Recognizing citizens in municipal management: an exploratory study based on a content analysis of municipal websites in the province of Quebec
| Date | 01 December 2017 |
| Author | Maud Micheau,Gérard Divay |
| Published date | 01 December 2017 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852315608251 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Review of
Administrative
Article
Sciences
International Review of
Administrative Sciences
2017, Vol. 83(4) 773–788
Recognizing citizens in municipal
! The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852315608251
based on a content analysis of
journals.sagepub.com/home/ras
municipal websites in the province
of Quebec
Ge´rard Divay and Maud Micheau
ENAP, Canada
Abstract
This article explores the usefulness of a recognition framework for the study of the
relationship between municipal administrations and citizens. Within the organizational
science literature, employee recognition has been shown to enhance their commitment
to their organization. In a context where public authorities consistently seek to improve
levels of civic engagement, could this conclusion be applied to the relationship between
municipalities and their constituents? Following a review of the literature, we present
the results of a content analysis of the websites of Quebec municipalities whose popu-
lations are greater than 20,000. Three modes of recognition are identified: personalized
attention, value confirmation, and gratitude. Recognition practices are also found to
vary between municipalities. Our study opens new pragmatic and theoretical horizons
in the area of municipal management.
Points for practitioners
Managers know that showing recognition toward their employees is not only a sign of
respect, but a means to mobilize employee commitment to their organization. This
article explores the value of this finding for the field of municipal management and,
specifically, to the study of the relationship between municipal managers and citizens.
Should serving citizens not ultimately mean recognizing their individual identities, civic
capacities, and contribution to their community’s vitality?
Keywords
civic engagement, municipal management, public administration, recognition
Corresponding author:
Ge´rard Divay Professeur, ENAP, 4750 Henri Julien, Montreal H2T 3 E5, Canada.
Email: Gerard.Divay@enap.ca
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International Review of Administrative Sciences 83(4)
Introduction
Multiple organizational science studies have shown the importance of recognition
in management practices. However, municipal studies have yet to use the concept
of recognition to assess the relationship between municipal managers and citizens.
This article represents a first attempt to explore the value and usefulness of the
concept of recognition for municipal management. First, we show how recognition
is related to the notion of civic engagement, and why it clashes with some principles
of public administration. Second, we present an analytical framework suitable for
municipal studies, which we constructed from the recognition literature. Third,
various municipal recognition practices are assessed through a content analysis
of the websites of Quebec municipalities whose populations are greater than
20,000. Finally, we discuss the new research avenues that emerge from our findings.
Why study recognition in municipal management?
Recognition has been a dominant theme in political philosophy over the past few
decades (Guegen and Malochet, 2012); it has also been taken up by the social
sciences (Payet and Battegay, 2008). While there are therefore multiple theoretical
approaches to the study of recognition, research in the field generally focuses on the
socio-political processes that enable individuals and groups to forge their identity
and feel as though they count. This quest for recognition, as Caille´ and Cordoso de
Oliviera (2007) refer to it, is seen to underlie the dynamics of societies.
Recognition: driving organizations’. . . and communities’
vitality?
Whether in management teaching (Kernodle and Noble, 2013) or in managerial
practice (Alter, 2002), the concept of recognition is often adressed from the per-
spective of its absence or shortfalls. The ‘denial’ of recognition through unaware-
ness, depreciation or invisibleness (Renault, 2004) has produced several ‘mental
pathologies’ (Dejours, 2011). Conversely, authentic recognition practices have
numerous positive effects on employees and their organizations. For instance,
they help improve employee self-esteem, and foster greater trust and organizational
performance (St-Onge et al., 2005).
Several things can be the subject of recognition in organizations. Brun and
Dugas (2005) distinguish four of them: individuals, work practices, devotion
to work, and results. Recognition is granted based on what the employees do,
but also on how they complete their tasks and the ways in which they interact
with others. Employee contributions that go beyond the call of duty have also
been investigated in the literature on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB),
following from Organ (1988). Studying this behavior makes it possible to dis-
cern the more complete range of employee contributions to organizational life,
as well as its positive (Spitzmuller and Van Dyne, 2013) and negative effects
(Bolino et al., 2013).
Divay and Micheau
775
The relationship between OCB and organizational commitment is complex
(Paille´ and Valeau, 2013). Vandenberghe (2005) defines this relationship as ‘a psy-
chological state that characterizes the link between an individual and his or her
organization [translation]’, which varies depending on the different dimensions of
OCB and the shape of organizational commitment (Paille´, 2006). Leadership style
(Vigoda-Galot and Beeri, 2011) and the perceived degree of organizational support
(Duffy and Lilly, 2013) are two factors that have been found to influence OCB and
organizational commitment (Fabi et al., 2009; Vandenberghe, 2005). Both factors
can be related back to recognition.
Considering the current context of municipal management, these conclusions
should open new research avenues for the discipline. Indeed, civic engagement has
become a prevalent, even hegemonic (Moini, 2011), theme in the public adminis-
tration discourse on the local (Moulder and O’Neil, 2009) as well as the inter-
national (OECD, 2009) stage. The public participation literature has also shown
a strong interest in civic engagement; the increasing usage of this concept has been
concomitant with the rise of a perception of a ‘democratic deficit’ (Fung, 2011).
However, pessimistic outlooks on civic engagement based on poor levels of public
participation become more nuanced when the various modes of social participation
(Gaudet, 2011), and the new public platforms made available through the Internet
(Gordon et al., 2013), are considered. Could a lack of knowledge regarding the
multiple forms of civic engagement constitute an obstacle to their further develop-
ment? Studies that have sought to identify factors that stimulate organizational
commitment suggest that this might be the case. But the municipal management
literature has remained silent on this subject.
The recognition of citizens: an unspoken paradox
in municipal management
To be sure, the public administration literature does discuss recognition, but the
focus has mostly been centered on employee recognition (Bourgault and Gusella,
2001; Fortier, 2013). Some authors have explored the related themes of
OCB (Beeri, 2012; Shim and Rohrbaugh, 2013; Taylor, 2013) and organizational
commitment (Roux and Dussault, 2007; Vandenberghe, 2005), but surprisingly,
considering OCB studies’ interest in citizenship behaviors displayed by clients
(Guo and Zhou, 2013), citizen recognition has largely been ignored. Yet, the
main schools of thought in public management have taken a greater interest in
citizens over the last five decades. For instance, New Public Administration, which
emerged in the 1970s, insisted on the necessity of fostering citizen participation and
improving their capacity to choose in the interest of social equity (Frederickson,
1976). New Public Management (NPM) – which achieved its momentum in the
1980s – argued for a greater responsiveness by public officials to the demands of
citizens viewed as clients. However, in Reinventing Government – a beacon of the
NPM literature – citizens are not only seen as clients, but also as members of a local
community whose cohesion should be strengthened (Osborne and Gaebler, 1992).
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International Review of Administrative Sciences 83(4)
New Public Governance, which rose to prominence in the 2000s (Osborne, 2010),
re-established citizens’ prominent role in public administration. They are seen as
more than beneficiaries whose expectations should be fulfilled; they represent key
actors – either individually or in groups – in service delivery (Brandsen et al., 2012).
Public managers are encouraged to improve their capacity to deliberate and con-
sequently, promote the public interest (Denhardt and Denhardt, 2000). Conversely,
Bourgon (2007) places citizenship at the heart of his ‘new public administration’
theoretical framework. Studies regarding ‘administrative democracy’ also highlight
the role of citizens as active protagonists – not only in the process of decision-
making, but in administrative processes as well (Chevallier, 2011). A more recent
trend regarding public administration 2.0, or government 2.0 (Chun et al., 2010;
Gasco´-Herna´ndez, 2014), similarly makes citizens omnipresent actors in the public
management discourse. They are viewed as an integral part of the process of public
value creation, in the production of situation diagnoses, in the elaboration of
solutions, in the development of web applications, and in the shaping of...
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