Participation : add‐on or core component of public service delivery?

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Osborne, Stephen P. and Strokosch, Kirsty (2022) Participation : add‐on or core component of public service delivery? Australian Journal of Public Administration, 81 (1). pp. 181-200. ISSN 1467-8500 (https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12536)

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Abstract

Drawing on a systematic review of the literature, this paper explores the factors which have enabled and/or constrained the transformative potential of public service user participation within the five most influential recent narratives of public service reform. It argues that these narratives have failed either to offer a holistic conceptualisation of such participation in theory or to achieve its enactment in practice for four main reasons: participation is framed as polemic, with limited evidence of efficacy; public service delivery has been conceptualised as a linear process, with participation at its margins; structural changes have been insufficient in embedding participation; and power asymmetries have been reinforced through successive reforms. To combat these long-standing challenges, a value-creation approach is presented, which starts from an assumption of participation as a defining feature of public service delivery and considered how its import can be maximised to create value for individuals and society.

ORCID iDs

Osborne, Stephen P. and Strokosch, Kirsty ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6119-2112;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)