THE POLITICS IN SATISFACTION: CITIZEN EVALUATIONS OF GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE IN AFRICA

Search for this publication on Google Scholar
Inyanji, S. (2017). THE POLITICS IN SATISFACTION: CITIZEN EVALUATIONS OF GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE IN AFRICA. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
Download PDF

Analytics

457 views ◎
222 downloads ⇓


Abstract

Citizen assessment of government performance remains a contentious issue among public management researchers. Some contend that citizen surveys are inevitably inadequate for gathering information. Others question citizens’ reliability as consistent sources of performance feedback. Yet citizen satisfaction should be an integral part of the evaluation process because they are the end consumers of government goods and services. However, compared to Western countries, relatively little is known about African citizens’ attitudes towards governments’ performance in public service delivery. Therefore, this study analyses 30 African nations, and includes a survey experiment conducted in Kenya. The study draws from three perspectives – politics, administration, and policymaking. Findings suggest that Africa’s government evaluation trends are not necessarily different from those in the West; and democracy certainly facilitates more satisfaction among citizens. The study also demonstrates that de facto country-level contextual nuances must be accounted for. However, contrary to persisting assumptions, ethnicity is not one of those nuances. Just as in other countries there are several other important factors that influence Africans’ satisfaction with public service delivery.

Details
Author

Inyanji, Salma

Title

THE POLITICS IN SATISFACTION: CITIZEN EVALUATIONS OF GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE IN AFRICA

Physical Description

1 online resource (235 pages) : PDF

Date

2017

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

Citizen assessment of government performance remains a contentious issue among public management researchers. Some contend that citizen surveys are inevitably inadequate for gathering information. Others question citizens’ reliability as consistent sources of performance feedback. Yet citizen satisfaction should be an integral part of the evaluation process because they are the end consumers of government goods and services. However, compared to Western countries, relatively little is known about African citizens’ attitudes towards governments’ performance in public service delivery. Therefore, this study analyses 30 African nations, and includes a survey experiment conducted in Kenya. The study draws from three perspectives – politics, administration, and policymaking. Findings suggest that Africa’s government evaluation trends are not necessarily different from those in the West; and democracy certainly facilitates more satisfaction among citizens. The study also demonstrates that de facto country-level contextual nuances must be accounted for. However, contrary to persisting assumptions, ethnicity is not one of those nuances. Just as in other countries there are several other important factors that influence Africans’ satisfaction with public service delivery.

Genre

doctoral dissertations

Subjects--Topics

Government policy

Degree

Ph.D.

Keywords

Africa
Citizen Satisfaction
Government Performance
Politics
Public Management
Public Service Delivery

Subject Area

Public Policy

Advisor(s)

Whitaker, Beth
Carman, Joanne

Committee Members

Avellaneda, Claudia
Wang, Qingfang
Ogundiran, Akinwumi

Degree Note

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2017.

Rights Statement

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). For additional information, see http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/.

Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Inyanji_uncc_0694D_11564

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:771