Unanswered questions in service provision for modernizing states

Public Management Review

Politics and governance have become central to explanations of the widespread under-provision of public services in developing countries. Political analysis offers an understanding of what otherwise appear to be exclusively managerial or capacity problems. The articles in this special issue of PMR contribute to three main aspects of this new literature on the political economy of service provision.

2017

The results of the earlier chapters validated the argument that coproduction can improve healthcare and access to water in Ghana and Nigeria. Huge differences were found in the practice and outcomes of coproduction in the two countries studied, with many more people in rural areas coproducing in Ghana than in Nigeria. Chapter 6 examines the differences in the coproduction practices in the two countries from the perspective of choosing and implementing policy instruments to assess how the practice can be enhanced, particularly in Nigeria, where coproduction is nearly absent. The findings show that it is a specific combination of procedural policy instruments embedded in governing resources relating to information, authority, treasury and organization, that make for effective and sustainable coproduction. The findings are based on document analysis and the opinions of public managers in rural water agencies and primary health centers (PHCs) in both countries. This dissertation concludes in chapter 7 by presenting all the answers to the research questions posed in chapter 1. Theoretical, methodological and practical contributions also formed part of chapter 7. Various literature and methods were used in this dissertation that cumulates into the theoretical, methodological and practical contributions explained in chapter 7. The chapter ends with general concluding remarks on the entire PhD project. In conclusion, the title of this dissertation summarizes the content of the dissertation, which addresses the discovery of coproduction as an alternative solution to health care delivery and water problems in Nigeria and Ghana. It has become obvious from this study that coproduction is effective in improving basic service delivery such as health care delivery and clean water provision. Public professionals in developing countries can adopt this concept to answer the question on how improvement in service delivery can be achieved in their countries. Whereas the how question may differ for different countries and regions, policy makers can do a lot to enhance the practice of coproduction in their countries. Chapter 1 General introduction chapter 1 mentioned that feedback is difficult to process. With a service-dominant logic approach, however, service consumers and producers are assumed to be active and engaging and feedbacks are processed internally (Brandsen and Honingh, 2015; Coats and Passmore, 2008). Radnor et al (2013) argued for a shift from the product-dominant logic to a public service delivery dominant-logic. The difference between the two approaches is that the former is seen as the task of policy-makers and service producers to produce public goods that will be consumed by the services users, while the latter involves the collaboration of various stakeholders in service delivery which is distinguished by the experience and evaluation of service users. Away from the traditional public administration way of delivering services, NPM emerged from three important pressures; (i) fiscal pressures arising from budgetary crises especially with western government giving rise to concerns about public expenditures, the need to control the level of government spending; (ii) organizational pressures which criticizes bureaucracy in terms of delay, waste and unresponsiveness in a classic public sector sphere; and (iii) ideological pressures which borrows from the increasing belief in the value and benefits derived from the superiority of the private sector perspective (De Vries and Nemec, 2013) NPM assumes that traditional public administration (i.e. bureaucracy) is inefficient, process-driven and does not have the incentives for innovation and improvement. Part of the assumption is that public agencies are burdened by regulations and very importantly, that the citizens who are the recipients of public services deserve to be treated more like consumers (Coats and Passmore, 2008). A new paradigm was created as a result of the pressures and assumptions mentioned above. This shift was from public administration to public management (see table 1.1). The shift also brought with it distinct reform initiatives focusing on the improvement, efficiency and effectiveness of public service delivery (Coats and Passmore, 2008). table 1.1 Classic thoughts on service delivery Adapted from Benington (2011) pp.34 Traditional public administration New Public Management Networked community governance Context Stable Competitive Continuously changing Population Homogeneous Atomized Diverse Needs/Problems Straight forward; defined by professionals Wants expressed through the market Complex, volatile and prone to risk Strategy State and producer centered Market and customer centered Shaped by citizens and interest group Governance through: Hierarchies Markets Networks and partnerships

This paper focuses on the notion of service delivery by the public service in a democratic developmental state. The public service in a democratic developmental state essentially focuses not only on the delivery of services, but it is also crucial for economic and social development. It contributes to development by providing the essential services and basic infrastructure necessary to help spur economic development and improve the lives of communities, especially poor communities. This it does primarily by regulating, administering, executing, mediating, investing and delivering the construction, operations, maintenance and servicing of service delivery infrastructure, and ensuring that the state and the public service are operationally and functionally oriented in a way that serves “to reproduce ethical citizens and communities”.1 In a developmental state, the public service not only focuses on these outputs [the hard issues] but has to be keenly aware of outcomes [the soft issues], and in doing so has to deliver services in ways that are efficient, effective, and maintains the dignity of citizens [in light of the Batho Pele or people first, principles] and gives effect to their rights. In doing so, it can elicit compliance from citizens. In that sense, the public service (in terms of its delivery mandate) exists at the intersection of contemporary society and its challenges and the legacy of the past; it thus has to orient its mandate and strategic thrust to account simultaneously for both the challenges of the present and those imposed by an apartheid past that denied black people the scale and quality of services afforded to their white counterparts. In addition, its service delivery mandate places it at the junction of the policymaking, implementation, governance, delivery and democracy continuum. As such, the skills and values required in the public service of a democratic developmental state are defined by its development priorities and challenges as well as the specific institutional conditions that exist or may need to be created. This, however, presupposes a number of things, particularly about the democratic developmental state and what it is.

Political theory sets out a strong case for the state to play a major role in public service provision.Yet services are often provided by a range of state and non-state actors as well as by collaborative partnerships.This paper surveys the literature, seeking to map arrangements in developing countries and to understand the politics of different types of service provision. It finds strong evidence for the view that some level of state capacity and rule of law is important for effective service provision. Even when outsourcing services, it is preferable for government to retain some capability, if only to effectively oversee partners’ activities. Another key finding is that the perceived legitimacy of non-state service providers partially determines their success. The paper also highlights gaps in the evidence, for future research. Many of these gaps relate to the need to better understand the politics of partnerships from the point of view of both partners. Much of the literature on service provision considers the provision separately from the provider, or considers one actor as having primary agency while another responds.

The public sector is, collectively, the world's largest service provider.

This paper reviews some issues relevant to the delivery of public services. It reviews some of the debates and flags some issues that are significant worldwide, especially in Africa. It emphasises how the debate has moved along in terms of defining the relative responsibilities of the public and private sectors for delivering public services. It also discusses the role of incentives among politicians and bureaucrats in service delivery. In a broader context, there is a need to understand the role of mission-driven delivery and the role of competition in public services. The paper argues for a focus on accountability in part through rigorous evaluation of service delivery and basing policy on sound first-principles.

2011

Journal of African Economies, 2004

In this paper we note that the institutional context (and therefore the structure of incentives and organisation) in developing economies is quite different from those in advanced industrial economies, and this necessitates any discussion on the local governance issues in the delivery of public services in the context of development to go beyond the traditional fiscal federalism literature. With this in mind, we review some of the existing theoretical and empirical work, focusing particularly on the question of local accountability.

Indian Journal of Public Administration, 2011

Public service delivery is one of the most significant and critical aspects of good governance because it touches the lives of millions of people. India is a developing country and it is through better public service delivery that inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development can be achieved. There is a great deal of public dissatisfaction with the present state of service delivery at all levels of government. This article highlights the criticality of improving public service delivery for growth oriented governance and the challenges before bureaucracy to achieve it. Underlining the role of service delivery bureaucracy in India, the article stresses upon the imperative need to improve the service delivery mechanism especially in areas like education, health care, urban and rural inji•astructure and employment generation. Various challenges and constraints being faced by the bureaucracy need to be addressed through multi-pronged strategies. The article finally highlights the need to have effective public management of our resources and to create open, transparent and accountable systems of public service delivery. DELIVERY OF PUBLIC SERVICES PUBLIC SERVICE delivery system is the most crucial and critical significance in the entire gamut of governance in a nation, and improvement of public service delivery is perhaps the most important aspect of good governance. Public service delivery affects the lives of *The ideas expressed are the personal opinions of the authors. IMPROVING PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY I 35 ABHISHEK JAIN AND AARUSHI JAIN almost every citizen of a country in direct or indirect terms. It also affects the entire life-cycle of a citizen right from the birth (or even pre-birth) till death (or even post-death). The importance of improving the public service delivery is all the more crucial in a developing country like India which has to cater to a billion plus population. Public services are generally considered essential for modem life, and are provided to citizens by a Government. These services normally include: (i) Education; (ii)Public Transportation; (iii) Broadcasting & Communications; (iv) Electricity and Gas; (1•) Fire Service; (vi) Healthcare; (vii) Police Service; (viii) Waste Management; and (ix) Water Services '