Les services publics

En dépit de ses progrès en matière de démocratie, la Tunisie fait toujours face à une situation économique difficile et des taux élevés de chômage et d'inégalités (Diwan, 2019). Le pays, surtout ses régions intérieures, est également en proie au manque de fiabilité des services publics comme les soins médicaux et l'approvisionnement en eau – des difficultés particulièrement pertinentes face à la pandémie de la COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened problems that were already bedeviling Nigeria’s health system, including run-down or inadequate medical equipment, underpaid and unmotivated medical staff, and unequal access to health care (Andolu Agency, 2020; Pulse Nigeria, 2020). The World Health Organization has labeled Nigeria a human resources for health (HRH) crisis country (Global Health Workforce Alliance, 2020).

The August 2016 local government elections in South Africa sent an earthquake through the political class when the African National Congress (ANC) lost power in three major cities of the country. Coalition governments led by the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) took over the economic powerhouse, Johannesburg; the administrative capital and seat of the Presidency, Pretoria; and the biggest city in the Eastern Cape and the country’s vehicle-manufacturing hub, Nelson Mandela Bay.

L’objectif du présent papier est d’analyser, du point de vue purement microéconomique, l’impact de la décentralisation sur la qualité de l’offre des services socio-publics en Afrique sub-saharienne. L’analyse se sert des données issues des sondages effectués lors de la quatrième enquête Afrobaromètre sur les points de vue des citoyens sur la gouvernance, la démocratie, la réforme économique, la société civile et la qualité de vie dans 20 pays africains.

Les infrastructures constituent le soubassement du développement. Contingent indispensable d'un environnement favorable à l'investissement et au gagne-pain, une infrastructure adéquate favorise la croissance économique, réduit la pauvreté, et améliore la prestation des soins de santé et d'autres services (Banque Mondiale, 2014; Wantchekon, 2014).

This discussion explores some specific ways in which Afrobarometer data can contribute to policy-making and implementation processes. Although it cannot and should not be the only factor that determines policy outcomes, even in a democracy, information on what the public wants has often been missing from these processes altogether, when it should be at their center.  Diamond and Morlino (2005) identify responsiveness – a government that does what the people want – as the “essential result” of democracy.

While the delivery of services of such as security, education, water and sanitation and telecommunication are seen in most places around the world as essential responsibilities of the state, the typical African – especially in rural areas – is unlikely to enjoy many of these amenities.  Moreover, given the expense of regular, large scale household surveys, the typical policy-maker looking for evidence with which to guide the extension or provision of these services may be equally hard pressed.

Some essential government services, ranging from piped water to electricity, are the cornerstone of proper living. The ease with which people access services affects their quality of life. Election campaigns usually revolve around promises to give the people easy access to services. People often vote a particular party into government primarily because people hope that the party is more poised than others to provide a set of desired services.

In 2015, the Republic of South Africa ratified its National Youth Policy 2015-2020 (NYP). One of the policy’s four primary objectives is “to strengthen the capacity of young people to enable them to take charge of their own well-being through building their assets and ultimately realising their potential to the fullest” (Presidency, 2014, p. 12). This is a crucial objective, given that about half of the country’s unemployed workers are youth ages 15-24 years (Statistics South Africa, 2015).

The need for infrastructure improvements is a top-tier economic, political, and social issue in nearly every African country. Although the academic and policy literature is extensive in terms of estimating the impact of infrastructure deficits on economic and social indicators, very few studies have examined citizen demands for infrastructure. In this paper, we draw upon survey data to move beyond top-line estimates of national infrastructure access rates toward a more nuanced understanding of service availability and citizen demands at the regional, national, and sub-national levels.

The provision of public goods and services is an important aspect of socioeconomic development. Access to basic services such as clean water and sanitation, health care, schooling, and transportation enhances citizens’ well-being. Access to roads and telecommunications systems lowers transaction costs, leading to improvements in trade and economic activities (Xu, 2013).

In observance of World Water Day (March 22), under the theme of “Water and Sustainable Development,” Afrobarometer data amplifies the voices of ordinary Africans who call on their governments to address inadequate water supply and sanitation as a top priority.

This article explores the determinants of public satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with health and education services in Africa. Among prospective explanations, we consider the users’ poverty, their general perceptions of service accessibility, and their specific experiences with service providers. We find that “user-friendliness” of services is essential, especially to poorer clients. But daily encounters – including with substandard teaching and the costs of clinic fees – tend to depress public approval, not only of services, but also of democracy.

This paper evaluates the extent to which expressive voting can explain Malawi’s regional census. Specifically, are Malawians who hold regional identities more likely to be regional partisans than Malawians who identify differently? The paper does not seek to wholly reject or accept the identity hypothesis, but rather to plumb the boundaries of its explanatory power: How far can it go in explaining the census? Are there regions of the country that it explains better than others?

In Africa, neoliberal reform has represented a major retrenchment in the public provision of health and education services. In terms of politics, this free or highly subsidized public provision of health and education had always been tightly linked to the expansion of citizenship at the end of colonial rule.

This paper analyzes the impact of corruption on the extent of trust in political institutions using a rich collection of comparable data provided by the Afrobarometer surveys conducted in 18 sub-Saharan African countries. More specifically, we set out to test the "efficient grease" hypothesis that corruption can strengthen citizens' trust since bribe paying and clientelism open the door to otherwise scarce and inaccessible services and subsidies, and that this increases institutional trust. Our findings reject this theoretical argument.