CoCi - Collaborating with citizens: Challenges and implications for public organizations
Due to the increasing complexity and growing interdependencies of societal problems, many public tasks cannot be performed anymore within the boundaries of public organizations. Therefore, public organizations increasingly act within networks consisting of actors from various sectors and different backgrounds. Besides other public organizations and organizations from the private and non-profit sector, also citizens can be part of such networks.
Instead of a unilateral relationship, in which public organizations are the receiver of governmental decisions, collaboration is characterized by a more active role for citizens and bilateral, trustful relationships between citizens and public actors who jointly address and solve public problems. The specific knowledge of citizens as users of public services can provide an improved quality of service and generate public value.
Single concepts of citizen collaboration and the general behavior of public organizations in governance networks have been investigated in the literature. Less is known, however, on the specific challenges for public organizations when collaborating with citizens and on the applied governance mechanisms. Our focus is hence on the following research questions:
- Which organizational characteristics and factors do employees of public organizations regard as fundamental to successfully collaborate with citizens?
- Which features of citizen collaboration do public employees perceive to be different in contrast to collaboration with other actors?
- Which mechanisms do public organizations (and their employees) use to govern knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, and knowledge creation when collaborating with citizens?
- To what extent can citizens actively participate in decision making processes or influence these?
In addressing these questions we increase the knowledge on the behavior of public organizations in collaborative structures in general as well as in the collaboration with citizens in particular. This empirical research project uses qualitative interviews in a case study design.
- Duration: 07/2015-06/2018
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Rick Vogel, Project member: Dr. Nils Aschhoff
- Sponsor: University funds