Co-production and public service management: citizenship, governance and public service management

Rethinking public service management and renewing democracy: engaging citizens as co-producers of public services -- Beyond exit and voice in enduring welfare services: citizens as co-producers? -- Empowering parents as co-producers of childcare services in Sweden -- Citizens as co-producers of welfare services: childcare in eight European countries -- Citizens as co-producers of personal social services in Sweden: toward a paradigm of democratic participation -- Crucial concepts for understanding co-production in third sector social services and health care -- Small groups, collective action and the sustainability of co-production -- Exploring synergies between social enterprise, social innovation and co-production: key post-NPM concepts in public sector reforms -- Co-production at the crossroads of public administration regimes: what role for service users, providers and the third sector? -- Co-production and public administration regimes: their impact on hybrid organizations -- Reframing co-production: more definitions of new schools? -- Co-production and the third sector in the 21st century: new schools of democracy and participatory public service management -- References -- Index.

This volume compiles a dozen essays, by one of the most prolific proponents of co-production as a solution for many of the challenges facing public services and democratic governance at the outset of the 21st Century. Co-production is considered a partnership between citizens and public service providers that is essential for meeting a growing number of social challenges, since neither the government nor citizens can solve them on their own. These challenges include, among other things, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public services in times of financial strain; increasing the legitimacy of the public sector after decades of questioning its ability with the spread of New Public Management; promoting social integration and cultural pluralism in increasingly diverse societies when millions of refugees and immigrants are on the move; tackling the threat of burgeoning populism following the rise of anti-immigrant and anti-global parties in many countries in recent years; and finally, finding viable solutions for meeting the growing needs of aging populations in many parts of the world. This volume addresses issues related to the successful development and implementation of a policy shift toward greater citizen participation in the design and delivery of the services they depend on in their daily lives and greater citizen involvement in resolving these tenacious problems, facilitated by the active support of governments across the globe. Moreover, it explores participatory public service management that empowers the front-line staff providing public services. Together with users/citizens they can insure the democratic governance of public service provision.