The Interface management frontier: Modernizing local government. Part three

At the beginning of the 21st Century, local government faces the major challenge of restructuring and managing a new interface with its social, economic, and political environment. The devolution of public tasks to society requires a redefinition of the role of local government. The shift from producing to guaranteeing the remaining services requires at least the adoption of best practices from private-sector strategic marketing, production, and purchasing management. The restructuring of local government for customer satisfaction and decentralized decision-making requires careful attention to the demands of democratic political control, as well as to legitimate public interests that may not be included in the customer-satisfaction model. Thus, public management of local government cannot be content with internal modernization, but must redefine its relationships with its environment.