Comparing user and community co-production approaches in local ‘welfare’ and ‘law and order’ services: Does the governance mode matter?

This paper compares approaches to user and community co-production approaches in community safety and social care services in Germany. The objective was to identify the extent to which co-production is possible in different governance contexts, including bureaucracy, markets and networks. The findings draw on a series of focus groups with managers and staff of public services in four different regions in Germany.  The paper shows that public service contexts that are more characterised by network modes of governance are more conducive to co-production but that nevertheless co-production is both possible and, in some cases, valuable in services characterised by more hierarchical forms of governance. More research is needed on the extent to which co-production is possible in market contexts and how user and community co-production impacts on the governance context in which it takes place.

Cite as: Loeffler, Elke and Timm-Arnold, Peter (2020), Comparing user and community co-production approaches in local ‘welfare’ and ‘law and order’ services: Does the governance mode matter?, Public Policy & Administration, DOI: 10.1177/0952076720905006.

Access the full article: https://doi.org/10.1177/0952076720905006