Gestão pública e relacionamento com o cidadão: um estudo no setor de atendimento da Secretaria Municipal de Economia de Maceió-AL

Abstract

The research aimed to analyze how SEMEC-Maceió's service channels contribute to improving the relationship with citizens. To this end, the following specific objectives were proposed: 1. To investigate the main service channels used by SEMEC-Maceió to serve the citizen; 2. To analyze the citizen's perspective on the barriers to access to SEMEC-Maceió's service channels; 3. To understand SEMEC-Maceió's perspective on possible barriers in the relationship with the citizen; 4. To reflect, from the perspectives of citizens and SEMEC-Maceió, on possible improvements in service and access to information from the public agency. The research was based on the theoretical assumptions about Public Administration, more specifically the New Public Administration, and the impact of Information and Communication Technologies in the Public Sector. In addition, it was a qualitative research, being situated as an intrinsic case study. The case unit was the Municipal Secretariat of Economy of Maceió, the body responsible for planning and executing the accounting, tax and financial policy of the municipality. The research data come from semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 civil servants and 25 citizens, based on two questionnaires. After analyzing the data, it was observed that: i) SEMECMaceió provides various channels of service to citizens, in order to facilitate and expedite personal demands and the services provided; ii) there are several barriers encountered by citizens and civil servants in accessing the service channels and information of the public agency, in order to highlight the lack of clarity in the information, too much bureaucracy, among others; iii) the need for improvements in the service channels and access to information, in the server-citizen relationship, in the training and qualification of civil servants, among others. As a result, the research demonstrated the importance of constant evaluation/examination of the various municipal public bodies, since they are fundamental elements in Public Administration and act/influence the lives of citizens.