Interfaces: How to Connect Effectively with Citizens

• Author: Alex Brenninkmeijer
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12682
• Published date: 01 January 2017
• Date: 01 January 2017

10 This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited,

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Public Administration Review,

Vol. 77, Iss. 1, pp. 10–11. © 2016

The Authors. Public Administration Review

published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on

behalf of The American Society for Public

Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12682.

Alex Brenninkmeijer is professor at

Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and

The Netherlands’ member of the European

Court of Auditors. He served as Dutch

National Ombudsman from 2005 to 2014.

E-mail: alex.brenninkmeijer@eca.europa.eu

Perspective

W hen citizens interact with agencies—for

taxation, social benefits, licenses, permits,

and so on—the complexity of rules,

procedures, and (web)formuli is a major problem. The

complexity of the world of “systems” of our public

sector does not easily match the world of “real lives”—

the varied lives of individuals. Administrative systems

focus on regularity, equality, and the processing of

huge numbers of individual cases. All elements of the

administrative process are formalized. If something

cannot be formalized, if it does not fit in the system,

it does not exist. Human beings value predictability,

but are not made for formality. Consequently, there

is a structural tension or misfit between complex

administrative systems and citizens.

Effective human interplay with complex systems

is a key issue in the IT world. Our smart phone

is an extremely complex system, as our “personal”

computer used to be. No expert in the world can

understand all of the elements that determine the

functioning of a smart phone. Such complex systems,

however, are used widely and they are a tremendous

success. Why? Because step-by-step interfaces have

been designed that connect the IT systems world

of smart phones with the lives and “life worlds” of

users. It started with keyboards, the mouse, and

icons, and now we are intimately connected with our

digital gadgets by touch screens, “apps,” and even

voice interaction. Although complex and formal in

its nature, these systems are able to connect with

users in an intuitive way. Interfaces connect the

complex IT world effectively with the life world

of all of us. This concept of interface appears to

be essential.

As National Ombudsman in the Netherlands I have

dealt with tens of thousands of citizen complaints

about the malfunctioning of agencies at central,

regional, and local levels. Frustration and distrust

burst from citizens’ mail, letters, and phone calls.

According to the Dutch General Administrative Law

Act, citizens can launch a complaint by a signed letter.

The law stipulates a well-organized procedure for

complaint handling. After a year or more, citizens

can expect the decision of the Ombudsman: unfair

treatment, yes or no. A perfect procedure but citizens

were not as satisfied with this approach as one might

expect. Why? Because it ignores their real questions:

why did they launch a complaint and what result

would they like to achieve?

The answers can be found by carefully listening to

complaining citizens and their intermediaries (lawyers,

volunteers, churches, etc.). Complexity appeared to be

an important issue. A lack of understanding triggers

distrust. We need to establish more effective interfaces

between citizens and complex administrative

systems—but how? On the basis of much experience,

I discovered four essential elements.

The first one is personal contact . When administrative

procedures do not function well and when there are

problems, a simple—if possible quick—phone call

will help, and when agencies face severe cases, eye-to-

eye contact is very effective.

The second element is taking citizens seriously :

listen and do not deny what they bring up. This is

something different from admitting that they are

right. If someone is disturbed because he did not

understand a formal letter, that issue is a fact. And the

reader might be right and the (standard) letter might

need to be rewritten. As Ombudsman I cooperated

with agencies to send millions of letters in clear

language, something that proved to be quite cost-

effective.

The third element is fair treatment : be respectful

to citizens. This is the core of the work of the

Ombudsman: listening, being careful with data,

giving understandable reasons for a decision,

respecting human rights. Decisions should not only

be legally correct but fair as well in the sense that

citizens perceive procedural fairness in the operations

of agencies.

Alex Brenninkmeijer

Utrecht University, The Netherlands

European Court of Auditors

Interfaces: How to Connect Effectively with Citizens