Quality Management in Public Administration

The public administration''s field of functions has developed in the course of time. Whereas the state originally exercised the sovereign rights of a country only, today it increasingly acts as a service provider that seeks to please its customers. Therefore service quality management has become necessary in the public sector. Management theories from the private sector essentially influence the quality management techniques that are applied. However, they have to be adapted to the special conditions in public service provision.This book attempts to give answers to the following five questions:How can public service quality be defined?How can a standardised level of quality in public services be guaranteed?How can a public administraton''s citizen contacts be categorised?How can quality standards ideally be determined to guarantee a homogenous quality of interaction between the public administration and the citizens?What measures are already taken in Austria and Italy?The focus of interest is on the national and EU level, although positive examples from local administrative entities serve for demonstration.