Deep Impact for High Impact Agencies? Assessing the Role of Bureaucratic Encounters in Evaluations of Government

21 Pages Posted: 12 Nov 2008

See all articles by Steven Van de Walle

Steven Van de Walle

KU Leuven - Department of Political Science; Erasmus University Rotterdam - Department of Public Administration

Jarl K. Kampen

KU Leuven - Department of Political Science

Geert Bouckaert

KU Leuven

Date Written: September 3, 2003

Abstract

Public sector reforms often focus on high impact agencies in order to restore trust in government and in the public administration. Using a face-to-face survey on citizens¿ attitudes toward public services, we test what public agencies contribute to citizens¿ general image of government. It is shown that general measures of satisfaction with the functioning of public services contain more than just an evaluation of bureaucratic encounters. Political factors influence this assessment. Service delivery satisfaction on the other hand can to a large extent be explained by referring to citizens¿ image of a series of public services.

Keywords: trust, public services, service delivery, high-impact agencies, public opinion, public sector reform

JEL Classification: D73, N40, H1

Suggested Citation

Van de Walle, Steven and Van de Walle, Steven and Kampen, Jarl K. and Bouckaert, Geert, Deep Impact for High Impact Agencies? Assessing the Role of Bureaucratic Encounters in Evaluations of Government (September 3, 2003). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=644881 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.644881

Steven Van de Walle

KU Leuven - Department of Political Science ( email )

Public Management Institute
Van Evenstraat 2A
B-3000 Leuven
Belgium
+32 16 323614 (Phone)
+32 16 323611 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.publicmanagementinstitute.be

Erasmus University Rotterdam - Department of Public Administration ( email )

3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands
0031 10 408 2518 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.stevenvandewalle.eu

Jarl K. Kampen (Contact Author)

KU Leuven - Department of Political Science ( email )

Leuven, B-3000
Belgium

Geert Bouckaert

KU Leuven ( email )

Oude Markt 13
Leuven, 3000
Belgium

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
92
Abstract Views
1,456
Rank
506,276
PlumX Metrics