Examine individual changes

'{{other uses}} {{distinguish|Civil service}} {{refimprove|date=September 2019}}'''Public service'''<ref name="McGregor1982">{{cite journal |title=Symposium: The Public Service as Institution |journal=Public Administration Review |location=Washington |first1=Eugene B. |last1=McGregor Jr. |first2=Alan K. |last2=Campbell |first3= Anthony itua|last3=Macy |first4=Harlan |last4=Cleveland |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=304–320 |date=July–August 1982 |jstor=i240003 |doi=10.2307/975969|id = {{ProQuest|197199863}}}}</ref> is a [[Service (economics)|service]] intended to serve all members of a community.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/public+service|title=Definition of PUBLIC SERVICE|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en|access-date=2019-08-21}}</ref> It is usually provided by [[government]] to people living within its jurisdiction, either directly (through the [[public sector]]) or by financing provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus (usually expressed through [[democratic election]]s) that certain services should be available to all, regardless of [[income]], [[physical ability]] or [[intelligence|mental acuity]]. Even where public services are neither publicly provided nor publicly financed, for social and political reasons they are usually subject to [[regulation]] going beyond that applying to most [[economic sectors]]. [[Public policy]]<ref name="Anderfuhren2014">{{cite journal |title=Policy Environment and Public Service Motivation |journal=Public Administration |location=London |first1=Simon |last1=Anderfuhren-Biget |first2=Frédéric |last2=Varone |first3=David |last3=Giauque |volume=92 |issue=4 |pages=807–825 |date=December 2014 |doi=10.1111/padm.12026|id = {{ProQuest|1639861884}}|url = https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:55349}}</ref> when made in the public's interest and motivations can provide public services. Public service is also a course that can be studied at a college or university. Examples of public services are the [[fire brigade]], [[police]], [[air force]], and [[paramedics]]. See also: [[Public service broadcasting]]. ==Sectors== In modern [[developed countries]], the term "public services" (or "services of general interest") often includes:{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}} {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * [[Court|Courts]] * [[Electricity]] * [[Education]] * [[Emergency service]]s * [[Environmental protection]] * [[Health care]] * [[Military]] * [[Public transportation]] * [[Public buildings]] * [[Social services]] * [[Telecommunications]] * [[Urban planning]] * [[Transportation infrastructure]] * [[Waste management]] * [[Water supply network]] {{div col end}} ==Public administration== {{Main|Public administration}} In modern democracies, public service is often performed by [[Employment|employees]] known as [[Civil service|civil servants]] who are hired by elected [[officials]]. Government agencies are not profit-oriented and their employees are motivated very differently.<ref name=":0" /> Studies of their work have found contrasting results including both higher levels of effort<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |title=Government Employees: Working Hard or Hardly Working? |journal=The American Review of Public Administration |first1=Sue A. |last1=Frank |first2=Gregory B. |last2=Lewis |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=36–51 |date=March 2004 |doi=10.1177/0275074003258823}}</ref> and fewer hours of work.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.heritage.org/jobs-and-labor/report/government-employees-work-less-private-sector-employees |title=Government Employees Work Less than Private-Sector Employees |journal=Backgrounder |publisher=The Heritage Foundation |first=Jason |last=Richwine |issue=2724 |pages=1–6 |date=11 September 2012 |access-date=16 January 2016}}</ref> A survey in the UK found that private sector hiring managers do not credit government experience as much as private sector experience.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://business.financialpost.com/executive/careers/public-sector-stigma |title=Public sector stigma: The 100,000 workers Tim Hudak removes from the provincial payroll could have a tough transition to the private sector |work=Financial Post |first=Dan |last=Ovsey |date=27 May 2014 |access-date=16 January 2016}}</ref> Public workers tend to make less in wages when adjusting for education, although that difference is reduced when benefits and hours are included.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/02/07/are-public-sector-employees-overpaid/ |title=Are public-sector employees "overpaid"? |work=The Washington Post |first=Sasha |last=Volokh |date=7 February 2014 |accessdate=18 January 2016}}</ref> Public workers have other intangible benefits such as increased job security and high wages.<ref name=":1" /> ==Characteristics== A public service may sometimes have the characteristics of a [[Public good (economics)|public good]] (being [[non-rivalrous]] and [[non-excludable]]), but most are services which may (according to prevailing [[social norms]]) be under-provided by the [[Market (economics)|market]]. In most cases public services are [[Service (economics)|services]], i.e. they do not involve manufacturing of [[good (accounting)|goods]]. They may be provided by local or national monopolies, especially in sectors which are [[natural monopoly|natural monopolies]]. They may involve outputs that are hard to attribute to specific individual effort or hard to measure in terms of key characteristics such as quality. They often require high levels of training and education. They may attract people with a public service ethos who wish to give something to the wider public or community through their work. ==History== Governing bodies have long provided core public services. The tradition of keeping citizens secure through organized military defence dates to at least four thousand years ago.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J53rAgAAQBAJ |title=The Power of the Bull |publisher=Routledge |location=London |last1=Rice |first1=Michael |page=13 |date=1998 |isbn=978-1-317-72583-1 |quote=As the more advanced social institutions began to take shape they contributed to some counterbalancing of the essential insecurity of man's condition. It was inevitable that ambitious and assertive men should see an opportunity for establishing for themselves positions of power and influence. No doubt many such occasions had their origins in a genuine concern for the public good [...] The position of [...] the war-band leader as the strong arm of the community's defence would increasingly be confirmed by the subjection of the community to the members of what [...] were becoming, demonstrably, elites, [...] This period, embracing part of the fifth and all of the fourth and third millennia before the present era, is absolutely pivotal to the development of the modern world.}}</ref> Maintaining order through local delegated authority originated at least as early as the [[Warring States period]] (5th to 3rd centuries BCE) in ancient China with the institution of ''xian'' (prefectures) under the control of a centrally-appointed prefect. Historical evidence of state provision of [[dispute resolution]] through a legal/justice system goes back at least as far as ancient Egypt.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j3pmDAAAQBAJ |title=Law's Political Foundations: Rivers, Rifles, Rice, and Religion |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |location=Cheltemham, Gloucestershire |last1=Haley |first1=John O. |pages=43–44 |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-78536-850-9 |quote=Pharaonic Egypt epitomizes a regulatory, public law regime. [...] The principal function of this elaborate apparatus was to maintain order and security, and, above all, to acquire as much of the surplus agricultural wealth and labor as possible.}}</ref> A primary public service in ancient history involved ensuring the general favor of the [[gods]] through a theologically and ceremonially correct [[state religion]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JcvZCgAAQBAJ |title=The Cambridge Companion to Political Theology |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |last1=Hovey |first1=Craig |last2=Phillips |first2=Elizabeth |page=4–5 |date=2015 |isbn=978-1-107-05274-1 |quote=To ensure the favor of the gods was the preeminent task of ancient rulers worldwide, for they all were priestly kings. The Roman Caesar was the ''pontifex maximus'' of Rome's state god. The Chinese emperor certainly stood over his subjects as 'Son of Heaven,' but if he fell into disfavor with heaven and his country was visited by famine, plague, earthquakes, and floods, he could be overthrown. The Moloch of Carthage demanded children as sacrifices; the Aztecs and Mayas offered their Gods still-quivering hearts. These political religions were ''do ut des'' religions in which the relationship between deity and worshippers was one of contractual exchange.}}</ref> The widespread provision of [[public utility|public utilities]] as public services in developed countries usually began in the late nineteenth century, often with the [[municipal]] development of [[gas]] and [[water]] services. Later, governments began to provide other services such as [[electricity]] and [[healthcare]]. In most developed countries local or national governments continue to provide such services, the biggest exceptions being the [[United States|U.S.]] and the [[United Kingdom|UK]], where private provision is arguably proportionally more significant.{{citation needed|reason=Compare: National Health Service in the UK|date=March 2015}} Nonetheless, such privately provided public services are often strongly regulated, for example (in the US) by [[Public Utility Commission]]s. In [[developing countries]] public services tend to be much less well developed. For example, water services might only be available to the [[wealthy]] [[middle class]]. For [[political]] reasons the service is often [[subsidized]], which reduces the finance potentially available for expansion to [[Poverty|poorer]] communities.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} ==Nationalization and privatization== [[File:A group of Damas de Rojo.jpg|thumb|A group of [[Chile]]an 'Damas de Rojo', volunteers on their local hospital.]] ===Nationalization=== {{Main|Nationalization}} Nationalization took off following the [[World War]]s of the first half of the twentieth century. In parts of [[Europe]], [[central planning]] was implemented in the belief that it would make production more efficient. Many public services, especially electricity, fossil fuels and public transport are products of this era. Following the Second World War, many countries also began to implement [[universal health care]] and expanded [[education]] under the funding and guidance of the state. ===Privatization=== {{Main|Privatization}} There are several ways to privatize public services. A free-market corporation may be established and sold to private investors, relinquishing government control altogether. Thus it becomes a private (not public) service. Another option, used in the [[Nordic countries]], is to establish a corporation, but keep ownership or voting power essentially in the hands of the government. For example, the [[Finland|Finnish state]] owned 49% of [[Kemira]] until 2007, the rest being owned by private investors. A 49% share did not make it a "government enterprise", but it meant that all other investors together would have to oppose the state's opinion in order to overturn the state's decisions in the shareholder's meeting. Regulated corporation can also acquire permits on the agreement that they fulfill certain public service duties. When a private corporation runs a [[natural monopoly]], then the corporation is typically heavily regulated, to prevent abuse of monopoly power. Lastly, the government can buy the service on the free market. In many countries, [[medication]] is provided in this manner: the government reimburses part of the price of the medication. Also, bus traffic, electricity, healthcare and waste management are privatized in this way. One recent innovation, used in the UK increasingly as well as Australia and Canada is [[public-private partnership]]s. This involves giving a long lease to private consortia in return for partly funding infrastructure. ==See also== {{Too many see alsos|date=April 2017}} {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * [[EPSU]], the European Public Services Unions * [[CEEP]], the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest * [[Certificate of public convenience and necessity]] * [[Good governance]] * [[Infrastructure]] * [[Right to Public Services legislation]] * [[New Public Management]] * [[United Nations Public Service Awards]] * [[UN Public Service Day]] * [[VÖWG]], the Austrian Association for Public and Social Economy {{div col end}} ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==External links== {{no footnotes|section|date=December 2016}} * [http://www.municipalservicesproject.org Municipal Services Project] * [http://www.world-psi.org Public Services International] * [http://www.psiru.org Public Services International Research Unit] * Daniel Chavez (ed), [http://www.tni.org/detail_pub.phtml?know_id=96 Beyond the Market: The Future of Public Services], TNI Public Services Yearbook 2005/6, [[Transnational Institute]] / Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU), February 2006 * [http://ceep.eu European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest] * [https://www.atsarkarinaukri.com/2019/11/public-sector.html Indian Public services] {{Public services|state=expanded}} {{Civil service|state|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Public Service}} [[Category:Political economy]] [[Category:Public administration|Service]] [[Category:Public services| ]]'