IMPLEMENTATION OF MONITORING OF THE QUALITY OF PUBLIC SERVICES AT THE LOCAL LEVEL AS A TOOL FOR REFORMING PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION – THE POLISH EXPERIENCE

The main aim of the article is to present a model of monitoring of the quality of public services which can be used to enhance the quality of self-government in European post-communist countries. The secondary aim of the article is to identify factors which hinder the implementation of the model. The theoretical basis for the presented model comes from three earlier ones: the Deming cycle, the Boyd cycle, and the model of institutional development of organizations. The model has been tested in 10 local administration units (LAU) in Poland. It consists of six stages presented in the article: decision to implement monitoring, its objectives and resources; selection of indicators; collection of data; analysis of the collected data and preparation of reports; use/dissemination of the reports; final evaluation of monitoring and implementation of conclusions. Three critical points were identified at which decisions to stop monitoring were often taken, namely: disappointment with the first main report which failed to answer all of the problems raised by the authorities, changes of the LAU authorities as a result of elections, and “indolence” of local authorities manifested in expecting support from outside.