Co-production, the third sector and the delivery of public services

Abstract

In recent years, public management research has paid increasing attention to the third sector, especially to its role in the provision of public services. Evidence of this is the rising number of publications on the topic, as well as a growing number of sessions and papers on the topic in academic conferences of the EGPA and IRSPM. However, much of the discussion on its role is motivated at least as much by ideology as by fact. We still lack a comprehensive empirical understanding of what happens when the third sector is drawn into public service provision. In this collection on Co-Production: The Third Sector and the Delivery of Public Services, we will try to enhance this understanding by presenting several new studies on the subject. We also introduce the concepts of co-production, comanagement and co-governance as a conceptual framework that enables us to better understand such developments.

Toward a New Social Contract? The Participation of Civil Society in Swedish Welfare Policymaking, 1958–2012

“…The results therefore indicate that broad changes in the role and responsibilities of civil society in the welfare state arrangement regarding the output of the political system (Brandsen and Pestoff 2006;Wijkström 2012) have corollaries in the input as well. However, political incentives stressing the involvement civil society in welfare policymaking cannot be confirmed, since the state slightly strengthened its position in relation to civil society.…”

User co-production of public service delivery: Effects on trust

“…First of all, the definition makes clear that co-production is about collaboration between citizens and public agencies. This differs from literature that focuses on 'co-production' between organizations and public agencies, also referred to as co-management and co-governance (Brandsen and Pestoff, 2006). Secondly, the definition mentions a contribution on the part of the citizens to the service, which seems to indicate active involvement.…”

“…Recently, however, the goods-logic of marketization has been criticized for, inter alia, not addressing the role of users in the service delivery process . The past few years, co-production has again been recognized as a promising (or even inevitable) strategy to improve service delivery, in academia as well as in public policy (Brandsen and Pestoff, 2006;Pestoff et al, 2012). Most important in respect to this study, is the believe that co-production increases satisfaction with and trust in public service delivery .…”

“…• A decline in support of target-based and process-driven models of service delivery • A wish for higher service efficiency because of fiscal pressure • An increase in the awareness of 'user-generated' knowledge • A desire to strengthen local democracy • A tendency to personalize social services through the effective participation of the people who use them The academic interest generated some important publications which have led to the emergence of a mature research field (Alford, 2009a;Bovaird, 2007;Brandsen and Pestoff, 2006;Pestoff et al, 2012). These works include a lot of different usages, contexts, and settings of co-production.…”

Co-Production of Public Services in Terms of the Polish Experience

“…Although the interest is huge and research findings are easily available, there are still relatively few examples of mainstreaming the co-production. There is no one-size-fits-all approach and each example has to be analysed separately (see Alford, 2009;Thomas, 2012;Fledderus, 2015;Brandsen & Pestoff, 2006). The co-creation of public services on the principles outlined above seems to have obvious advantages.…”