A Municipal Service Center – For What and For Whom?

Understanding the political nature of public administration reform

Authors

  • Ann-Catrin Kristianssen School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Political Science, Örebro University
  • Jan Olsson School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Political Science, Örebro University 

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v20i3.14932

Keywords:

Municipal service center, Public administration reform, Public management, Processualism, Value-priorities

Abstract

Organizational reforms in public administration have been high on the agenda for decades. A popular type is the Municipal Service Center (MSC) gathering citizen-local government interaction in one location, physically and virtually. By using a processual approach, this article reveals the trade-offs and value-priorities made in the process of establishing a MSC in a mid-sized Swedish municipality. The empirical data comprise documents and 29 semi-structured interviews with politicians, managing directors, and other key actors. We discern four key trade-offs: open process of change or final product, efficiency or democracy values, politicians or administrators as key actors, and citizens as customers or co-creators. The article also discusses the trade-offs in relation to broader public administration perspectives. The results indicate that the process was characterized by a view of citizens as service-recipients and customers, a focus on efficiency and the final product, and finally pushed forward by administrators. Most, but no all trade-offs and value-priorities were aligned with new public management (NPM), while other public administration perspectives were not applicabel as expected in a citizen-centred reform process.

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Author Biographies

Ann-Catrin Kristianssen, School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Political Science, Örebro University

Ann-Catrin Kristianssen is Ph.D and Postdoctor in Political Science at Örebro University. Her research interest is local politics in a broad perspective. Kristianssen is involved in a research project studying municipal service centers and has previously written about Jerusalem, identity politics and the state, and good governance.

Jan Olsson, School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Political Science, Örebro University 

Jan Olsson is Professor in Political Science at Örebro University, Sweden. His main research interest is policy analysis focusing on new trends challenging traditional institutions and democratic values. Olsson has written about local politics, sustainable development, governance, and democracy in for example Environmental Politics, Planning Theory and Practice, and Environment and Planning C.

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Published

2016-09-15

How to Cite

Kristianssen, A.-C., & Olsson, J. (2016). A Municipal Service Center – For What and For Whom? Understanding the political nature of public administration reform. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 20(3), 33–54. https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v20i3.14932

Issue

Section

Original Articles

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