Involvement of the public and citizens, as well as the development of citizen-centred policy making

Concerning the public, a close cooperation between public administration and citizens seems essential. Through participative democracy and public involvement, a new relationship between the citizens and the administrations can be established. The publicity becomes a valued partner to identify problems, discover new thinking and propose solutions. This can be seen as a profit for public administrations, because the experiences of the citizens can be contributed into the administration and help to improve, for example, its policy making. As the main customer of public administration, the wishes and needs of the citizens (customer satisfaction) should be involved in policy making and be automatically transferred into administrational needs. It is of big interest what the customer is thinking and what the customer wants. This can lead to improvement of efficiency and effectiveness. The changed living environment of the customers (internet, online shopping, 24-hour availability of products) raises the expectations towards the administration, which must meet these demands. Engaging the public can help to rebuild the trust of citizen and consequently lead to a stronger citizens’ satisfaction.[1]

[1] Thomas, J. C. (2013), Citizen, Customer, Partner: Rethinking the Place of the Public in Public, Public Administration Review, 73(6), 786-796, https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12109.