“Customer Service” in the United States Agency for International Development

Abstract

The article assesses the experience of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Bangladesh (USAID/B) in its customer-focused design of a democracy program. It applies to the initiative criticisms of the principles of customer orientation in the public sector, most notably that it marginalizes citizenship, underestimates complexity, and leads to policy incoherence. The article observes that USAID/B effectively managed to sustain an effort to solicit, resolicit, and keep an eye on people’s/customers’ needs. The critical literature nevertheless has relevance in explaining some present limitations but more so potential problems of retaining a focus on customers. In the face of competing interests of stakeholders far more powerful than its customers (defined as “the poor and disadvantaged” of Bangladesh), USAID/B’s determination to persevere will be seriously tested.