2026-service-systems-citizen-ecosystems-and-the-politics-we-deny-v3-taylor
The article argues that conventional service‑system science, while valuable for public services, is incomplete because it treats the service as the sole unit of analysis and ignores the socio‑ecological contexts of citizens and the political nature of design decisions. The author proposes a "binocular" public service science that deliberately alternates between two lenses: (A) the service‑system lens, which focuses on contacts, flows, decision rights, measures, and redesign of front‑door processes; and (B) the lived‑ecosystem lens, which foregrounds place, community, household economies, informal care, and other determinants of need. Four explicit switching rules are offered—boundary honesty, demand as citizens' language, transaction‑costs as design material, and making legitimacy/ideology visible. The paper synthesises socio‑technical, socio‑ecological, and socio‑psychological perspectives, showing how each informs design and governance. Practical implications include reconceptualising front‑door design as an epistemic organ, redefining demand work to avoid covert rationing, and recognising institutional "immune systems" that resist place‑based reforms. The work is situated within the New Public Service tradition and outlines a research agenda comprising descriptive, design, and political studies. The overall claim is that only by maintaining disciplined oscillation between the two lenses can public service reform move from improving services to improving lives.
Topics
The Binocular Stance: Dual Lenses for Public Service Science
Introduces the core proposition of using two complementary lenses—service systems and lived ecosystems—to analyse and design public services.
Why Traditional Service‑System Frames Fall Short
Critiques the conventional service‑system focus for neglecting socio‑ecological contexts and political dimensions, leading to failure‑demand loops and legitimacy crises.
Switching Rule 1 – Boundary Honesty
Mandates explicit declaration of the design boundary and acknowledgement of external drivers of demand, preventing the conflation of organisational and system boundaries.
Switching Rule 2 – Demand as Citizens' Language
Calls for capturing demand in the original words of citizens at first contact, treating it as data about the ecosystem rather than noise to be coded.
Switching Rule 3 – Transaction Costs as Design Variables
Frames forms, eligibility tests, channel splits, and referral norms as material that shapes demand signals and should be deliberately modelled and adjusted.
Switching Rule 4 – Legitimacy and Ideology on the Table
Requires making explicit the worldview, value assumptions, and ideological stakes that underlie design choices, treating them as design variables rather than externalities.
Three‑fold Synthesis: Socio‑Technical, Socio‑Ecological, Socio‑Psychological
Integrates classic socio‑technical thinking with place‑based ecological insights and relational psychological dynamics to form a holistic design perspective.
Front‑Door Design as an Epistemic Organ
Reframes the front‑door interface from a speed‑optimisation point to a sensing‑and‑learning system that shapes the organisation’s knowledge of reality.