Public services: institutional and functional dimensions

Abstract

In the main, the demends on public services providors for resources and capabilities will be increasingat a time when their flexibility to maneuver and to respond will be increasingly constrained. Anyway, there are two mains ways to provide public sevices: directly, by the services included into authorities of public administration structures, and a delegated-out way, to the other service providers. While there are many diferences between the countries in the extent and the ways in which public sevices are delegated-out, the main factors that will influence behavior are common to all the countries. The public service sector in Europe is vast and complex, because there is no general consensus on what constitutes a „public service”, and the activities included under the term can vary significantly between contries.