Governing in an Age of Scarcity: On the Role of Cross-National Citizen Satisfaction Measurement

Abstract

In this chapter, we begin by examining a series of global changes and challenges that, in our estimation, significantly increase the importance of citizen satisfaction measurement (and of performance measurement in general) as a vital tool for governments seeking to most efficiently allocate scarce resources, and for improving citizens’ satisfaction and trust in government in the process. As the global population continues to both rise and age over the next century (perhaps dramatically so), and as budgetary resources likely become less plentiful, at least on a per-working-citizen basis, governments must respond by maximizing the resources they have in a manner that best meets citizen wants and needs. While obviously an extreme scenario, and one that may seem (at least superficially) only tangentially related to citizen satisfaction measurement, a review of the recent (2010 to present) political upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East known collectively as the “Arab Spring,” along with similar instances of unrest in places like Greece and Spain, help to clarify the dangers governments can experience under the difficult circumstance where they are forced to “serve more with less.” In the end, we propose and briefly outline a global system of citizen satisfaction measurement useful for benchmarking and sharing best practices across disparate national governments, a tool that can help these governments effectively use their resources in a manner most beneficial to both citizen satisfaction and citizen trust.