Instrumentos de voice giving na relação entre os cidadãos e a administração pública: a carta dos serviços

The Italian public administration system is characterized by a gap between the public service providers and the managers of state-owned companies. Building on this assumption, this paper analyzes the relationship between the citizens (that is, the owners of public services) and the managers of state-owned companies, with a view to observing and analyzing the ways through which the interests of these parties may converge or diverge. The focus of the studies conducted was based on the principal agent theory, and that of the most appropriate stakeholders, in search of discrepancies of interest, as well as instrumental indicators of possibilities for the realignment of the relationships encountered. In particular, the principal agent theory was used, in its descriptive aspects only, to individualize stakeholders and their reciprocal relations, which is what characterizes the internal organization of the public administration.

The Italian public administration system is characterized by a gap between the public service providers and the managers of state-owned companies. Building on this assumption, this paper analyzes the relationship between the citizens (that is, the owners of public services) and the managers of state-owned companies, with a view to observing and analyzing the ways through which the interests of these parties may converge or diverge. The focus of the studies conducted was based on the principal agent theory, and that of the most appropriate stakeholders, in search of discrepancies of interest, as well as instrumental indicators of possibilities for the realignment of the relationships encountered. In particular, the principal agent theory was used, in its descriptive aspects only, to individualize stakeholders and their reciprocal relations, which is what characterizes the internal organization of the public administration. However, by focusing on the relationships between citizens and public managers, the principal agent theory appears to be limited, owing to its strong association with a vision of enterprises that is too concrete. The theory of stakeholders, in turn, by granting explicit acknowledgment to the social, economic, and institutional interlocutors, allowed the individualization of valid instruments for the examination of connections across stakeholders. In this context, the portfolio of services was analyzed as a voice-giving instrument of induced communication through which the original (direct) relationship between citizens and public service managers can be restored.