ARE STATE ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES CLIENT CENTRIC? CITIZENS’ PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Implementing client-centered culture is seen as one of the core areas for further improvement of public administration in Russia. Traditionally both international and Russian literature reviews client centricity in the context of public service quality. However, the range of functions which aim at fulfilling public interest and entail interaction with citizens goes far beyond public service delivery. The article aims at filling this gap based on developing and testing a methodic approach to evaluating client centricity of state regulatory enforcement bodies from the citizen perspective. Based on the empirical data collected through representative sociological public surveys conducted by RANEPA in 2018-2022, the authors evaluate client centricity of state regulatory enforcement bodies through the lens of key governance quality parameters: validity, effectiveness, and efficiency. It is demonstrated that while there are some positive trends in improved validity and effectiveness of the state regulatory enforcement actions, there have been no efficiency gains in this area. Further improvement of client centricity in regulatory enforcement area calls for simplifying the procedures for citizens to file complaints to the relevant authorities and for improving the effectiveness in reviewing and responding to such complaints. Special attention is required to improve client centricity for distant forms of interaction between citizens applying to state regulatory enforcement bodies for protection of public values (ranging from health and property to environment and personal data) and public authorities (i.e., by post, electronically or by phone).