ABSTRACT
Modern public administration involves an inherent tension between better responsiveness to citizens as clients and effective collaboration with them as partners. This tension stems from tangible differences between the nature of responsiveness and the essence of collaboration. While responsiveness is mostly seen as a passive, unidirectional reaction to the people’s needs and demands, collaboration represents a more active, bidirectional act of participation, involvement, and unification of forces between two (or more) parties. Moreover, responsiveness is based on the marketplace view of better service for citizens as clients or customers. Answering their needs is seen as vital for government and public administration (G&PA) systems that seek extensive legitimization and high performance. On the other hand, collaboration highlights a moral value of genuine cooperation and teamwork between citizens and G&PAs where each party is neither a pure servant nor the master, but a social player in the theatre of state.
