Alternatives for Delivering Public Services: Toward Improved Performance by Emanuel S. Savas

Author:Emanuel S. Savas [Savas, Emanuel S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9780429726903
Google: HIirDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 49489370
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

Critical Issues

Any policy which may radically alter the way cultural institutions operate is bound to create controversy, and the cultural voucher concept is no exception. Before we consider some of the central issues, let us recall that the voucher concept is very general, and it can support a number of different voucher arrangements. Specific arrangements can be devised in order to obviate certain potential problems or in order to achieve some objectives at the expense of others. What follows is a general consideration of some key questions about the voucher idea.

1. Are individual consumers or community groups able to choose intelligently among available cultural services? Inexperienced consumers may lack the sophistication to know what they want, or they may be ignorant of what is available and at what cost; and hence, they could end up paying too much for too little. Economists refer to this as a problem of "imperfect information." The voucher agency can ameliorate imperfections in information by publicizing the services different institutions offer, but the institutions themselves may provide the best solution to consumer ignorance. If institutions are offering attractive services, they will want to tell potential visitors about them, and they will mount their own information campaigns. The voucher agency, however, may wish to increase the flow of information by issuing program catalogs, especially in the early stages of the voucher program.

2. Will larceny be a problem in a system which gives money to individuals or community organizations, rather than directly to cultural institutions? Remember that the money is awarded in the form of vouchers, and these vouchers can be used only in authorized museums. It is conceivable that a voucher holder might try to convert the voucher to cash by asking the cultural institution for a kickback, but this is unlikely if the voucher agency—the agency which issues and redeems the vouchers—has an adequate auditing system for monitoring transactions.

3. Will the cost of the voucher agency or its administrative equivalent be prohibitive? Obviously, a voucher system requires some administrative guidance, and the expense of the voucher agency seems warranted on at least two grounds. First, the expense is relatively small, and the bigger the program, the lower the marginal costs of administration. Second, vouchers will generate new clientele for cultural institutions and one might reasonably expect these people to devote more of their own resources to the pursuit of culture and to support institutions in their competition for public funds. The administrative overhead of a voucher program should be viewed as an investment in an expanding cultural market.

4. Will cultural institutions be willing to compete for voucher dollars? The argument that institutions will not (or cannot) "hustle" consumer support fails to recognize the realities of modern institutional finance. For example, museums fish for money every day in the form of museum memberships, foundation endowments, and government grants. Attracting visitors and their money is a reality of museum administration. When arts administrators voice concern about having to chase support, they are actually expressing fears about having

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