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L O C A L G O V E R N M E N T

Successful Strategies for Engaging Citizens in Performance Measurement

Performance measurement is a

powerful tool that citizens can use

to hold government accountable.

Performance measurement can also

provide local government officials

with valuable opportunities to pub-

licize their accomplishments. Both

citizens and local officials have

much to gain. Unfortunately, many

public managers are fearful that

measuring what they do will expose

them to sanction if they fail to per-

form. Real accountability, however,

depends on such measurements

and assessments. Officials who fail

to perform should be taken to task,

induced to change their priorities

and methods, or, if necessary, voted

out of office.

But getting citizens to appreciate

the virtues of performance meas-

urement and to understand its

potential for advancing their agen-

das can also be a challenge. Most

existing performance measurement

systems reflect a lack of broad, cit-

izen participation. Citizens rarely

take the lead in inducing govern-

ment to develop performance mea-

sures. Nor do they often provide

adequate feedback on what mea-

sures they value or what measures

reflect their priorities.

Fortunately, our knowledge of best

practices is improving, and progress

in engaging citizens in these efforts

has been made in many jurisdic-

tions around the country. Recent

visits to six cities with varying suc-

cess at using performance measure-

ment and engaging citizens

suggested a range of strategies that

citizen groups and network organi-

zations can use and conditions that

can be exploited to increase the

quality of performance measure-

ment, strengthen its value for citi-

zens, and ensure its sustainability.

Find a Local Champion

It is important to find champions in

government to promote the use of

performance measurement and the

engagement of citizens. In cities

with exemplary performance meas-

urement systems and strong citizen

engagement, there is always a

champion with influence and credi-

bility who drives the effort and

forms partnerships with citizens,

usually through existing organiza-

tions. Finding that individual is key.

Since there is a fair degree of skep-

ticism and fear in many public

organizations, both about the value

of performance measurement and

the value and necessity of engaging

citizens, finding and cultivating

partners inside government among

elected or appointed officials is key.

Sometimes the champion is the

mayor or city manager, but influen-

tial partners can be found in many

places, often in particular agencies

with highly professionalized man-

agers such as a commissioner of

code enforcement. In Des Moines

champions in city government

joined leaders of a very strong

neighborhood movement. Motivated

citizen groups need to exploit cham-

pions of performance measurement

inside government and throughout

the civic infrastructure.

Use Citizens as Scarce Resources

High levels of citizen engagement

in all stages of performance meas-

urement are rare. Successful com-

munities tend to view citizens as

scarce resources. Knowing where,

when, and how to use this resource

is a key variable in engagement.

Efforts that require large time com-

mitments over long periods are

more challenging to mobilize and

sustain than more episodic efforts

in which the time commitment is

more modest. In Worcester,

Massachusetts, and Des Moines,

B Y M . B R Y N A S A N G E R

54 Nat ional Civ ic Review

Iowa, citizens were engaged at

every level in developing measures

and in doing the measurement with

handheld computers, and participa-

tion was hard to sustain over time.

Experience suggests that localities

entering their third round of com-

munity measurement find that

enlisting volunteers becomes more

difficult. Often the major continu-

ing participants were long-time

community residents and retirees.

One strategy then is to appreciate

the necessity for citizens to be

involved but use them sparingly

and in efforts designed to elicit

their concerns and priorities rather

than employ their labor.

Identify Needs and Interests

Initial efforts by good government

groups or community organizations

to teach citizens about the value of

performance measurement are

best accomplished by exploiting

existing unmet needs. Citizens

who are already unhappy or con-

cerned about the quality, quantity,

or priority of particular public ser-

vices are more likely to respond

to concrete means to address their

concerns. Focusing on the role of

measures as a discrete vehicle to

demonstrate the state of their con-

cerns and progress in ameliorating

them has power to mobilize inter-

est. Neighborhood conditions

proved to be a powerful vehicle for

generating citizen involvement in

several cities. Selecting services

that matter a lot to communities is

a good way to generate citizen

interest. Efforts in Phoenix,

Arizona, to mobilize agency-

specific citizen focus groups to

reflect on performance measures

within a specific agency were

often unavailing. Efforts that focus

on “hot button issues” are more

likely to find participants.

Good government groups and

community organizations know

what those issues are in local

communities. Emphasizing those

issues is likely to generate more

citizen involvement. Using that

interest to teach participants

about how performance measure-

ment can help them keep an eye

on performance and improvement

is likely to build demand for per-

formance measurement.

Most jurisdictions that engaged cit-

izens at the measurement develop-

ment stage found that individuals

are most engaged and most likely

to participate when their interests

are being solicited. Ask citizens to

tell you what they care about and

what outcomes they want and

expect from government, but don’t

ask them to select the measure

that reflects on those expectations.

The development of measures is

difficult and time consuming and

in jurisdictions such as Worcester

and Des Moines, where citizens

were involved in the actual process

of measurement design, the com-

mitment was onerous, contentious,

and often not productive.

The potential rewards of perfor-

mance measurement are signifi-

cant. Working partnerships create

trust, help shape a culture of

citizen-centered activities in other

areas, and begin to establish reci-

procity between citizens and gov-

ernment. The key first steps are in

establishing the value of perfor-

mance measurement for citizens

through programmed organizational

outreach; engaging them in identi-

fying their most important wants

from their services (and exercising

respect for their time); and linking

those demands to politically valu-

able champions in government.

M. Bryna Sanger is a professor at theMilano Graduate School of Manage-ment and Urban Policy of the NewSchool University in New York City.

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Working partnerships createtrust, help shape a culture ofcitizen-centered activities inother areas, and begin toestablish reciprocity betweencitizens and government.