ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role of the principal actors in co-production, the users and providers of public financed services, and of third sector organizations (TSOs) that sometimes deliver them. It introduces the concept of public administration regimes (PARs), and presents four of them: traditional public administration, New Public Management, New Public Governance and a Communitarian regime. Changes in PARs will set limits for citizen participation and co-production of public services, as well as establish the parameters for service users and providers, and TSOs and their leaders. The chapter reviews briefly contrasting PARs in terms of the role played by citizen/users and the professional staff and explores their role in promoting service quality. The roles of service users and professional service providers show similarities, but also some clear contrasts in different PARs, especially in terms of how they determine service quality.
