揭開地方文官回應民意的「秘箱」:台灣六都1999熱線的質化分析
廖洲棚、陳敦源、廖興中
《摘要》
隨著我國民主發展的深化,「傾聽民意、回應民意」已成為政府最重要的工作。政治系統回應公民需求不僅僅是民主理論與實務的核心問題,更是政府與公民關係維繫的關鍵。為改善政府與公民關係,各地方政府紛紛運用資通訊科技(Information and Communication Technologies, ICTs),做為加速傾聽與回應民意的管道,如從早年的市長信箱,到近年各地方政府依循企業客服中心(call center)而設立的1999市(縣)民熱線。各地方政府雖設置「1999熱線」受理民眾陳請,卻無法改變地方文官得依職權裁量回應民意的事實。地方文官的裁量判斷,無可避免地成為民意能否被政府有效回應的關鍵。為瞭解「地方文官究竟是如何回應民意?」的問題,本文藉由對臺北市、新北市、臺中市、臺南市、高雄市以及桃園縣等六都處理「1999熱線」陳情案件之12名在職主政文官的深度訪談分析以及相關理論文獻的對話討論,逐步揭開地方文官回應民意的秘箱(secret box)。
[關鍵詞]:回應性政府、行政裁量權、1999市民熱線、公民關係管理
Uncovering the “Secret Box” of Local Civil Servants’ Responsiveness: Qualitative Analysis of the 1999 Citizen Hotline in Six Taiwan Cities
Zhou-Peng Liao, Don-Yun Chen, Hsin-Chung Liao
Abstract
With the democratic consolidation in Taiwan, “listening and responding to people” has become the core value of governments at all levels. In order to improve the government-citizen relationship, many local governments of Taiwan use the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a means to listen and respond to public opinions, such as the early Mayor’s Mailbox and the recent 1999 Citizen Hotline for city residents. However, even if government uses ICTs, public opinion still needs to be responded by civil service system. Because the civil servants exercise discretion with their professional preference, there may be a gap between civil servants’ response and citizens’ preference. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the “secret box” (bureaucratic responsiveness). In order to understand the “secret box”, this paper uses the 1999 Citizen Hotline of Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taichung City, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City and Taoyuan County as sample cases, to explore “how do the local civil servants respond to the public?” To answer this question, this study adopts the qualitative grounded theory method. The authors interviewed twelve local civil servants who dealt with the calls of 1999 Citizen Hotline in the six cities and county, and summarize their opinions to explore the theoretical framework of local civil servants’ responsiveness, as well as the key factors which would influence their responsive process.
Keywords: responsive government, administrative discretion, 1999 citizen hotline, citizen relationship management