Case study-co-production of care services: Co-opting citizens in the reform agenda

The idea of co-producing and self-organizing public services has penetrated the discourse of politicians and civil servants in all kinds of policy areas, such as energy, urban development and care. The reforms that have taken place in the Dutch care regime during the past four years provide an exemplary case to empirically examine how these discourses are shaped in the Netherlands, as this policy area is traditionally characterized by a strong presence of government. Due to an ageing population, the demand for care services is rising and the preservation of the welfare state in its current form is under pressure. In order to keep the system future proof and affordable, the national government has introduced a revision of the Social Support Act in 2015. In this reform national government emphasizes the shifting ‘back’ of responsibilities towards society. Governments want to utilize society’s resources more fully. By transferring a part of former public service delivery to citizens, welfare delivery should become a more explicit and stronger form of co-production of care professionals and citizens.