Public sector & service delivery
Are you being served?: popular satisfaction with health and education services in Africa
The effectiveness of health and education service delivery in Africa from the perspective of the consumer
Authors:
M. Bratton
Publisher:
Afrobarometer, 2007
This article explores the determinants of public satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with health and education services in Africa. The following research questions guide the study:
- how important are basic social services among the development priorities of ordinary Africans?
- how satisfied are Africans with government performance in the health and education sectors?
- for users, which aspects of service delivery matter more: quantity or quality?
- if quality matters, which aspects of users’ experiences with service providers are decisive?
- does official corruption always undermine popular satisfaction with services?
- is there an onward linkage from satisfaction with service delivery to satisfaction with democracy?
The authors find that user-friendliness of services is essential, especially to poorer clients. But daily encounters including with substandard teaching and the costs of clinic fees tend to depress public approval, not only of services, but also of democracy. Finally, corruption has unexpectedly mixed effects: perceptions that officials are corrupt decreases citizen satisfaction; but the act of paying a bribe increases it.
