NCJ Number
15755
Date Published
Unknown
Length
25 pages
Annotation
SURVEY INDICATES HIGHER CITIZEN SATISFACTION WITH LOCALLY PROVIDED GOVERNMENT SERVICES THAN WITH SERVICES PROVIDED BY A LARGE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT.
Abstract
A QUESTIONNAIRE WAS DISTRIBUTED TO A SAMPLE POPULATION IN NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE REGARDING CITIZEN SATISFACTION WITH PUBLIC SERVICES DELIVERED BY A CENTRALIZED METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT AND THE SAME SERVICES DELIVERED BY A SMALL UNIT OF GOVERNMENT. APPROXIMATELY 100 HOUSEHOLD SPOKESMEN WERE CHOSEN FROM TWO ADJOINING, PREDOMINATELY WHITE, LOWER-MIDDLE CLASS JURISDICTIONS. ONE OF THESE 500-RESIDENT NEIGHBORHOODS RECEIVED GOVERNMENT SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE PREVIOUSLY CONSOLIDATED NASHVILLE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT. THE OTHER PROVIDED ITS OWN SERVICES. HYPOTHESES WERE TESTED FOR A POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN SERVICES PROVIDED BY A LARGE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT AND CITIZEN SATISFACTION WITH THOSE SERVICES. THESE HYPOTHESES WERE GENERALLY NOT SUPPORTED. SPECIFICALLY, THOSE RESPONDENTS FROM THE SERVICE SELF-SUFFICIENT COMMUNITY INDICATED A HIGHER DEGREE OF SATISFACTION WITH THE LEVEL OF SERVICES, A GREATER AMOUNT OF PERCEIVED GOVERNMENT CONCERN, AND A MORE EFFECTIVE POLICE FORCE THAN DID THOSE RESPONDING FROM THE MUNICIPALLY SERVICED COMMUNITY.