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Abstract
Research assessing blame attribution in third-party governance views public service performance as a function of efficiency and effectiveness but overlooks equity. We address this gap in the literature by asking two questions: (1) Does contracting out lessen the blame assigned to the government for inequitable service provision? and (2) Is the public less critical of inequitable service provision when told it results in greater efficiency? To answer these questions, a survey experiment was conducted using a representative sample of United States residents (n = 1034). The results show that, while the government still bears responsibility for inequitable service provision, contracting out diminishes some of the responsibility placed on the government, shifting it toward the contractor instead. In addition, citizens’ blame attribution patterns do not change when told inequitable service provision results from efforts to improve efficiency, which suggests that the public does not excuse inequitable service provision even when told it saves money. The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of blame dynamics in third-party governance and bring implications to democratic accountability.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest related to this study exists for the authors.
Notes
1 Violin plots illustrate the data distribution and the mean value at the same time. The outerline of the violin plots displays the density of the data at different values. The wider section of the violin plots suggests greater the density, whereas the narrower section shows lower density.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Wan-Ju Hung
Wan-Ju Hung is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Texas Tech University, starting in the fall of 2024. She holds a PhD from the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University–Newark. Her research primarily focuses on public management, specifically government contracting and procurement, interactions between government and citizens, and organizational behaviors of public employees.
Gregory A. Porumbescu
Gregory A. Porumbescu is an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University–Newark. His research interests primarily relate to public sector applications of information and communications technology, transparency and accountability, and citizens’ perceptions of public service provision.