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Co-production of Public Services: Institutional Barriers to the Involvement of Citizens in Policy Implementation

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The Palgrave Handbook of the Public Servant

Abstract

Co-production refers to the involvement of citizens/service users in the direct implementation of policy. In practice, this means that public servants and citizens act jointly to deliver public services that would traditionally be the domain of the public servant alone. Co-production is increasingly posited as a desirable model of implementation for health and social policies, development and environment programs, and community safety, among other areas. However, while we have some understanding about the role of context in shaping approaches to policy implementation generally, comparatively less attention has been paid to the contextual contingency of co-production. This chapter employs an institutional logics framework to consider the different ways in which co-production plays a role – or not – in policy implementation. In particular, I discuss the way that a community logic, professional logic, market logic, and state logic in different sectors and different contexts shape public servants’ perceptions of their role vis-à-vis citizens in policy implementation and produce opportunities and barriers for co-production with citizens.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Caitlin McMullin

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  1. Caitlin McMullin
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Correspondence to Caitlin McMullin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, Australia

    Helen Sullivan

  2. UNSW Australia, Campbell, ACT, Australia

    Helen Dickinson

  3. College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Hayley Henderson

Section Editor information

  1. University of New South Wales, Canberra, Australia

    Helen Dickinson

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McMullin, C. (2020). Co-production of Public Services: Institutional Barriers to the Involvement of Citizens in Policy Implementation. In: Sullivan, H., Dickinson, H., Henderson, H. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the Public Servant. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03008-7_26-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03008-7_26-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03008-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-03008-7

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