شهروندمحوری

The purpose of the present study was the interpretative structural modeling of citizen-centered development indicators in Zanjan Municipality. This study is based on the practical purpose and from the perspective of the method, it is in the field of mixed studies with the inductive-deductive approach. Identification of citizen-centered development indicators was done through semi-structured interviews based on theoretical saturation with professors and specialists in policy making, public administration and urban administration. The validity and reliability of the interviews were confirmed by the method of relative content validity and Cohen's kappa index, respectively. In order to model citizen-oriented development indicators, the opinions of managers and employees of Zanjan municipality, numbering 61 people, were used with the convenience sampling method available and with the help of a questionnaire. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed using content validity and test-post-test method. The coding of the resulting data using the 2020 MaxQda software led to the identification of 13 citizen-oriented development indicators. Modeling of the identified indicators with interpretative structural method led to the formation of eight levels, where attention to public interest was the most effective and synergy between citizens and local governments was the most impressionable factor.

Citizen-centered government agencies are a prototype of new public service approach which, in effect, calls for citizenship orientation of state-owned agencies. This study aimes at developing a citizen-centered model in the Iranian public sector with a new public service approach. 

To realize this purpose, the main themes of the main subject of the study were identified using the grounded theory method. The statistical population of the study was the managers of Tax Organization in Tehran. Based on purposeful sampling method, 12 subjects were  selected. Interviews were performed for data collection and to analyze data, MAXQDA Version 12 software was employed. 

According to the research findings, the central categories of citizen-centered theme in the public sector of Iran include citizen participation, decision-making transparency and accountability. The findings also show that the rule of law, political stability and management stability affect the establishment of citizen-centered governmental organizations and this, in turn, brings about security and economic consequences. 

This study presents a new citizen-centered model with a new approach for public sector in Iran. The model is appropriate for the nature of government organizations in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to the identified model, the establishment of citizen-centered approach in Iran’s government organizations depends on investment in e-infrastructure and development of e-government.