Focusing on the Citizen
– Political Embeddedness, Administrative Consideration and Distributive Consequences of Citizens' Service Centres in Denmark

Today, nearly all local authorities in Denmark have established citizens' service centres, and such centres are, in many respects, deeply embedded in the civic structure. Most things can be sorted out by the centres, so they are, in a sense, one-stop shops where the services the citizen needs are concentrated in one place. The services provided by the centres therefore concentrate on the sort of thing that most citizens need. This also means that they tend to attract a particular type of citizen. Those who physically turn up tend to be elderly citizens with time to spare. In addition much of the centres' work is performed on the Internet or over the phone. Since the establishment of service centres, the average citizen seems to have experienced an improvement in the level of service provided by his local authority. It is, however, noteworthy that another citizen-oriented initiative, the setting up of a municipal watchdog function, has spread more slowly. This function is intended to help citizens with complicated problems who have ended up in conflict with the system. Given this background, the question arises as to which type of citizen is most in focus after the establishment of service centres.