Comparing user and community co-production approaches in local ‘welfare’ and ‘law and order’ services: Does the governance mode matter?
| Author | Elke Loeffler,Peter Timm-Arnold |
| Date | 01 January 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0952076720905006 |
| Published date | 01 January 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Comparing user
and community
co-production
approaches in local
‘welfare’ and ‘law and
order’ services: Does
the governance
mode matter?
Elke Loeffler
University of Strathclyde, UK; Governance International, UK
Peter Timm-Arnold
Governance International, UK
Abstract
This paper analyses the relationship between modes of governance at local level and the
adoption of user and community co-production approaches in community safety and
social care services, based on a German case study. The findings draw on a series of
intensive focus groups with managers and staff of public services in four different
regions in Germany, exploring existing levels of co-production and its potential in
social care and community safety services, with particular focus on older and young
people. The paper provides the first clear research evidence on how approaches to
co-production are specific to the modes of governance within which they take place.
The paper concludes with policy conclusions, both in the two programme areas
concerned and in local public services more generally.
Corresponding author:
Elke Loeffler, University of Strathclyde, UK.
Email: elke.loeffler@strath.ac.uk
Public Policy and Administration
2020, Vol. 36(1) 115–137
!The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/0952076720905006
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Keywords
Co-production, governance mode, law and order, public governance, welfare
Introduction
This paper identifies some key differences in the adoption of and approach to co-
production between different modes of governance, as exemplified in local social
care and public safety services, based on focus group research in Germany, as part
of a wider co-production research project into the implications of major demo-
graphic change, which was commissioned by the Bertelsmann Foundation. This
paper analyses the qualitative research element of the project, based on discussions
in focus groups. Other elements included a citizen survey and international case
studies on citizen co-production at the local level. Both authors were responsible
for the design, delivery and analysis of the focus group discussions, conducted with
professionals working in the selected public services.
The conventional view is that co-production is associated with the New Public
Governance model, characterised by networks, inter-organisational relationships
and multi-actor policy-making at different levels of government. However, some
local public service sectors such as public safety are less hallmarked by strong
inter-organisational networks and collaborative working, which raises the question
of whether co-production approaches can also be implemented in contexts which
are characterised by other modes of governance such as hierarchies or markets, or
in ‘layered’ modes of governance, where several modes of governance co-exist
(Rhodes, 1997). This question is especially relevant for this case study, as
Germany is characterized by a strong administrative law tradition (Voorberg
et al., 2017: 367), in which the hierarchical mode of governance is still relatively
dominant in many public services.
The research in this paper focuses on co-production of social services and public
safety at local government level. In an administrative law country such as
Germany, all public services are shaped by the constraints of the ‘law and order
state’; however, this is not the whole picture – historically, personal social services
have also been shaped by the opportunities offered by the strong focus on subsid-
iarity in the ‘social welfare state’ (Wollmann, 2018: 416). This research therefore
builds on and extends the research by Voorberg et al. (2017) on the importance of
state and governance traditions for the institutionalisation of co-creation.
However, whereas Voorberg et al. (2017) compare four selected countries with
different governance traditions, this paper accepts that different services in a coun-
try can be characterised by different modes of governance, and contrasts the scope
for and adoption of co-production approaches both in coercive contexts such as
public safety, and in redistributive contexts such as welfare services.
The paper starts with a literature review, from which is developed a theoretical
and conceptual framework. This generates a number of research propositions
116 Public Policy and Administration 36(1)
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