revealed the important connection between analyzing citizens' insights and service development.…”