The assessment of public agency responsiveness: A pilot study in an urban context

Abstract

This paper briefly examines research on political responsiveness and suggests that the current concentration on policy-level responsiveness is insufficient. A definition of responsiveness is provided which incorporates citizen evaluation of political responses to the specific demands placed by them. This formulation is then utilized in an impact-responsiveness pilot study of two urban agencies. Findings indicate that responsiveness is a discrete characteristic of public agency performance with a causal background different from related variables such as agency effectiveness. A set of social-psychological variables which describe the attitudes and activities of agency work units processing demands are found to be a better predictor of responsiveness than either the structural features of the agency or the socio-economic characteristics of the demanders evaluating agency responsiveness.