ABSTRACT
This chapter chronicles many successful efforts by public managers to work with the public, experiences that tell us what good customer service looks like, when and how to partner, and when and how to involve the public in administrative decision making. Government's improved performance should lead to more trust in the public about government; the public's enhanced roles in government should lead, in turn, to more trust by public administrators of the public. The responsibility for working with the public in any or all of the three roles, as citizen, customer, or partner, could appear daunting, given the many design principles offered for how to pursue those engagements. After reviewing their general outlook on the public's roles, public managers should next consider how they might want to change their behavior and that of their employees to better meet the public's needs of their agencies.
