The Service State

by Dutil, Patrice

• ISBN13: 9780776607436
• ISBN10: 077660743X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-09-04
• Publisher: Univ of Ottawa Pr

Summary

In the past ten years, Canadians have witnessed a renaissance in the delivery of government services. New service organizations are cropping up across the country and accomplishing extraordinary things. Efforts are being made to consult citizens on how to improve and integrate services. Considerable resources are being invested in measuring and showcasing performance improvement.This book probes the central dimensions of service reform efforts from a variety of perspectives and answers some pressing questions: How can we make better decisions about service delivery? How should we measure service delivery performance? How should we engage users of government services? How can we create a service culture? How can we use the internet more effectively? Approaching service delivery as not merely technical but inherently political and controversial, the authors look beyond the rhetoric to see what has actually been achieved and what obstacles confront further improvements.

Author Biography

Patrice Dutil is associate professor of politics and public administration at Ryerson University. Cosmo Howard is associate professor of public administration at the University of Victoria. John Langford is professor of public administration at the University of Victoria. Jeffrey Roy is associate professor of public administration at Dalhousie University.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction: Service Transformation in a Citizen-Centric World	p. 1
Serving Whom: Customers, Clients or Citizens?	p. 12
Are We Satisfied and Is That the Point?	p. 31
Can We Create a Service Culture?	p. 52
Can We Meet the Governance Challenge?	p. 86
Can We Work Across Jurisdictional Boundaries?	p. 106
Will Web 2.0 Change Everything?	p. 128
Conclusion: Now the Real Work Begins	p. 147
Bibliography	p. 159
Index	p. 179
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