Creating citizen-consumers : changing publics & changing public services / John Clarke ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Clarke, John.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human services--Great Britain.

Human services.

Social policy.

Decision making.

Political participation.

Great Britain.

Human services--Great Britain--Decision making--Citizen participation.

Citizenship.

Consumption (Economics).

Social policy--Great Britain.

Physical Description:

viii, 183 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif. : SAGE, 2007.

Summary:

Political, popular and academic debates have swirled around the notion of the citizen as a consumer of public services, with public service reform increasingly geared towards a consumer society. This innovative book draws on original research with those people in the front-line of the reforms - staff, managers and users of public services - to explore their responses to this turn to consumerism. Creating Citizen-Consumers explores a range of theoretical, political, policy and practice issues that arise in the shift towards consumerism. It draws on recent controversies about choice to examine the tensions of modernising public services to meet the demands of a consumer society. The book offers a fresh and challenging understanding of the relationships between people and services, and argues for a model based on interdependence, respect and partnership rather than choice. This original book makes a distinctive contribution to debates about the future of public services. It will be of interest to those studying social policy, cultural studies, public administration and management across the social sciences, as well as for those working in public services.

Contents:

1 Changing Times: Perspectives on the Citizen-Consumer 9

2 Public Service Reform: the Rise of the Citizen-Consumer 27

3 Delivery Problems? Consumerism and Institutional Variation 47

4 Unstable Encounters: Users, Staff and Services 66

5 Managing Consumerism: from Policy to Practice 85

6 Sites of Strain: Consumerism and Public Services 103

7 What's in a Name? In Search of the Citizen-Consumer 121

8 Beyond the Citizen-Consumer 139

Appendix The Project 158.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [164]-175) and index.

ISBN:

1412921333

9781412921336

1412921341

9781412921343

OCLC:

71808556