Does citizen participation make public servants more satisfied with their jobs? It depends on whether they are Spectators or Participants

Kazi Maruful Islam, Jan‐Hinrik Meyer‐Sahling, Kim Sass Mikkelsen, Taiabur Rahman and Christian Schuster

Public Administration & Development, 2023, vol. 43, issue 5, 381-392

Abstract: Is citizen participation in policymaking and implementation desirable? Numerous studies have explored its effects on policy outcomes and citizen attitudes. We, instead, examine its effects on public servants. Citizen participation changes public sector job characteristics and thus potentially job attitudes. Looking at job satisfaction, we argue that citizen participation negatively affects public servants who observe, but do not participate in citizen participation initiatives in their institution's decisions (“Spectators”), yet not public servants who are “Participants.” “Participants” learn to appreciate the benefits of citizen participation while minimizing its cost. Survey data from public servants in one developing country, Bangladesh, provides empirical support.

Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.2031

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:padxxx:v:43:y:2023:i:5:p:381-392

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Public Administration & Development from Blackwell Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().