“Carrots Rather than Sticks”: Citizen Participation in Multi-Episodic Public Encounters in Belgian Probation Services
(2025) Non spécifié — (2025)
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- Abstract
- While citizen participation in public service delivery is widely regarded as a means to improve compliance and policy effectiveness, it may be unlikely to emerge in coercive settings. Drawing on a relational approach focused on what happens “in-between” the actors, this study investigates how citizen participation unfolds in repeated public encounters with a single civil servant. Specifically, the article is based on ethnographic observations and interviews within Belgian probation services. The findings reveal that probation officers’ (POs) efforts towards procedural justice shape the nature of interpersonal relationships, which in turn influences probationers’ perceptions of administrative burdens and their participation in encounters. Impersonal relationships, characterized by procedural conduct from officers, sustain burdens and foster passivity. Instrumental relationships, marked by strategic concessions from officers, reduce burdens and promote varying levels of cooperation. Trusting relationships, which are grounded in officers’ considerations, alleviate burdens and encourage proactive engagement. In contrast, distrustful relationships result from officers’ confrontational attitudes, intensify burdens and provoke resistance. Our study highlights the pivotal role of frontline officers in shaping citizen–state relationships through multi-episodic encounters. Specifically, “carrots rather than sticks” foster compliance and collaboration over time. Moreover, it shows that citizens retain meaningful agency, influencing public service delivery through diverse forms of participation, from collaboration to resistance, even in coercive environments.
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Ricotta, A., Moyson, S., Schiffino-Leclercq, N., & et al. (2025). “Carrots Rather than Sticks”: Citizen Participation in Multi-Episodic Public Encounters in Belgian Probation Services. Non spécifié. Submitted. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/248779 (Original work published 2025)