Public service - wikipedia Public service For other uses, see Public service ( disambiguation ). Not to be confused with Civil service. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( September 2016 ) Roman public bath, still in use Public service is a service which is provided by government to people living within its jurisdiction, either directly ( through the public sector ) or by financing provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus ( usually expressed through democratic elections ) that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income, physical ability or mental acuity. Even where public services are neither publicly provided nor publicly financed, for social and political reasons they are usually subject to regulation going beyond that applying to most economic sectors. Public policy when made in the public 's interest and motivations can provide public services. Public service is also a course that can be studied at a college or university. Examples of public services are the fire brigade, police, air force, and paramedics. Contents 1 Sectors 2 Public administration 3 Characteristics 4 History 5 Nationalization 6 Privatization 7 See also 8 References 9 External links Sectors Public services may be associated with fundamental human rights ( such as the right to water ). The Volunteer Fire Dept. and Ambulance Corps. are institutions with the mission of servicing the community. A service is helping others with a specific need or want. Here, service ranges from a doctor curing an illness, to a repair person, to a food pantry. In modern developed countries, the term `` public services '' ( or `` services of general interest '' ) often includes : Courts Electricity Education, ( e.g. state ( public ) schools, public universities, etc... ) Emergency services, ( e.g. Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue, etc... ) Environmental protection Health care Military Postal service Public bank Public broadcasting Public library Public security Public transportation Social services, ( e.g. public housing, social welfare, food subsidies, etc... ) Telecommunications Urban planning Transportation infrastructure Waste management, ( e.g. wastewater, solid waste, recycling, etc... ) Water supply network Public administration Main article : Public Administration In modern democracies, public service is often performed by employee s known as civil servant s who are hired by elected official s. Government agencies are not profit - oriented and their employees are motivated differently. Studies of their work have found contrasting results including both higher levels of effort and fewer hours of work. A survey in the UK found that private sector hiring managers do not credit government experience as much as private sector experience. Public workers tend to make less in wages when adjusting for education, although that difference is reduced when benefits and hours are included. Public workers have other intangible benefits such as increased job security. Characteristics A public service may sometimes have the characteristics of a public good ( being non-rivalrous and non-excludable ), but most are services which may ( according to prevailing social norms ) be under - provided by the market. In most cases public services are services, i.e. they do not involve manufacturing of goods. They may be provided by local or national monopolies, especially in sectors which are natural monopolies. They may involve outputs that are hard to attribute to specific individual effort or hard to measure in terms of key characteristics such as quality. They often require high levels of training and education. They may attract people with a public service ethos who wish to give something to the wider public or community through their work. History Governing bodies have long provided core public services. The tradition of keeping citizens secure through organized military defence dates to at least four thousand years ago. Maintaining order through local delegated authority originated at least as early as the Warring States period ( 5th to 3rd centuries BCE ) in ancient China with the institition of xian ( prefectures ) under the control of a centrally - appointed prefect. Historical evidence of state provision of dispute resolution through a legal / justice system goes back at least as far as ancient Egypt. A primary public service in ancient history involved ensuring the general favor of the gods through a theologically and ceremonially correct state religion. The widespread provision of public utilities as public services in developed countries usually began in the late nineteenth century, often with the municipal development of gas and water services. Later, governments began to provide other services such as electricity and healthcare. In most developed countries local or national governments continue to provide such services, the biggest exceptions being the U.S. and the UK, where private provision is arguably proportionally more significant. Nonetheless, such privately provided public services are often strongly regulated, for example ( in the US ) by Public Utility Commissions. In developing countries public services tend to be much less well developed. For example, water services might only be available to the wealthy middle class. For political reasons the service is often subsidized, which reduces the finance potentially available for expansion to poorer communities. Nationalization Main article : Nationalization Nationalization took off following the World Wars of the first half of the twentieth century. Across Europe, because of the extreme demands on industries and the economy, central planning was required to make production maximally efficient. Many public services, especially electricity, gas and public transport are products of this era. Following the Second World War, many countries also began to implement universal health care and expanded education under the funding and guidance of the state. Privatization A group of Chilean ' Damas de Rojo ', volunteers on their local hospital. Main article : Privatization There are several ways to privatize public services. A free - market corporation may be established and sold to private investors, relinquishing government control altogether. Thus it becomes a private ( not public ) service. Another option, used in the Nordic countries, is to establish a corporation, but keep ownership or voting power essentially in the hands of the government. For example, the Finnish state owned 49 % of Kemira until 2007, the rest being owned by private investors. A 49 % share did not make it a `` government enterprise '', but it meant that all other investors together would have to oppose the state 's opinion in order to overturn the state 's decisions in the shareholder 's meeting. Regulated corporation can also acquire permits on the agreement that they fulfill certain public service duties. When a private corporation runs a natural monopoly, then the corporation is typically heavily regulated, to prevent abuse of monopoly power. Lastly, the government can buy the service on the free market. In many countries, medication is provided in this manner : the government reimburses part of the price of the medication. Also, bus traffic, electricity, healthcare and waste management are privatized in this way. One recent innovation, used in the UK increasingly as well as Australia and Canada is public - private partnerships. This involves giving a long lease to private consortia in return for partly funding infrastructure. See also This `` see also '' section may contain an excessive number of suggestions. Please ensure that only the most relevant links are given, that they are not red links, and that any links are not already in this article. ( April 2017 ) CEEP European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest Certificate of public convenience and necessity Good governance Infrastructure Right to Public Services legislation New Public Management United Nations Public Service Awards VÖWG Austrian Association for Public and Social Economy References Jump up ^ McGregor, Eugene B.,, Jr, Campbell, A.K., Macy, John W.,, Jr, & Cleveland, H. ( 1982 ). Symposium : The public service as institution. Public Administration Review, 42 ( 4 ), 304. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/197199863(subscription required ) Jump up ^ Anderfuhren - Biget, S., Varone, F., & Giauque, D. ( 2014 ). POLICY ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVATION. Public Administration, 92 ( 4 ), 807. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1639861884(subscription required ) ^ Jump up to : Frank, Sue A. ; Lewis, Gregory B. ( 2004 - 03 - 01 ). `` Government Employees Working Hard or Hardly Working ? ''. The American Review of Public Administration. 34 ( 1 ) : 36 -- 51. doi : 10.1177 / 0275074003258823. ISSN 0275 - 0740. Jump up ^ `` Government Employees Work Less than Private - Sector Employees ''. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2016 - 01 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Public sector stigma : The 100,000 workers Tim Hudak removes from the provincial payroll could have a tough transition to the private sector ''. Financial Post. Retrieved 2016 - 01 - 16. ^ Jump up to : Volokh, Sasha ( 2014 - 02 - 07 ). `` Are public - sector employees `` overpaid '' ? ``. The Washington Post. ISSN 0190 - 8286. Retrieved 2016 - 01 - 18. Jump up ^ Rice, Michael ( 1998 ). The Power of the Bull. London : Routledge. p. 13. ISBN 9781317725831. Retrieved 27 July 2017. As the more advanced social institutions began to take shape they contributed to some counterbalancing of the essential insecurity of man 's condition. It was inevitable that ambitious and assertive men should see an opportunity for establishing for themselves positions of power and influence. No doubt many such occasions had their origins in a genuine concern for the public good (... ) The position of (... ) the war - band leader as the strong arm of the community 's defence would increasingly be confirmed by the subjection of the community to the members of what (... ) were becoming, demonstrably, elites, (... ) This period, embracing part of the fifth and all of the fourth and third millennia before the present era, is absolutely pivotal to the development of the modern world. Jump up ^ Haley, John O. ( 2016 ). Law 's Political Foundations : Rivers, Rifles, Rice, and Religion. Cheltemham, Gloucestershire : Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 43 -- 44. ISBN 9781785368509. Retrieved 27 July 2017. Pharaonic Egypt epitomizes a regulatory, public law regime. (... ) The principal function of this elaborate apparatus was to maintain order and security, and, above all, to acquire as much of the surplus agricultural wealth and labor as possible. Jump up ^ Hovey, Craig ; Phillips, Elizabeth ( 2015 ). The Cambridge Companion to Political Theology. New York : Cambridge University Press. p. 4 - 5. ISBN 9781107052741. Retrieved 27 July 2017. To ensure the favor of the gods was the preeminent task of ancient rulers worldwide, for they all were priestly kings. The Roman Caesar was the pontifex maximus of Rome 's state god. The Chinese emperor certainly stood over his subjects as ' Son of Heaven, ' but if he fell into disfavor with heaven and his country was visited by famine, plague, earthquakes, and floods, he could be overthrown. The Moloch of Carthage demanded children as sacrifices ; the Aztecs and Mayas offered their Gods still - quivering hearts. These political religions were do ut des religions in which the relationship between deity and worshippers was one of contractual exchange. External links This section includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help to improve this section by introducing more precise citations. ( December 2016 ) Municipal Services Project Public Services International Public Services International Research Unit Daniel Chavez ( ed ), Beyond the Market : The Future of Public Services, TNI Public Services Yearbook 2005 / 6, Transnational Institute / Public Services International Research Unit ( PSIRU ), February 2006 European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest Public services Municipalization Nationalization Progressive tax Concepts Public administration Public domain Public health Public interest Public land Public ownership Public policy Public procurement Public value Basic services Civil service Fire department Law enforcement Postal service Savings system Public broadcasting Public transport Public utility Electric utility Oil & gas Telecommunication Municipal broadband Public water system Waste management Public works Infrastructure Public bank Public hospital Public library Public school Public space Public university Social services Single - payer health care National health insurance Public housing Social insurance Social pension Social security Commons Civil service Concepts Public sector Government agency Bureaucracy Bureaucrat Technocracy Diplomat Public administration Public policy Public service By country Australia Bangladesh Brazil Canada China European Union France Germany Hong Kong India Ireland Italy Japan Malaysia New Zealand Nigeria Northern Ireland Pakistan Russia Singapore Sri Lanka United Kingdom United States Categories National civil service commissions Government occupations Civil service by country See also : Civil service reform in developing countries GND : 1038114020 NDL : 01056255 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Public_service&oldid=811289200 '' Categories : Political economy Public administration Public services Hidden categories : Pages containing links to subscription - only content Articles needing additional references from September 2016 All articles needing additional references All articles with failed verification Articles with failed verification from April 2017 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from November 2017 Articles with unsourced statements from March 2015 Articles with unsourced statements from July 2017 Articles with excessive see also sections from April 2017 Articles lacking in - text citations from December 2016 All articles lacking in - text citations Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Čeština Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français Հայերեն Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית 日本 語 ភាសា ខ្មែរ Polski Português Română Русский Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi ไทย Türkçe Winaray Edit links This page was last edited on 20 November 2017, at 18 : 10. 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Question: a public service can best be described briefly as
Answer: provided by government to people living within its jurisdiction, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing provision of services