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Although the link between government performance and citizen trust in government seems intuitive, the relationship is not supported in some of the literature. This article argues that the difficulty of empirically demonstrating this link is rooted in the difficulty of defining and measuring government performance meaningfully. Performance measurement can improve citizen trust in government directly through citizen participation in the evaluation process or indirectly by improving citizens' perceptions of government performance. To achieve this potential, current performance-measurement practice must be improved: to measure what citizens really care about, to be more systematic and integrated across agencies, to include other governing entities, and to become an ongoing participatory process in which governments and citizens are both transformed.

Despite its appeal for improving government, many state and local governments have not developed performance-measurement systems, and even fewer use these systems to improve decision making. This study examines the factors that affect the utilization of performance measurement, based on the results of a national survey of state and local government officials. The goals of the study were to provide better information on the patterns of usage of performance measurement and to use this information to develop an elaborated model of the factors presumed to affect utilization. Using distinctions from the policy and evaluation literature, hypotheses were tested and confirmed: Policy adoption is driven more heavily by factors from rational and technocratic theory, whereas actual implementation is influenced by factors addressed by political and cultural considerations.

Over the past decade, e-government has evolved from providing static content and services to integrating user generated content and social media technologies. This allows citizens to participate and provide regular feedback on policies and programs, both of which promote public value through e-democracy. However, few studies continue to track their performance on a worldwide scale. This article discusses the results of a global and comparative survey of e-government performance, based on an assessment of municipal government websites around the world. Along with a longitudinal assessment, the study identifies best practices, highlights key findings, and provides guidance for future research.

In the field of public administration practice, China has a history of several thousand years, whereas the United States has a much shorter history of hundreds of years of governance. In terms of the scholarly development of public administration in China, the roots of those intellectual resources can be traced far back, to Confuciuss ideology of governance and the ancient development of a civil service system some 2,000 years ago. In terms of the systematic development of public administration as an independent subject of learning, however, the United States has been a leader worldwide. Public administration as a discipline in the United States dates back to the late nineteenth century, with extensive scholarly research and publications in the early twentieth century (Follett 1926; Goodnow 1900; Taylor 1912; Weber 1922; White 1926). In the Chinese context, although there were occasional studies of public administration in the first half of the twentieth century, systematic study was deferred until the middle of the 1980s. They were only truly continued following the official launch of master of public administration degree programs at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In this respect, China was a latecomer, and Chinese scholars almost always date the study and scholarship in this field to about 1980. Over the past eighty years or so, the United States has established more than 200 MPA and related programs, while China has founded 100 MPA programs in just the past eight years. Recognizing the urgent need for MPA training, China is trying to catch up to the demand for social development and societal transition. Considering that China has a population of 1.3 billion, compared to a population of 300 million in the United States, it looks as if there is great potential for China to expand its MPA programs.

In the field of public administration practice, China has a history of several thousand years, whereas the United States has a much shorter history of hundreds of years of governance. In terms of the scholarly development of public administration in China, the roots of those intellectual resources can be traced far back, to Confucius's ideology of governance and the ancient development of a civil service system some 2,000 years ago. In terms of the systematic development of public administration as an independent subject of learning, however, the United States has been a leader worldwide. Public administration as a discipline in the United States dates back to the late nineteenth century, with extensive scholarly research and publications in the early twentieth century (Follett 1926; Goodnow 1900; Taylor 1912; Weber 1922; White 1926). In the Chinese context, although there were occasional studies of public administration in the first half of the twentieth century, systematic study was deferred until the middle of the 1980s. They were only truly continued following the official launch of master of public administration degree programs at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In this respect, China was a latecomer, and Chinese scholars almost always date the study and scholarship in this field to about 1980. Over the past eighty years or so, the United States has established more than 200 MPA and related programs, while China has founded 100 MPA programs in just the past eight years. Recognizing the urgent need for MPA training, China is trying to catch up to the demand for social development and societal transition. Considering that China has a population of 1.3 billion, compared to a population of 300 million in the United States, it looks as if there is great potential for China to expand its MPA programs. Reprinted by permission of Blackwell Publishers

This paper seeks to present an overview of the state-of-the-art of public performance measurement in the USA. The growing degree of sophistication of performance measurement tools is highlighted as well as some of the current challenges associated with implementing meaningful performance measurement systems. More importantly, models where citizens participate directly in the process of assessing and measuring the performance of government are introduced. Overall, this article aims to address the following questions: what is the state-of-the-art of public performance measurement? How are citizens adding meaning to the performance measurement process? This paper offers a literature review that assesses the state of practice of performance measurement as a tool for management. In addition to highlighting the value of this management tool, models of citizen-driven performance measurement are offered as strategies for measuring what matters to citizens. While there are challenges associated with implementing systems of performance measurement, evidence shows that including citizens in the process adds value to the overall process. This paper assesses the state-of-the-art and utility of public performance measurement. Strategies and models are offered to bridge the interests of public managers and citizens in the process. These approaches, or modified versions, can be adopted and implemented in many contexts and may serve as useful tools for the international community.

This article provides an overview of the development of master of public administration (MPA) programs in the United States. Specifically, it examines MPA curricula in a longitudinal manner and analyzes the factors that have motivated and facilitated changes in MPA courses and content. Building on a review of relevant literature and documents on the MPA curricula, the article evaluates how well the current course content of MPA programs in the United States prepare graduates to deal with the needs of public service at the managerial level. The article concludes by offering suggestions to MPA program designers about how to build a better MPA programs that will provide graduates with a foundation for continued professional development in changing environments.

This article examines the concept of citizen participation in the context of the new interface between the public and government as a result of advancements in ICT and interactive e-government. This interface has a direct bearing on accountability and the governance process. The paper makes the case for greater involvement of citizens in designing the collection, the analysis, the dissemination and in assuring the proper consumption of performance measurement data. The paper concludes that in the 21st Century the 1960' s slogan \"maximum feasible participation\" can be a way to enhance democracy through better accountability and trust in government which can result from meaningful citizen participation.

This paper highlights the research findings of a digital governance survey conducted in the fall of 2009. The study replicates previous surveys of large municipalities worldwide in 2007, 2005, and 2003. This longitudinal assessment, focused on the assessment of current practices in municipal e-governance by evaluating their official websites. Specifically, the survey analyzed security, usability, content, the type of online services currently being offered, citizen response, and participation through websites established by city governments worldwide. There were significant changes in the top ranking cities when compared to previous studies. Based on the 2009 evaluation of 87 cities, Seoul, Prague, Hong Kong, New York, and Singapore represent the highest performing cities in digital governance. Moreover, there continues to be a divide in terms of digital governance throughout the world; however, this divide, which increased in 2005, decreased in 2009.