In accordance with the distinction between public and private law, public services, as important functions of the government, usually take on a public organizational form. In practice, however, the entities responsible for undertaking administrative tasks have taken on various forms, transcending the framework of the public-private dichotomy.

Subsidiarity

Subsidiarity is the primary organizational principle of public service, indicating that government-provided public services are only necessary when individuals cannot efficiently access them through personal efforts or social assistance.

It should be noted that, firstly, while the government is the main provider of basic public services, it is not the only provider. The basic function of public service is to serve the public interest. Education and health care provided by non-government entities also contribute to the common good as they meet public needs. Therefore, serving the public interest does not necessarily require a public organizational form.

Secondly, while public services are typically provided by the government in cases of market failure, there are other grounds for the provision of public services. For instance, the market’s inability to efficiently provide public goods on its own, natural disasters and other emergencies may cause personal hardship, and uneven resource allocation leads to inequality.

Thirdly, subsidiarity only applies to shared authority and is not applicable when certain functions, due to their inherent attributes or by law, constitute the exclusive authority of specific organizations or individuals.

The public nature of public service is manifested in its universality and equality. Universality stems from the fact that public services are accessible to all citizens and mostly provided by the government for free. Equality refers to the responsibility of the state to promote the development of public services and reduce resource imbalances across regions and groups.

Public nature

The basic principle guiding the design of public service organizations is to enhance the operational efficiency and service quality in the most appropriate manner according to the nature of the specific service, which ensures administrative transparency. The public nature of an organization is traditionally determined by three factors.

The first is legal status. The owner of an organization is ultimately responsible for its performance. In this regard, public organizations are owned collectively by all citizens. The second factor is source of funding. While public service fees are usually paid by taxpayers, users pay for the service in some cases. The third factor is the degree to which an organization is subject to political authority rather than market forces. The public sector can exercise direct control through prior approval, quality standards, and final decision-making, or exert indirect influence through fiscal support and personnel assignment.

In general, public service has never operated beyond the control of the administration, and its public nature remains despite the privatization of its organizational form. As a procedural feature, public nature is not necessarily associated with specific types of organization.

At present, external governance of public institutions is particularly important. This can be achieved through quality assessment of public services by independent evaluation committees, social supervision of public services, and regular information disclosure by state-owned enterprises and public institutions, including annual financial statements and reports on business performance. When the government cooperates with other social organizations to provide public services, they can clearly define the performance standards of public services, public participation, third-party supervision and certification by means of contract.