This paper addresses the sustainability of citizen/user participation in the provision of public services, often referred to as co-production. Co-producing welfare services promises to limit cost, but it also requires a change in the relations and behavior of public servants and citizens/users, in order for the latter to make a long-term commitment to co-production. The paper notes that Olsen proposes two logics of collective action, not just one. Focusing on small group interaction can provide an important strategy for achieving sustainable co-production, particularly of enduring welfare services. It discusses the potential contribution of multi-stakeholder governance and multi-stakeholder dialogue between the users and staff for making co-production more sustainable. Then it briefly discusses the importance of internal decision-making for third sector co-production. Finally, it proposes that small group models for sustainable co-production may prove viable even in large organizations under certain conditions. It concludes that governments should develop more flexible, service specific and organization specific approaches for promoting co-production, rather than looking for simple solutions to the challenges facing public service delivery, particularly of welfare services.
