JCC — pp. 1-18 2026-07-26 Original Care Under Strain: Caregiver Mental Health and Early Childhood Development in Rural China
Lei Wang, Chuhan Tang, Kaiwen Guo, Victoria Tang, Tiffany Zhu, Vivian Zhang, Sophia Li, Amelie Ibel, Anabelle Lin, Scott Rozelle
AJPS — 2026-06-27
Original Getting on the grid: A field experiment on bottom‐up political pressure and access to essential public services
PMR — pp. 1-37 2026-06-25 Original Understanding co-production with vulnerable populations: challenges, enablers and outcomes
Angelica Zazzera, Denita Cepiku
Abstract
Co-production emerged to engage users in public services as an intrinsic source of value and a democratic right, generating empowerment and social capital. This normative promise is undermined by an equity problem: vulnerable populations face barriers to full participation and are systematically excluded from co-productive processes despite having the greatest need for public services. Although attention to this issue has grown, the literature lacks a comprehensive cross-sector, cross-population analysis. A systematic literature review combining bibliometric mapping with qualitative narrative synthesis is conducted, placing vulnerability and its consequences for the co-production process at the centre of inquiry. This article contributes to co-production theory by highlighting the limits of standard assumptions for vulnerable populations, and offers practical implications for designing inclusive co-production processes.
PAR — 2026-06-04
Original Which Type of AI ‐Based Public Services Are Citizens More Willing to Accept?
Qing Miao, Lin Han Yu
PMR — pp. 1-28 2026-04-14 Original Libraries in a changing society: resourcing value propositions for viability and societal relevance
Tiina Tuominen, Kirsi Hyytinen, Paul Windrum
Abstract
In the age of rapid societal change and resource constraints, public service organizations must revise their value propositions to remain relevant. Although prior research emphasizes practice-based learning and adaptability, limited attention has been given to how public service organizations renew their value propositions. This paper addresses this gap by applying the concept of resourcing. It develops a conceptual framework grounded in resourcing and illustrates its relevance through an analysis of public libraries that have successfully redefined their value propositions and societal position. The findings identify five resourcing tactics, demonstrating how public service organizations can innovate despite ongoing resource limitations.
PMR — pp. 1-28 2026-04-02 Original The interplay of resource integration and value orientation in public services value creation: a case study of residential parking reform in China
PMR — pp. 1-31 2026-04-02 Original Smiley bots, satisfied citizens? The impact of AI humanization on citizen experience in public services
Jinjin Wu, Yifan Chen
Abstract
This study examines how AI humanization influences citizen experience in public service delivery by integrating the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) and Emotion as Social Information (EASI) theory. Focusing on AI chatbots as a research context, we explore how humanized responses shape perceived warmth and competence and whether effects differ between programmed and non-programmed services through a survey experiment with four vignette-based scenarios. Findings underscore the importance of context-sensitive and carefully calibrated AI design and functioning choices. By linking SCM’s content dimensions with EASI’s affective and inferential mechanisms, the study provides a social-psychological lens to understand citizen–government interactions in AI-driven public administration and provides practical guidance for designing AI-enabled services that remain citizen-friendly while safeguarding core public values.
JOP 88/2 pp. 509-525 2026-04-01 Original Social Density, Clientelism, and Community Benefits
Jeremy Spater, Erik Wibbels
Abstract
How does the social structure of a neighborhood affect the linkage strategies chosen by politicians? Our argument links the social centrality of individuals and the social density of neighborhoods to the incidence of individual-level clientelism and the contingent provision of neighborhood benefits, respectively. We test the resulting hypotheses using a combination of original network, experimental and nonexperimental survey data collected across 9,184 households in 217 slums across three cities in India. We find that socially central individuals are more likely to be targeted with private clientelism and that more socially dense neighborhoods are more likely to coordinate votes, attract benefits, and achieve the legal prerequisites for public services.