The Politics of Public Services: A Service Characteristics Approach

Richard Batley and Claire Mcloughlin

World Development, 2015, vol. 74, issue C, 275-285

Abstract: Politics is widely regarded as affecting and being affected by the performance of public services, yet little research differentiates between services in exploring these effects. The article addresses this gap by proposing a framework for understanding and comparing the politics of different services. It identifies how the nature of the good, type of market failure, tasks involved in delivery, and demand for a service—hitherto regarded largely as economic and managerial concerns—affect political commitment, organizational control, and user power. Policy responses can be targeted to address service characteristics where they present opportunities or constraints to better services.

Keywords: politics of public services; service characteristics; accountability; information asymmetry; public goods; user power (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:74:y:2015:i:c:p:275-285

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.05.018

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