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The Politics of Public Services: A Service Characteristics Approach

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  • Batley, Richard
  • Mcloughlin, Claire

Abstract

Politics is widely regarded as affecting and being affected by the performance of public services, yet little research differentiates between services in exploring these effects. The article addresses this gap by proposing a framework for understanding and comparing the politics of different services. It identifies how the nature of the good, type of market failure, tasks involved in delivery, and demand for a service—hitherto regarded largely as economic and managerial concerns—affect political commitment, organizational control, and user power. Policy responses can be targeted to address service characteristics where they present opportunities or constraints to better services.

Suggested Citation

  • Batley, Richard & Mcloughlin, Claire, 2015. "The Politics of Public Services: A Service Characteristics Approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 275-285.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:74:y:2015:i:c:p:275-285
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.05.018
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    5. Hans C. Komakech & Francis Moyo & Oscar Veses Roda & Revocatus L. Machunda & Kyla M. Smith & Om P. Gautam & Sandy Cairncross, 2019. "What Proportion Counts? Disaggregating Access to Safely Managed Sanitation in an Emerging Town in Tanzania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    6. Niheer Dasandi & Ed Laws & Heather Marquette & Mark Robinson, 2019. "What Does the Evidence Tell Us about ‘Thinking and Working Politically’ in Development Assistance?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(2), pages 155-168.
    7. Schulz, Nicolai, 2020. "The politics of export restrictions: A panel data analysis of African commodity processing industries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    8. Lisha Pan & Hangang Hu & Xin Jing & Yang Chen & Guan Li & Zhongguo Xu & Yuefei Zhuo & Xueqi Wang, 2022. "The Impacts of Regional Cooperation on Urban Land-Use Efficiency: Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-16, June.
    9. Schulz, Nicolai, 2020. "The politics of export restrictions: a panel data analysis of African commodity processing industries," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103779, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Adam S. Harris & Brigitte Seim & Rachel Sigman, 2020. "Information, accountability and perceptions of public sector programme success: A conjoint experiment among bureaucrats in Africa," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 38(5), pages 594-612, September.
    11. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, 2018. "Rethinking elite commitment to social protection in Ghana: Insights from an adapted political settlements approach," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-112-18, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    12. Dewachter, Sara & Holvoet, Nathalie & Kuppens, Miet & Molenaers, Nadia, 2018. "Beyond the Short versus Long Accountability Route Dichotomy: Using Multi-track Accountability Pathways to Study Performance of Rural Water Services in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 158-169.
    13. Matteo Roggero, 2020. "Social dilemmas, policy instruments, and climate adaptation measures: the case of green roofs," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 625-642, April.
    14. Yuanshuo Xu & Yiwen Zhu & Yan Wu & Xiaoliang Wang & Weiwen Zhang, 2022. "The Population Flow under Regional Cooperation of “City-Helps-City”: The Case of Mountain-Sea Project in Zhejiang," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, October.
    15. Colin Anderson, 2023. "Understanding accountability in practice: Obligations, scrutiny, and consequences," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(S1), March.
    16. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, 2018. "The political economy of maternal healthcare in Ghana," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-107-18, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    17. Kamal, kasmad & Kamal, kasmad, 2022. "Quality of Public Service at Bara Permai Health Center, Palopo City," OSF Preprints bxdnq, Center for Open Science.
    18. Ricks, Jacob I. & Doner, Richard F., 2021. "Getting institutions right: Matching institutional capacities to developmental tasks," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).

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