How does feedback from citizens improve public service delivery?

SECTOR

Governance

PROJECT TYPE

Qualitative study

DOI

doi.org/10.62372/CFYP3191

Location

Uganda

BEHAVIORAL THEME

Hawthorne effect | Self-efficacy | Locus of control

OVERVIEW

Improving public service delivery is a major focus of global development. A common Theory of Change is that citizens’ feedback is important both as part of citizen participation as well as in pushing for better quality of services. Yet, there is very little empirical evidence on the effectiveness of feedback systems for actually improving service delivery, or what exactly would make feedback effective.

THEMATIC AREAS

The study used qualitative interviews and observation to interrogate whether behavior of service deliverers changes when there is citizen engagement. Interviews were analyzed to find what was valuable to citizens in terms of service delivery improvement, what improvements had actually been made to public service delivery as a result of feedback mechanisms, and what feedback mechanisms were existent and accessible to citizens. Participants were assured anonymity of their identity.