In recent years public management research in a variety of disciplines has paid increasing attention to the role of citizens and the third sector in the provision of public services. Several of these efforts have employed the concept of co-production to better understand and explain this trend. This book aims to go further by systematizing the growing body of academic papers and reports that focus on various aspects of co-production and its potential contribution to new public governance. It has an interdisciplinary focus that makes a unique contribution to the body of knowledge in this field, at the cross-roads of a number of disciplines - including business administration, policy studies, political science, public management, sociology, third sector studies, etc. The unique presentation of them together in this volume both allows for comparing and contrasting these different perspectives and for potential theoretical collaboration and development. More particularly, this volume addresses the following concerns: What is the nature of co-production and what challenges does it face? How can we conceptualize the concept of co-production? How does co-production works in practice? How does co-production unfold in reality? What can be the effects of co-production? And more specific, firstly, how can co-production contribute to service quality and service management in public services, and secondly, what is the input of co-production on growing citizen involvement and development of participative democracy?
1. Co-Production as a Maturing Concept Taco Brandsen, Victor Pestoff and Bram Verschuere Part 1: What Is Co-Production? Conceptual and Theoretical Perspectives 2. Co-Production and Third Sector Social Services in Europe: Some Crucial Conceptual Issues Victor Pestoff 3. From Engagement to Co-Production: How Users and Communities Contribute To Public Services Tony Bovaird and Elke Loeffler 4. Co-Production: Contested Meanings and Challenges for User Organizations Benjamin Ewert and Adalbert Evers 5. Third Sector and the Co-Construction of Canadian Public Policy Yves Vaillancourt 6. From Co-Production to Co-Governance John M. Ackerman Part 2: How Does Co-Production Work? 7. Co-Production from a Normative Perspective Edgar S. Cahn and Christine Gray 8. Co-Production and Network Structures in Public Education David O. Porter 9. The Conditions for Successful Co-Production in Housing: A Case Study of German Housing Cooperatives Taco Brandsen and Jan-Kees Helderman 10. Co-Production in an Information Age Albert Meijer Part 3: How Does Co-Management Work? 11. Co-Management to Solve Homelessness: Wicked Solutions for Wicked Problems Kerry Brown, Robyn Keast, Jennifer Waterhouse, Glen Murphy and Myrna Mandell 12. Co-Management in Urban Regeneration: New Perspectives on Transferable Collaborative Practice Hans Schlappa 13. 'Don't Bite The Hand That Feeds You?' On The Partnerships between Private Citizen Initiatives and Local Government Karolien Dezeure and Filip De Rynck 14. Co-Producing Safety or Participative Window Dressing? Regulation Partnerships in German Local Governance Arrangements Matthias Freise 15. The Potential of Nonprofit-Government Partnerships for Promoting Citizen Involvement Ichiro Tsukamoto Part 4: Effects Of Co-Production: Service Quality, Accountability and Democracy 16. Co-Production and Service Quality: A New Perspective for the Swedish Welfare State Johan Vamstad 17. Co-Production: An Alternative to the Partial Privatization Processes in Italy and Norway Andrea Calabro 18. The Challenges of Co-Management for Public Accountability: Lessons From Flemish Childcare Diederik Vancoppenolle and Bram Verschuere 19. New Public Governance, Co-Production and Third Sector Social Services in Europe: Crowding In and Crowding Out Victor Pestoff 20. Conclusion: Taking Research on Co-Production a Step Further Taco Brandsen, Bram Verschuere and Victor Pestoff
