Citizen Involvement in Performance Measurement and Reporting

Abstract

Performance measurement has become a regular aspect of the management process for many local governments. Performance management systems are widely recognized as important managerial tools. By incorporating the views of citizens, they can also provide information about issues and specific programs important to citizens and external stakeholders. Understanding how or if performance issues important to citizens can be reflected, the process jurisdictions can use to accomplish this, and the impact of these efforts on the citizen-government relationship are important for both theory and practice. This article presents a comparative case study of efforts by five local governments to involve citizens in defining and reporting performance information. The findings show similarities in the approaches used to involve citizens in performance measurement and reporting efforts, but they also show a difference in perspective between administrators and citizens on how performance should be tracked and reported. In most cases, the conditions for "citizen-driven" performance measurement were rarely met.

Keywords:

• citizen participation
• local government
• performance management
• performance measurement