Citizen Feedback Mechanisms in Municipal Services

Robert K. Yin

Expert InsightsPublished 1976

A summary of five mechanisms to facilitate citizen feedback. (1) Urban indicators, or records collected by municipal agencies, are a source of information that can indicate different service needs. (2) Neighborhood meetings are a way of increasing contact between officials and citizens. (3) Grievance procedures provide a single phone number to call. The ombudsman is a new development along this line. (4) City hall functions can be decentralized into neighborhood facilities. (5) Neighborhood organizations have frequently stemmed from federal Community Action and Model Cities efforts. The most successful have paid staff, a grievance procedure and review over budget formulation. Three important lessons for municipal officials: (1) Effective participation requires that citizens have the same level of decentralized or centralized organization as the relevant municipal service. (2) If a feedback mechanism does not lead to a perceptible response, the mechanism may fall into perverse disuse. (3) No single mechanism works best.

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Yin, Robert K., Citizen Feedback Mechanisms in Municipal Services. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1976. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P5553.html.
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