Citizen Expectations and Satisfaction Over Time: Findings From a Large Sample Panel Survey of Public School Parents in Denmark

Abstract

Expectations are thought to affect how citizens form their attitudes and behavior toward public services. Such attitudes may include citizen satisfaction, where expectations play a fundamental role, and relevant behaviors include choice of services and the decision to voice opinions about them. However, there are few investigations into what drives citizen expectations and even fewer that consider these relationships across time. This article tests whether prior expectations, perceived performance, and citizen satisfaction influence future expectations, using a unique dataset that follows individual citizens across two subsequent school satisfaction surveys from 2011 and 2013. The results show that prior expectations have a large and consistent influence on future expectations, as predicted by the literature, whereas the influence from prior perceived performance seems less consistent. Prior satisfaction may also influence future expectations, although the effect is minor. The results indicate that citizens’ expectations are rather stable across time and may contain normative values and beliefs about how public services should perform.