View source for Public service

{{Short description|Service provided to all members of a community}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Civil service]], a sector of government composed mainly of career service personnel who are hired rather than elected}}
{{other uses}}
{{Multiple issues|
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{{Globalize|date=July 2020}}
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[[File:Tbilisi, Georgia — Tbilisi Public Service Hall Building.jpg|thumb|Tbilisi Public Service Hall Building, [[Tbilisi]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]]]

A '''public service''' or '''service of general (economic) interest''' is any [[service (economics)|service]] intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community,<ref name="McGregor1982">{{cite journal |title=Symposium: The Public Service as Institution |journal=Public Administration Review |location=Washington |first1=Eugene B. Jr. |last1=McGregor |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><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/public+service|title=Definition of PUBLIC SERVICE|website=Merriam-Webster |language=en|access-date=2019-08-21}}</ref> whether provided directly by a [[public sector]] agency, via public financing available to private businesses or voluntary organisations, or by private businesses subject to government regulation. Some public services are provided on behalf of a government's residents or in the [[public interest|interest]] of its citizens. 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]]. Examples of such services include the [[Fire department|fire services]], [[police]], [[air force]], [[paramedic]]s and [[public broadcasting|public service broadcasting]].

Even where public services are neither publicly provided nor [[Public finance|publicly financed]], they are usually subject to [[regulation]] beyond that applying to most [[Economic sector|economic sectors]] for social and political reasons. [[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|doi-access=free }}</ref> when made in the public's interest and with its motivations, is a type of public service.

==Sectors==
[[File:Keskusrikospoliisi Vantaa.jpg|thumb|The [[National Bureau of Investigation (Finland)|National Bureau of Investigation]] (NBI) headquarters building in [[Tikkurila]], [[Vantaa]], [[Finland]]]]
[[File:City of Rockhampton train (Sunshine railway station, Brisbane).jpg|thumb|Trains are a public service in Australia.]]
[[File:Ghana Police Service Motorbikes.jpg|thumb|A unit of the [[Ghana Police Service]]]]

In modern [[Developed country|developed countries]], the term "public services" (or "services of general interest") often includes:<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-07-09|title=Services of general interest|url=https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/policies/policy-areas/services-general-interest|access-date=2020-06-16|website=European Economic and Social Committee|language=en}}</ref>

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Court|Courts]]
* [[Education]]
* [[Electricity]]
* [[Emergency service|Emergency services]]
* [[Environmental protection]]
* [[Health care]]
* [[Mail]]
* [[Military]]
*[[Policing]]
* [[Building|Public buildings]]
* [[Public broadcasting]]
* [[Public library|Public libraries]]
* [[Urban park|Public parks]]
* [[Public policy]]-making
* [[Public utility|Public utilities]]
* [[Public transport|Public transportation]]
* [[Social services]]
* [[State school]]
* [[Telecommunications]]
* [[Transportation infrastructure]]
* [[Urban planning]]
* [[Waste management]]
* [[Water supply network]]
{{div col end}}
In [[developing country|developing countries]], public services tend to be much less well developed.{{cn|date=July 2025}} For example, water services might only be available to the [[wealth]]y [[middle class]]. For political reasons, the service is often [[Subsidy|subsidized]], which reduces the finance potentially available for expansion to poorer communities.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} The United Nations [[Sustainable Development Goal 5]] is a global initiative that aims to influence the provision of public services and infrastructure to marginalized demographics.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender equality|url=https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs/sdg-5-gender-equality|access-date=2020-09-23|website=UN Women|language=en}}</ref>

==History==
Governing bodies have long provided core public services. The tradition of keeping citizens secure through organized military defense dates to at least 4,000 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 {{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|xiàn}} (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 [[Deity|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 began in the late 19th century, often with the [[Municipality|municipal]] development of [[Coal gas|gas]] and water services. Later, governments began to provide other services such as [[electricity]] and [[health care]]. 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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=by|date=2019-10-29|title=Concept Of Public Service (1)|url=https://andhrapradesh.pscnotes.com/ethics-booster/concept-of-public-service-1/|access-date=2020-09-24|website=Andhra Pradesh PCS Exam Notes|language=en-US}}</ref> Nonetheless, such privately provided public services are often strongly regulated, for example (in the US) by [[Public utilities commission|Public Utility Commission]]s.

Examples noted in a history of public services in [[Oxford]] include street repair, cleansing, and [[streetlighting|lighting]], drainage and sewage disposal, water, gas and electricity supply, police and fire services, the Post Office, transport, hospital services, and the provision of [[public bathing|baths]], parks and cemeteries.<ref>Eleanor Chance, Christina Colvin, Janet Cooper, C J Day, T G Hassall, Mary Jessup and Nesta Selwyn, [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol4/pp350-364 'Public Services'], in ''A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4, the City of Oxford'', ed. Alan Crossley and C R Elrington (London, 1979), pp. 350–364, accessed 5 May 2022</ref>

In the 21st century, [[debt crisis|debt crises]] have made it difficult for developing countries to maintain and develop public services. The [[US Treasury]] has urged multilateral global lenders such as the [[World Bank]], [[International Monetary Fund]], and [[regional development bank]]s to help protect public services in debt-distressed countries.<ref>Finnerty, M., [https://assets.ctfassets.net/vy3axnuecuwj/3OUFMItzFSuwIYFSx6OiQe/f031ab12a39ced84ac6afa453855deca/Jubilee_2025_The_new_global_debt_crisis_and_its_solutions.pdf Jubilee 2025: The new global debt crisis and its solutions], ''[[CAFOD]]'', p. 4, published in December 2024, accessed on 2 July 2025</ref>

==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 that 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 goods. They may be provided by local or national monopolies, especially in sectors that are [[natural monopoly|natural monopolies]].

They may involve outputs that are hard to attribute to specific individual effort or 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.

In the UK, the process of assessing the needs of the people of an area and then designing and securing an appropriate public service to meet those needs, is often called ''commissioning''.<ref name=ots>Cabinet Office, Office of the Third Sector (2006), [https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20081230015652/http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/third_sector/assets/psd_action_plan.pdf Partnership in Public Services: An action plan for third sector involvement], published December 2006, accessed 17 February 2021</ref> Commissioned services may be delivered by organisations in the public sector, [[private sector]] or [[Voluntary sector|third sector]]:<ref>Cabinet Office, [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/78924/commissioning-green-paper.pdf Modernising Commissioning: Increasing the role of charities, social enterprises, mutuals and cooperatives in public service delivery], page 7, published 2010, accessed 17 February 2021</ref> when the private or third sector is involved, the process of commissioning is usually linked with a process of [[Government procurement|procurement]], to determine who will provide the services, at what cost and on what terms. Commissioning is often seen as a cyclical process.<ref name=ots />

==Implications ==
{{Main|Public administration}}
Public services can be constructed, coordinated and operated in many ways or forms. They include government agencies, independent state-funded institutes, government-coordinated organizations, civil society, military agencies and volunteers.

===Government employees===
Government agencies are not profit-oriented and their employees are often motivated differently.<ref name=":0" /> Studies of their work have found contrasting results, including both higher levels of effort<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Frank |first1=Sue A. |last2=Lewis |first2=Gregory B. |date=March 2004 |title=Government Employees: Working Hard or Hardly Working? |journal=[[The American Review of Public Administration]] |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=36–51 |doi=10.1177/0275074003258823 |s2cid=155017646}}</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 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210042552/http://www.heritage.org/jobs-and-labor/report/government-employees-work-less-private-sector-employees |url-status=unfit |archive-date=February 10, 2017 |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 have lower 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"? |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Sasha |last=Volokh |date=7 February 2014 |access-date=18 January 2016}}</ref> Public servants have other intangible benefits such as increased job security and high wages.<ref name=":1" />

===Need satisfaction and sustainability===
A study concluded that public services are associated with higher human need satisfaction and lower energy requirements while contemporary forms of [[economic growth]] are linked with the opposite. Authors find that the contemporary [[economic system]] is structurally misaligned with goals of [[sustainable development]] and that to date no nation can provide decent [[Standard of living|living standard]]s at sustainable levels of energy and resource use. They provide analysis of factors in social provisioning and assess that improving beneficial provisioning-factors and infrastructure would allow for sustainable forms of need satisfaction.<ref>{{cite news |title=Securing decent living standards for all while reducing global energy use |url=https://phys.org/news/2021-06-decent-standards-global-energy.html |access-date=10 July 2021 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Socio-economic conditions for satisfying human needs at low energy use: An international analysis of social provisioning |journal=Global Environmental Change |date=29 June 2021 |article-number=102287 |doi=10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102287 |language=en |issn=0959-3780|last1=Vogel |first1=Jefim |last2=Steinberger |first2=Julia K. |last3=O'Neill |first3=Daniel W. |last4=Lamb |first4=William F. |last5=Krishnakumar |first5=Jaya |volume=69 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021GEC....6902287V }}</ref>

===Choice===
''Open Public Services'', a white paper published by the [[Cameron–Clegg coalition]] in the United Kingdom in 2011, aimed to create a comprehensive policy framework for "good public services". It set out the coalition's programme for reform of public services, described as one of "wide ambitions" expected to be implemented over a period of time, not all at once.<ref name=ops>Cabinet Office, [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-public-services-white-paper Open public services: white paper], published 1 July 2011, accessed 8 February 2021</ref> Five principles were to underlie open public services:
*Choice, wherever possible
*Decentralisation to the lowest appropriate level
*Diversity
*Fairness
*Accountablity.<ref name=ops />{{rp|Chapter 2}}

The journalist [[David Boyle (author)|David Boyle]] conducted an independent review for the UK's [[HM Treasury|Treasury]] and the [[Cabinet Office]] on public demand for choice in public services, which reported in 2013.<ref>Cabinet Office, [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/barriers-to-choice-public-services-review Barriers to choice - a review of public services and the government's response], published on 24 January 2013, accessed on 19 August 2024</ref> The principle of choice where possible was embodied in the Choice Charter, published on 16 May 2013, where four choice principles were outlined:
*allowing people a say in how public services are provided for them
*allowing people the opportunity to exercise choice where it is available
*making clear, accessible and high-quality information available to support choice
*facilitating complaints over the degree of choice offered as well as over the quality of services.<ref name=cch>Open Public Services and Cabinet Office, [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/choice-charter Choice Charter], published 16 May 2013, accessed 3 May 2024</ref>
Between December 2012 and May 2013, "Choice Frameworks" were scheduled for publication covering NHS care, [[social housing]], school education, [[Early Years Foundation Stage|early years]] education and [[adult social care]].<ref name=cch />

===Nationalization===
[[File:A group of Damas de Rojo.jpg|thumb|A group of [[Chile]]an 'Damas de Rojo', volunteers at their local hospital]]
{{Main|Nationalization}}

Nationalization took off following the [[world war]]s of the first half of the 20th 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. After [[World War II]], 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, with the rest 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 to overturn the state's decisions. 

A regulated corporation can also acquire permits on the agreement that they fulfill certain public service duties. When a private corporation runs a [[natural monopoly]], the corporation is typically heavily regulated, to prevent abuse of monopoly power. Lastly, the government can buy a service on the free market. In many countries, [[medication]] is provided in this manner: the government reimburses part of the medication's price. Bus traffic, electricity, healthcare and waste management are also privatized in this way. One recent innovation, used in the UK increasingly as well as in Australia and Canada, is [[Public–private partnership|public-private partnership]]s, which involve giving a long lease to private consortia in return for partly or fully funding infrastructure costs.

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Act of entrustment]]
* [[Certificate of public convenience and necessity]]
* [[Civil service]]
* [[Community service]]
* [[Good governance]]
* [[Infrastructure]]
* [[Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978]]
* [[New Public Management]]
* [[Right to Public Services legislation]]
** [[The Odisha Right to Public Services Act, 2012]]
* [[SGI Europe]]
* [[United Nations Public Service Awards]]
* [[United Nations Public Service Day]]
* [[Universal basic services]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [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], TIN Public Services Yearbook 2005/6, [[Transnational Institute]] / Public Services International Research Unit (SIRIUS), February 2006
* [http://ceep.eu European Center of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813080031/http://ceep.eu/ |date=2011-08-13 }}

{{Public services}}
{{Civil service|state|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Public Service}}
[[Category:Political economy]]
[[Category:Public administration|Service]]
[[Category:Public services| ]]