Citizens’ perception of government responsiveness: building an engaged citizenry

ABSTRACT

Responsiveness is one of the tenets of good governance. In the post-Soviet setting, in which government officials view provision of public services to the population as government largesse, the perception of government responsiveness is particularly important in building active and engaged citizenry.

This study explores a potential link between citizen perceptions of local government responsiveness among residents of squatter settlements in the Kyrgyz Republic and citizen-municipal government collaboration. Based on a survey of 914 urban squatter settlers in Bishkek, the article examines how residents of slums perceive the responsiveness of different levels of government in improving their communities’ access to basic urban services. Lower level of governance is found to be associated with higher levels of perceived responsiveness. Participation in informal demand-making and self-help activities is positively associated with perceptions of government responsiveness, especially when it comes to the city administration.

KEYWORDS:

• Government responsiveness
• post-Soviet governance
• urban slums
• Kyrgyzstan
• Kyrgyz Republic

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Irina Novikova

Irina Novikova earned a Ph.D. in Public Administration from American University in Washington, D.C. She is originally from Kazakhstan and currently works at the Asian Development Bank in the Philippines. She also has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to joining the Asian Development Bank, Dr. Novikova worked for the World Bank and Counterpart International in Washington, DC.

Saltanat Liebert

Saltanat Liebert is Associate Professor at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government & Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. Her research focuses on immigration policy and comparative governance. She is the author of Irregular Migration from the Former Soviet Union to the United States (Routledge, 2009) and is the coeditor of Public Administration in Post-Communist Countries: Former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe, and Mongolia (CRC Press, 2013). Her publications appeared in journals, such as Public Administration Review, Review of Public Personnel Administration, and International Journal of Public Administration.