Social control of the quality of public services: Theory, methodology and results of empirical research

• Main Authors: Evgeny A. Kapoguzov, Tatjana A. Lapina, Roman I. Chupin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ltd. "Humanities Perspectives" 2017-06-01
• Series: Журнал институциональных исследований
• Subjects: social control; quality of public services; institutionalization; institutional analysis
• Online Access: http://hjournal.ru/files/JIS_9_2/JIS_9.2_10.pdf
• ISSN: 2076-6297; 2412-6039

The article reveals the theoretical and methodological aspect of the problem of social control in relation to the possibility of its implementation in the production of public services. The interdisciplinary nature of the discourse on the nature of social control is presented, the evolution of ideas about it in the framework of social science concepts is presented, and the relationship with related categories is revealed, in particular, "public control", "civil control". The evolution of essence is also traced the category "institutionalization", it is shown the lack of unambiguousness in its interpretation. The normative value of the institutionalization of social practices in the implementation of institutional design is presented, in particular, with regard to the improvement of the provision of public services. The barriers of institutionalization of social control (resource, information, institutional) for quality of public services are characterized. The results of a mass survey of consumers of public services conducted in December 2016 in the Multifunctional Center (MFC) of city Omsk are presented. Unlike other surveys and publications that only assess the level of customer satisfaction and do not give a detailed explanation of the attitude of consumers to the ongoing institutional changes, this paper presents an analysis of consumer attitudes and beliefs to meaningful attributes of the quality of public services on the one hand, and for various institutional alternatives of influence on the quality of public services on the other. According to the results of the mass survey, the low readiness for social action was established due to high transaction costs, the rational ignorance and a free-rider problem. The possibility of institutionalizing the practice of social action and setting up consumers for the creation of a specialized organization for the protection of consumer rights in the production of public services was discussed.