Administrative agents of democracy? A structural equation Modeling of the relationship between public-sector performance and citizenship involvement

This study examined the relationship between public-sector performance (PSP) and several aspects of citizenship involvement as perceived by 260 households in a large Israeli city. Participants reported their perceptions of local municipality operation (e.g., human quality of public servants, initiation and creativity, morality, and ethical standards), resultant organizational performance (e.g., satisfaction with operation and satisfaction with services), and two types of citizenry values: active citizenship involvement and faith in citizenship involvement. Five alternative models were suggested to test the relationship. Me employed path analysis of latent variables to test the models. A structural equation modeling (SEM) using LISREL VIII showed the superiority of one model, in which (1) perceptions of public service operation positively affected performance and faith in citizenship involvement and (2) active citizenship involvement was positively affected by faith in citizenship involvement while it simultaneously was negatively affected by PSP The implications of these results are discussed, especially regarding the paradoxical effect of public-sector performance on active citizenship involvement.