ABSTRACT

A method of designing public policy for municipal services. The objective of

this work is not to show a series of well-selected transcripts, but to present in
an ordered fashion a suite of knowledge which contributes new mechanisms
to the theory and practice of public initiatives and decision making.
It is a proposal rooted in real problems, to be put to use in the discipline of
municipal public administration. To put this another way, it attempts to
respond to the following question: What do public servants need in order to
apply public policy in their work administering services?
The reflections which have led to this study are objective. Firstly, public
services in truth do not cover the entire area of the intervention by the
municipal public sector to ensure better living conditions in localities.
Secondly, bureaucracy has been inefficient in providing public services. In
effect, faced with a growing social demand and urban development, councils
have not proven to be efficient managers of services for general consumption
in their municipalities.
Thirdly, while it is citizens who generate the demand, requirements and social
issues, they do not have a corresponding role in the attention given to the
matters which affect them.
The objective of the method which we propose is to link the improvement of
social services, the development of the technical capacities of officials and
the promotion of citizen participation, by means of the proper usage of public
policy in the municipal domain.