Improving the Quality of Community Public Services-Case Study: General Directorate of Personal Records, Brașov

Abstract

The public administration and the services it offers have an important role in the lives of citizens. The purpose of this research was to identify the factors that influence citizens’ perception of community public services in order to improve and make them more efficient. In order to conduct the research we used a mixed-method approach. In the context of the quantitative analysis, the sample comprises 798 beneficiaries of public services from Brașov County. In the context of the qualitative analysis, the sample comprises directors of institutions that offer public services in Romania and people with decision-making roles at the level of Brașov County. The results revealed that the citizens of Brașov County have a positive opinion about public services, and that factors such as age, living environment and income influence their level of satisfaction with these services. Furthermore, the results of the qualitative analysis offered information about the measures that could be implemented in order to improve the public services. Given that the main measure mentioned by the respondents refers to digitization, we argue that digitization might be the key element in maintaining the sustainability of public services and in increasing people’s satisfaction with them.

1. Introduction

The public administration consists of “all the activities carried out under the regime of public power, of organizing the execution and concrete execution of the law, and of providing public services, with the aim of satisfying public interests” [1] (p. 2). In other words, the public administration also includes public services, which can be considered “means through which citizens are provided with various services that pursue the general interest, but in which the power is of political nature” [2] (p. 112).

The public administration and the services it offers, especially those of personal and civil status, have an important role in the lives of citizens. People turn to these services in order to solve various problems, and the interactions that people have with the representatives of the services, as well as the information circulated in the media, can influence the public opinion about the performance and quality of these services. Moreover, certain elements related to the quality of life (the distance from the institutions that offer such services, the promptness and correctness with which people’s requests are resolved) can also leave their mark on the way people perceive the quality of public services for records of persons and marital status. At the national level, the perception of the quality of public services is rather negative, and knowledge and awareness of the factors that determine those negative attitudes can lead to the improvement of people’s perception and increase their degree of satisfaction with the respective public services. Studying the phenomenon thus allows the identification of the elements that form the basis of people’s opinion about the activity of the local public administration. Identifying those elements can also contribute to increasing the level of people’s confidence in the quality and performance of public services.

In other words, depending on the information that can be obtained through the study of people’s perception, an effective collaboration and communication can be developed between citizens and the local public administration, which also contributes to the strengthening of the community. It is also important to see which factors have a greater influence, or to what extent certain factors influence what people think and say about community public services. Thus, we have the opportunity to realize, on one hand, how we could maintain the positive opinion that some people have, and on the other hand, through what kind of actions we could change a negative attitude into a positive one.

The aim of this paper was to identify the factors that influence citizens’ perception of community public services, in order to improve and make them more efficient. In order to fulfill the purpose of this paper, we have also established a series of objectives, related to the identification of the level of satisfaction of citizens with the public services for the identification of persons at the level of Brașov County, the identification of the difficulties that citizens face when they call on public services, the difficulties faced by the directors of these institutions, and the identification of the measures that should be implemented in order to improve public services at the level of Brașov County.

Brașov is a county located in the center of Romania, at 170 km away from the capital of the country, Bucharest. It has a population of 553,666 people [3], and a surface of 5.363 km². The communication routes on the territory of the county facilitate the connection between all regions of the country. Braşov is an important railway hub, having the highest density of railways in the Central Development Region of Romania. With regards to the county’s economic structure, its main economic power comes from tourism. Due to its position within the country, the county offers tourists many opportunities. At the level of Development Region 7 Center, the region that includes the county, 43% of the tourist structures are concentrated in Brașov County. Brașov County comprises a variety of tourist attractions for Romanian and foreign tourists, both for long and medium stays, and some of the most well-known landmarks are the Black Church and the Brașov History Museum. Furthermore, due to the railway and road infrastructure which ensures the connection with the country’s capital, as well as with Western Europe, over 550,000 tourists arrive here annually. The mountain resorts in the county known both in the country and abroad are Predeal and Poiana Brașov (Brașov Meadow) [4]. With regards to the county’s educational structure, according to the data offered by the TEMPO online database, in 2021 there were 860,215 people studying in primary education, 733,411 people in gymnasium (from fifth to eighth grade), 597,789 people in high school, and 554,007 people enrolled in secondary education programs (Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, PhD and post-doc). Moreover, considering the percentage of the unemployed, in October 2022, there were 5352 unemployed people in Brașov County [3].

Taking into account the contribution of our paper to the scientific debate, in our study we conducted a comprehensive research about the satisfaction of citizens with the community public services while trying to identify ways to improve these services, as such a study has not been conducted before in Romania. Furthermore, in our paper we propose a comparative analysis of the difficulties encountered by the citizens vs the difficulties of the civil servants charged with solving the practical problems of the inhabitants. From the confrontation of the two research perspectives, we wanted to identify the measures that should be implemented in order to improve public services at the level of Brașov County. The originality of our paper lies in the type of research (mixed methods) and the comprehensive view from which the subject was analyzed. With regards to the knowledge gap filled by our paper, through the research we conducted we managed to identify a series of factors that influence citizens’ satisfaction with public services at the level of Brașov County.

Recently, citizens’ perception of public administration has become a topic of great interest, and some trends have been identified in the empirical research of public administration: the opinion of citizens is starting to be increasingly analyzed and taken into account, and the data that reveal the performance of institutions are reported to citizens’ satisfaction, making comparisons and correlations between objective and subjective indicators [5]. A previous study reveals that the main factors that determined the perception of Spanish citizens about the quality of public services were the professionalism of the employees, the way the employees treated them, the information provided by them and the certainty that their requests would be resolved correctly [6].

Another previously conducted study, which focused on finding a link between the concept of responsiveness and people’s satisfaction with public services, showed that the responsivity of public administration plays an important role and influences the level of satisfaction of citizens with it. However, the researchers found that a factor that has an even greater influence is the reputation of the public administration [7]. In other words, the way public administration is seen, the information that exists about how it provides public services to citizens and how it operates, can influence people’s degree of contentment and satisfaction with it. Another study, which focused on the impact that the quality of public services has on the satisfaction of citizens, highlights that there is a close connection between the quality of services and the level of people’s satisfaction. In this regard, the better the quality of services, the more satisfied citizens are with those services, and elements that measure service quality, such as reliability, accountability and security, have a positive influence on the satisfaction of beneficiaries [8].

Another study aimed to discover the factors that influence citizens’ satisfaction towards public services, using both quantitative and qualitative analysis. According to the results of that study, among the factors that influence people’s satisfaction with public services are the competencies of the employees and also the income of the employees, which encourages them to adopt a certain type of behavior when interacting with citizens, thus influencing the citizens’ satisfaction with the public service [9].

Another study, which focused of identifying the factors which influence people’s perception about corruption within the public services in the context of digitizing the services in India, showed that people had negative opinions about the services. Hence, people were of the opinion that certain citizens are able to access services faster than others, that the services were not effective and that there is little to no transparency on the way the services are functioning [10].

Relevant in the context of public administration is a previous study conducted in Romania, which aimed to study citizens’ opinion about the responsible use of resources within public administration institutions from Bucharest, Cluj–Napoca and Piatra Neamt [7]. Thus, the perceived efficiency of the public administration is influenced by the experience a person has when they need to access public services but also by the life satisfaction of people living in the urban area. According to the results, in 2010, Romanians stated that the quality of life in the urban area is poor, young people were more dissatisfied with the public services than the elderly, and people with higher education studies were more attentive when evaluating the performance of the public administration, compared to people with lower levels of education [11].

Furthermore, according to another study conducted in 2015 in Romania, most respondents (41%) considered that in the context of public administration people’s needs are considered to a very little extent, but they were satisfied with the accessibility of the public services (43%) and dissatisfied with the time they had to spend in line in order to have their issue solved [12].

In the analysis of people’s perception and satisfaction with public services, the existence of certain conceptions, pre-established ideas at the level of the population regarding the way in which the public administration carries out its activity, must also be taken into account. In this regard, a study that considered providing information about the performance of public services revealed that these conceptions of people can be corrected if they are given information about how these services are performed. Moreover, providing such information is essential because it helps the citizen to better understand how public services work [13].

People’s opinion can be influenced by various factors, and their negative perception can also be linked to the theory of expectations [14]. A study that analyzed the relationship between people’s satisfaction with public services, and their expectations regarding the quality and performance of services, highlights the fact that the probability of being satisfied increases as people’s expectations are met or even exceeded [15].

Although in general the opinion about the local public administration is a negative one, a study about citizens’ perception of the services conducted within the Pitesti City Hall in Romania rather highlights a positive perception: most respondents said that they have a high degree of satisfaction in relation to these services, [16], and most of them assessed the performance and quality of the services offered by the town hall as good or very good [16].

2. Literature Review

2.1. Public Adiminstration and Local Public Administration

Public administration can be considered “a form through which the executive function of the state is carried out, having a concrete organization and pursuing the application of laws”. [17] (p.330). In this regard, as a system, the public administration comprises a “totality of public authorities that carry out their functions, and through it, the state can also establish the administrative-territorial organization”. [18] (p. 210).

Thus, the literature highlights two types of approaches depending on the specifics and the activity carried out by the public administration: one formal and the other material. From a material point of view, it deals with the execution of laws and the provision of services for the population, and the formal part consists of organic systems, which include various administrative structures [2].

Taking this aspect into account, within a state a distinction is made between central and local public administration. The central one includes as authorities the government, the ministries, various bodies that are subordinate to the government as well as autonomous administrative authorities. The local one is made up of “local councils, county councils, town halls and presidents of county councils”. [1] (p. 2).

Like any other system, public administration has certain principles that guide it and stand at the basis of its operation. Some of these principles [1] are:

• Legality—the authorities, its component institutions and the people working within it must act in accordance with the laws
• Equality—people who use the services offered by the administration must be given equal treatment
• Transparency—citizens must be allowed to participate in making administrative decisions, and to have access to various information that may be of interest to them
• Proportionality—there must be a balance between the needs of the people and the decisions taken by the administration, and it must analyze the impact that the measures taken have on the people
• Implementation of the government program
• Impartiality—employees must act and solve problems objectively
• Continuity—the administration must not interrupt its activity
• Adaptability—people’s needs are constantly changing, and the administration must keep up with them

In the context of the local public administration, “the power of local administration is that it represents the common citizen” [19] (p. 42). In this regard, citizens expect the public administration to be efficient, competent, modern and responsive to their problems [20].

2.2. Public Services

The notion of public service is complex, and the specialized literature presents various definitions and approaches to it.

First of all, the public service is represented by “activities carried out for a general interest, by persons with legal qualities who have authorization from the public administration authorities” [21] (p. 42).

Public services are also defined in an organic sense, as a body that facilitates the implementation of actions aimed at the satisfaction of collective interests, and materially, as an activity that the administration assumes [21].

Because the state and its institutions at the county or city level can be “indispensable tools, designed and created to help citizens and ensure a better life for them” the public services they offer are of particular importance to society [22].

The types of public services within a state are diverse, and they can be classified according to several criteria.

According to article 581 of the Romanian administrative code, revised in July 2019, depending on the content of the activity, there are public services of general economic interest and general non-economic interest. Depending on the territorial competence they have to satisfy the needs of citizens, we distinguish between public services of national interest, which are subordinated to the central public administration, and public services of local interest, subordinated to the local public administration. The last paragraph of the article divides public services according to the method of performing the provision, into public services provided in a unitary manner, or services provided jointly by one or more administrative authorities or bodies that provide public services [23].

In the area of public services, local public services play an important role. The nature of these services is varied, and a general classification highlights five fields in which they operate: public hygiene, where we include sanitation or water supply; communications; energy supply, especially electricity or gas; economic activities such as fairs; and environmental protection [24].

Community Public Service for Records of Persons

Romanian Government Ordinance number 84 of 2001 specifies in paragraph 1 that the community public services for records of persons are “organized at the level of local councils, from communes, cities and municipalities, but also at the level of County Councils, as well as at the level of the municipality of Bucharest” [25]. They are established by reorganizing the department that deals with civil status within the local councils, and the “local formations that deal with population records and belong to the Ministry of Internal Affairs” [26].

At the level of Brașov County, the institution that supervises, monitors and coordinates local community public services is the General Directorate of Records of Persons Brașov, which reports to the Brașov County Council [27].

Among the general attributions of the Directorate, according to article 7 of ordinance 84/2001, there are also the updating, use and capitalization of the National Registry of Persons; providing data in order to update the permanent record register; coordination of community public services; issuing marriage certificates and identity cards; managing the resources it needs for its own activity; and controlling the way in which the rules on the protection of personal data are respected [28].

The literature highlights studies that used various variables and models to measure citizens’ satisfaction with public services. One of these studies [29] focused on the analysis of the quality of public services, and the level of satisfaction that people have in relation to them, based on one of the most well-known models used for such evaluations, the SERVQUAL model, according to which the difference between service performance and citizens’ expectations influences their perception of service quality. The model comprises five dimensions: assurance, tangibility (tangible elements), reliability, responsiveness and empathy. Starting from these elements, the researchers identified as relevant dimensions the competence of employees, their attitude, the way they solve the problem, reliability, facilities offered and the time and costs of the services.

2.3. Quality of Life and Life Satisfaction

Considering the idea that “the fundamental role of public services is to improve the quality of life of citizens” [30] (p. 1), the study of the concept of quality of life and the indicators by which it can be measured is also of particular importance. The concept of quality of life is said to have emerged in the 1960s, “being developed by the North American information society, which believed that economic growth should also represent a means of creating better living conditions” [31] (p. 51). Moreover, quality of life can also be seen as a development, concretization of the concept of well-being, but which also includes elements related to various requirements that exist in the modern society [31].

One of the main characteristics of quality of life is that, unlike other concepts, whose nature is descriptive, its nature is evaluative. In this regard, as a structure, the concept is based on two elements: a state, which indicates a person’s life at a certain moment, and a set of evaluation criteria, represented by values, in relation to which it is evaluated whether that state is good or bad [32].

In the context of perceived quality of life, in the paper [32] the authors propose a comprehensive system of indicators, consisting of thirteen dimensions:

• Your own person (health, ability to relate to people and enjoy life)
• Family (activities and relationships between family members)
• Habitat (home, city, natural environment)
• Work (daily routine, colleagues)
• Free time (ways to spend free time)
• Tone of life (joy, how interesting people find their life)
• Human environment (trust, help, respect)
• Social environment (ethics and correctness with which various problems of the individual are solved, safety)
• Economic services (transport, supply)
• Social services (medical assistance, administration, education)
• Participation (the opportunity to express one’s opinion, the possibility to change those things that are not to one’s liking)

Furthermore, quality of life can be analyzed subjectively and objectively. Objective factors “refer to the extent to which a person’s life is conducted according to the standards of a qualitative life, usually assessed by an outsider, for example, the result of a medical examination, and subjective factors are based on self-assessments” [33] (p. 3).

Thus, there are four main qualities of life, which are divided into external and internal qualities, depending on life chances and life results. These qualities are represented by the livability of the environment, the livability of the person, the usefulness of life and the appreciation of life [33].

Quality of life is closely related to the concept of life satisfaction, and the latter is constantly used as a synonym for happiness and well-being. Thus, life satisfaction refers to “the acceptance of life circumstances and the fulfillment of a person’s individual needs” [34] (p. 292).

Based on the model of the hierarchy of needs proposed by Maslow (primary, bio-logical needs: food, sleep, security; the need for belonging: family, friends; need for recognition: esteem, respect, the need for self-realization) according to which people first satisfy their primary needs, which are at the base of the pyramid, and then their secondary needs [35], a theory of quality of life was created. According to this theory, developed by Joseph Sirgy, “the quality of life increases with the satisfaction of human needs”, [36] (p. 329). The theory was created considering different types of institutions and their contribution to the quality of life, and it is based on the idea that in developed societies people are more concerned with satisfying their higher-order needs, and individuals in less developed societies aim to satisfy primary needs [36]. Thus, taking into account Maslow’s developmental perspective, while the primary needs refer to the individual’s biological needs (such as food or sleep), and to safety needs, the higher–order needs refer to social needs, the need for self-esteem or the need of self-actualization [36].

3. Materials and Methods

3.1. Purpose and Objectives of the Research

The purpose of this research was to identify the factors that influence citizens’ perception of community public services, in order to improve and make them more efficient.

The objectives of the research include:

• O1. Identifying the level of satisfaction of citizens with the public services for records of persons at the level of Brașov County
• O2. Identifying the main difficulties encountered by citizens who call on the public services for records of persons
• O3. Identifying the perceptions of directors of institutions that offer public services for records of people in Romania and the opinions of people with the role of decision-maker from Brașov County about the quality of public services
• O4. Identifying the measures that should be implemented in order to improve public services at the level of Brașov County

3.2. Hypotheses of the Research

Referring to the first objective, O1, we formulated the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1 (H1).

Citizens’ satisfaction with public services is significantly different according to the age categories of the respondents.

Hypothesis 2  (H2).

Citizens’ satisfaction with the efficiency of solving people’s requests is significantly different according to the area of residence of the respondents.

Hypothesis 3  (H3).

Citizens’ perception of the quality of public services is significantly different among different levels of education of the respondents.

Hypothesis 4  (H4).

Citizens’ satisfaction with life (SWLS) is associated with citizens’ satisfaction with public services.

Hypothesis 5  (H5).

Citizens’ perception of quality of life is correlated with citizens’ satisfaction with public services.

Once these hypotheses have been stated, in this section we want to mention their necessity because the specialized literature remains at a general and descriptive level. As we already mentioned, citizens’ perception of public administration has become a subject for social research in the last decade in several democratic countries and represents a novelty to the extent that studies on administration referred more to the study of administrative elites or the activity of mayors (see reference [5]).

There are also a number of international sources that can be a good support for comparative analyses. If we refer to the EVS (European Values Survey) for the period 2017–2021 and WVS (World Value Survey) for the period 2017–2022 [37] we can perform a series of statistical analyses starting from the variable “Confidence: The Civil Services”. Thus, for the two waves, the descriptive values of this variable at the global level are shown in

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for ‘Confidence in Civil Services’ on waves of research.

Wave		N	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation
EVS 2017–2021	Confidence: The Civil Services	57228	1	4	2.57	0.778
	Valid N (listwise)	57228
WVS 2017–2022	Confidence: The Civil Services	84906	1	4	2.59	0.887
	Valid N (listwise)	84906

.

From the table above we can deduce that the Confidence in Civil Services is measured in the range (1,4) with mean = 2.57 (for EVS 2017–2021) and mean = 2.59 (for WVS 2017–2022). The values for Romania are shown in

Table 2. Descriptive statistics for ‘Confidence in Civil Services’ on waves of research for Romania.

Statistics
Confidence: The Civil Services
EVS 2017–2021	N	Valid	1539
		Missing	74
	Mean		2.89
WVS 2017–2022	N	Valid	1209
		Missing	48
	Mean		3.02

.

We can observe for Romania that between waves there is a small increase in confidence in civil services (from mean = 2.89 to mean = 3.02) but the difference is statistically significant (t (3748)= −3.911, p = 0.000). The available databases can be useful in comparative research at the European or international level. Any other statistical calculations can then be developed (to highlight the differences among age categories, areas of residence, etc.). However, the samples used can be relevant at the national level but not at the level of development regions or counties.

At the same level of generality were the Opinion Barometers that took place regularly in Romania between 1994 and 2007 and that included numerous questions regarding the evaluation of local administration/public officials. Some other research included some Romanian cities and proposed questions about the perception of the quality of urban life and about the evaluation of the local administration. An example is the “Report on the Quality of Life in European Cities [38], in which a questionnaire survey was conducted in 83 cities, including the Romanian cities of Bucharest, Cluj Napoca and Piatra Neamț (the same cities already mentioned here in an older study [11]). Without repeating the already mentioned information, we wanted to justify the stated hypotheses and specify that we have not encountered them as such in the specialized literature related to Romania. On the other hand, we believe that the evaluation of the local administration/civil servants is still required to be in-depth (and not reduced to the level of descriptive statistics) and that the possible creation of standardized tools applied regularly could provide useful feedback for any local administration. There is still a need for such research in Romania at the local level (regions or counties) and the present research is a plea in this sense.

3.3. Methods and Instruments

In order to conduct the research we used a mixed-method approach. In this regard, a questionnaire was applied to the beneficiaries of the public services for public records and marital status of persons from Brașov County. The questionnaire was applied between 15 November and15 December 2020 and consists of three parts. The first part includes 21 questions regarding citizens’ satisfaction with public services, the types of services they use most often, their opinion about their efficiency, the promptness with which their requests are resolved, the difficulties encountered, the attitude of civil servants, and their opinion on ways to optimize these services. More specifically, the first part of the questionnaire tracks people’s opinion and their level of satisfaction with interaction with officials, waiting time, accessibility, working hours and service prices/fees, as well as the level of trust they have in various institutions.

Then, since we started from the premise that elements related to the quality of life could influence people’s opinion and satisfaction with public services, the second part of the questionnaire contains 26 questions related to their quality of life: satisfaction with the current way of life, the workplace, the relationship with the neighbors, one’s own home, family members, activities carried out in free time and the equity with which their problems are solved. The last part of the questionnaire comprises the sociodemographic questions, and these include background, gender, age, level of education and field of work.

Also, to measure satisfaction with life we considered the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) [39]. It was developed in 1985 to measure overall life satisfaction, and contains questions that measure intensity on a 1–7 Likert scale, 1 being strongly disagree and 7 being strongly agree, in which people have to express agreement on five statements:

• In most ways my life is close to my ideal;
• The conditions of my life are excellent;
• I am satisfied with my life;
• So far I have gotten the important things I want in life;
• If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing

In order to obtain more information about the respondents’ satisfaction with life, we also used the Subjective Happiness Scale. It was developed in 1999, and measures, on a Likert scale from 1 to 7, people’s level of satisfaction by means of four statements [40]. Thus, the questionnaire is presented in Appendix A, and the dimensions measured in the questionnaire are presented in Appendix B.

In addition to the questionnaire, in order to carry out the research and obtain relevant information regarding the public services of records of people and how they could be improved, we also used the interview method.

As part of the research, we conducted semi-structured interviews with the directors of the General Directorates of Personal Records at the country level, as well as with certain decision-makers at the level of Brașov County.

In this regard, two semi-structured interview guides have been developed that cover several dimensions. Appendix C highlights the interview guide for directors of institutions from the country. Appendix D presents the interview guide for the discussions with decision-makers.

In order to identify the perception about the way public services work of the directors of institutions that offer public services for records of people at the national level, we considered research dimensions that refer both to the quality of public services and to indicators of quality of life, including:

-

The difficulties faced by the directors in the management of public services of records of persons

-

Problems with which citizens address the institution

-

Measures to improve the efficiency of public services taken so far

-

The benefits of digitization of public services for records of persons

-

Reducing the negative perception of public services

-

Increasing the quality of life by improving public services

-

Directors’ opinion about citizens’ satisfaction with employment opportunities

-

Directors’ opinion regarding the salary level/income

-

Directors’ opinion regarding the existence of leisure opportunities

-

Directors’ opinion about the role of cultural events in increasing the quality of life of citizens

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Directors’ opinion about citizens’ access to medical services

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Directors’ opinion about the role of means of transport in increasing the quality of life of citizens

-

Directors’ opinion about the development of the real estate market and its influence on the lives of citizens

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The problem of efficiency and improvement of public services for records of persons

From the abovementioned dimensions, in the context of the opinions of directors, we analyzed in our paper the following dimensions:

-

The difficulties faced by the directors in the management of public services of records of persons

-

Directors’ opinion about increasing the quality of life by improving public services

-

Directors’ opinion about the problem of efficiency and improvement of public ser-vices for records of persons

In order to identify the perception of decision-makers about the public services of records of persons offered at the level of Brașov County, we considered research dimensions that refer to:

-

Opinion about the efficiency of the public services of records of persons at the level of Brașov County

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Opinion about the problems faced by the institutions that offer public services of records of persons and civil status

-

Opinion about the efficiency measures taken so far

-

Opinion on the main advantage of improving public services

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Opinion about the main dissatisfaction of the citizens towards the public services of records of persons

-

Opinion about the problems with which citizens address the institutions that provide public services most often

-

Opinion about the quality of public services for records of people in Brașov County

-

Opinion on the role of online platforms in increasing citizens’ satisfaction with public services

-

Opinion about the standard of living of the citizens of Brașov County

-

Opinion about the link between the quality of public services and the level of satisfaction of citizens

-

Opinion about citizens’ satisfaction with employment opportunities in Brașov County

-

Opinion about the salary level in Brașov County

-

Opinion about the opportunities for spending free time in Brașov County

-

Opinion about the role of cultural events in increasing the quality of life of the citizens of Brașov County

-

Opinion about the access of residents of Brașov County to medical services

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Opinion about the role of means of transport in increasing the quality of life of the inhabitants of Brașov County

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Opinion about the benefits of the development of the real estate market in Brașov on the lives of citizens

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Opinion on the issue of efficiency and improvement of public services at the level of Brașov County

In the context of people with the role of decision-makers, from the abovementioned dimensions, in our article we analyzed the following dimensions:

-

Opinion of people with a decision-making role about the efficiency of the public services of records of persons at the level of Braşov County

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Opinion of people with a decision-making role about the problems faced by the institutions that offer public services of records of persons and civil status

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Opinion of people with a decision-making role about the main dissatisfaction of the citizens towards the public services of records of persons

-

Opinion of people with a decision-making role about the quality of public services for records of people in Brașov County

-

Opinion of people with a decision-making role about the role of online platforms in increasing citizens’ satisfaction with public services

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Opinion of people with a decision-making role about the link between the quality of public services and the level of satisfaction of citizens

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Opinion of people with a decision-making role about the issue of efficiency and improvement of public services at the level of Brașov County

3.4. Sample

The research sample includes the beneficiaries of the public services of records of persons and civil status within Brașov County, in the cities of Brașov, Zărnești, Rupea and Făgăraș.

In this research, we applied probabilistic, multistage and stratified sampling, the respondents being chosen randomly from several areas within Brașov County. Thus, the sample consists of 793 respondents, with a maximum allowed error of 3.5 and a probability of guaranteeing the results of 95%. Considering the sociodemographic characteristics of the beneficiaries, the sample comprises more women (52.8%) than men (47.2%). Most of the respondents are between 36 and 50 years old (38.3%), most of them live in the urban area (61.5%) with only 38.5% of them living in the rural area, and most of them have a bachelor’s degree (41.7%) or have graduated high school (41.6%) (Appendix E).

For the qualitative research, the sample includes the directors of the institutions that offer public services for records of people at the national level (36 interviews) and people who in a decision-making role at the level of Brașov County (21 interviews).

3.5. Data Analysis

Taking into account the objectives of the research and the questionnaire applied to the beneficiaries of the public services from Brașov County, the data obtained were analyzed with the program Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The variables analyzed in our quantitative study are: level of satisfaction with public services, efficiency of solving people’s requests, perception about the quality of public services, main difficulties encountered by citizens, citizens’ satisfaction with life (SWLS—Satisfaction With Life Scale), satisfaction with efficiency of solving people’s requests, perception of the quality of public services, and frequency of use of public services. These variables were chosen to be analyzed because they were directly linked to the aim and objectives of the research, and they could help us identify citizens’ satisfaction with public services and the correlation between their satisfaction with public services and their satisfaction with their own lives. In our analysis we included as predictors age, living environment and monthly income. In order to measure the variables and identify correlations between them we performed independent t-tests and Spearman correlations, constructed an index for the variable Satisfaction with life, and performed a Principal Components Factor Analysis. For the qualitative research, we conducted a thematic analysis and integrated the answers of the respondents in certain themes/dimensions, such as: opinion about the problems faced by public administration institutions, opinion about the main cause of people’s dissatisfaction with the public services for records of persons and marital status, opinion about the role of digitization in increasing people’s satisfaction with public services, opinion about the connection between public administration and satisfaction with life, opinion about satisfaction with material wealth, access to medical services, opinion about the way the public services of records for persons and marital status should be improved.

4. Results

4.1. Quantitative Analysis

O1. Identifying the level of satisfaction of citizens with the public services for records of persons at the level of Brașov County

According to the results of the research, the majority of respondents generally have a high level of satisfaction with the public services of records of persons and civil status.

Although we expected that a lower level of satisfaction with public services would prevail among citizens, it is observed that most of the respondents are quite satisfied with these services (254 people, 34.03%), a percentage of 24.59% are very satisfied, a percentage of 20.55% are extremely satisfied, and those who are very dissatisfied and extremely dissatisfied are in very small numbers, representing only 1.8% and 2.5% of the total respondents, respectively (

Table 3. Level of satisfaction with public services.

On a Scale from 1 to 7, How Satisfied Are You with the Public Services for Registration of Persons and Civil Status in Your City?
		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Extremely dissatisfied	20	2.5	2.5	2.5
	Very dissatisfied	15	1.9	1.9	4.4
	Quite dissatisfied	41	5.2	5.2	9.6
	Nor satisfied, nor dissatisfied	105	13.2	13.2	22.8
	Quite satisfied	254	32.0	32.0	54.9
	Very satisfied	195	24.6	24.6	79.4
	Extremely satisfied	163	20.6	20.6	100.0
	Total	793	100.0	100.0

).

Furthermore, in the context of citizens’ frequency of use of public services, the results showed that the proportion of those who use them quite, very and extremely frequently is generally low, the differences according to age, residency and education being very close (

Table 4. Proportion of people’s use of public services.

Variables	Categories	Proportion of People’s Use of Public Services Quite, Very and Extremely Frequently
Age groups	18–25 years 35–50 years 50–65 years	20.4% 17.8% 15.6%
Living environment	Urban Rural	18.3% 18.5%
Education	High school Faculty	16.9% 18.7%

).

Next, we wanted to test the hypotheses stated earlier.

Hypothesis 1  (H1).

Citizens’ satisfaction with public services is significantly different according to the age categories of the respondents.

First, we wanted to find out to what extent citizens’ satisfaction with public services is correlated with their age. Calculating the Spearman correlation coefficient (rho) for the variables “satisfaction with public services” and “age”, we deduced that the correlation, although statistically significant, is weak: rho (793) = 0.097, p = 0.006 (

Table 5. Spearman correlation for satisfaction with public services and age.

			On a Scale from 1 to 7, How Satisfied Are You with the Public Services for Registration of Persons and Civil Status in Your City?	Age
Spearman’s rho	On a scale from 1 to 7, how satisfied are you with the public services for registration of persons and civil status in your city?	Correlation Coefficient	1.000	0.097 **
		Sig. (2-tailed)		0.006
		N	793	793
	Age	Correlation Coefficient	0.097 **	1.000
		Sig. (2-tailed)	0.006
		N	793	793

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

).

Next we decided to compare the satisfaction with the public services among three age categories (18–35, 35–50 and 50–65 years). Since the assumptions for the ANOVA analysis were not fulfilled, we preferred to compare the independent samples taken two by two. For the first and last two categories we conclude that there is not a statistical difference between age groups 18–35 and 35–50 years [t (699) = −0.828, p = 0.408] and 35–50 and 50–65 years [t (699) = −0.828, p = 0.408].

In the following we decided to compare two sub-samples (aged 18–35 and 50–65 years). The results of the t-test are in

Table 6. Independent t-test for satisfaction with public services and age.

					t-Test for Independent Samples
	Group	N	Mean	S. D.	t	df	p	Mean Difference	Std. Error Difference	CI4
										Lower	Upper
Satisfaction with public services	Age: 18–35 years	295	5.16	1.36	−2.003	479	0.04	−0.56	0.12	−0.50	−0.004
	Age: 50–65 years	186	5.51	1.37

.

For 18–35 and 50–65 years the results for t (479) = −2.003, p = 0.046 high-light the fact that people aged between 50 and 65 years have a significantly higher level of satisfaction with public services than those aged between 18 and 35 years old.

A possible explanation for this result may be that younger people have higher expectations when it comes to how their claims should be handled than older people. Also, older people usually have more free time, which is why they may have a more positive perception towards public services and how public officials solve their problems (Table 5). In conclusion, hypothesis H1 is partially confirmed.

Hypothesis 2  (H2).

Citizens’ satisfaction with efficiency of solving people’s requests is significantly different according to the area of residence of the respondents.

Satisfaction with the efficiency of solving people’s requests (Question A7 in questionnaire) is a 7-point Likert scale (1—extremely inefficient; 7—extremely efficient).

Table 7. Satisfaction with efficiency of solving people’s requests.

Degree of Efficiency	Percentage
extremely inefficient	1.0%
very inefficient	1.4%
quite inefficient	2.7%
neither efficient nor inefficient	12.8%
quite efficient	37.2%
very efficient	24.3%
extremely efficient	20.7%

presents percentages regarding the respondents’ satisfaction with the efficiency of solving people’s requests.

In Table 7 we can summarize the percentages as follows: 82.2% of the respondents think that the process of solving people’s requests were quite, very or extremely efficient.

Next, we analyzed to what extent the living environment influenced the citizens’ opinion regarding the efficiency with which their requests were resolved. In this regard, according to the t-test, people from the urban area (M = 5.50, SD = 1.10) believe to a greater extent than people from the rural area (M = 5.21, SD = 1.32) that their requests were solved effectively, t (788)= 3.246, p = 0.001 (

Table 8. Independent t-test for efficiency of solving people’s request and living environment.

					t-Test for Independent Samples
	Group	N	Mean	S. D.	t	df	p	Mean Difference	Std. Error Difference	CI4
										Lower	Upper
Efficiency of solving people’s requests	Urban	488	5.50	1.10	3.246	788	0.001	0.28	0.87	−0.11	0.45
	Rural	302	5.21	1.32

). Hypothesis H2 is confirmed.

Hypothesis 3  (H3)

. Citizens’ perception of the quality of public services is significantly different among different levels of education of the respondents.

Perception about the quality of public services (question A15 in questionnaire) is a 7-point Likert scale (1—extremely poor; 7—extremely good).

Table 9. Perception of the quality of public services.

Perception of Quality	Percentage
extremely poor	0.3%
quite poor	2.2%
neither good nor poor	9.6%
quite good	35.7%
very good	31.1%
extremely good	21.1%

presents percentages regarding the respondents’ opinion about the quality of public services.

Regarding the perception of the quality of public services, the research revealed an interesting result when the respondents’ opinions are compared according to their level of education. In this regard, the results of the t-test highlighted the fact that people with a higher level of education (people who graduated from college) (M = 5.78, SD = 0.96) consider to a greater extent than people who only graduated from high school (M =5.47, SD = 1.05) that the public services they have access to are high-quality t (655) = −3.868, p = 0.000 (

Table 10. Independent t-test for perception of the quality of public services and level of education.

					t-Test for Independent Samples
	Group	N	Mean	S. D.	t	df	p	Mean Difference	Std. Error Difference	CI4
										Lower	Upper
Perception about the quality of public services	Highschool	327	5.37	1.05	−3.868	655	0.000	−0.30	0.07	−0.45	−0.15
	Faculty	330	5.78	0.96

). Thus, although the expected result was that people with a higher level of education would be more dissatisfied with the quality of public services precisely because of the knowledge and expectations they have from civil servants, the t-test did not confirm this premise, but showed the contrary. Hypothesis H3 is confirmed.

Considering people’s satisfaction with their monthly income, the results of the Spearman correlation coefficient calculated for the variables satisfaction with monthly income and perception of the quality of public services, highlight a positive and statistically significant correlation: rho (750) =0.168, p = 0.000) (

Table 11. Spearman correlation for satisfaction with monthly income and perception of the quality of public services.

			On a Scale from 1 to 7, How Satisfied Are You with Your Monthly Income?	On a Scale from 1 to 7, Rate the Quality of the Personal and Civil Status Registration Services as:
Spearman’s rho	On a scale from 1 to 7, how satisfied are you with your monthly income?	Correlation Coefficient	1.000	0.168 **
		Sig. (2-tailed)		0.000
		N	753	752
	On a scale from 1 to 7, rate the quality of the personal and civil status registration services as:	Correlation Coefficient	0.168 **	1.000
		Sig. (2-tailed)	0.000
		N	752	753

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

). It can be said in this regard that the more people are satisfied with their material condition, the more they rate the quality of services as better, but the correlation remains at a modest level of intensity.

Hypothesis 4  (H4).

Citizens’ satisfaction with life (SWLS) is associated with citizens’ satisfaction with public services.

We try to construct the index “satisfaction with life” (SWLS). For that we try to add in a summative scale the values stipulated in five items from the B1 Question. The items of the scale are:

• In general, my life is close to my ideal
• My living conditions are excellent
• I am satisfied with the life I have
• So far I have achieved the important things I wanted in my life
• If I could live my life over again, I wouldn’t change almost anything

All are 7-point Likert scales (1—strongly disagree; 7—strong agreement) and it is not the case for recodification. The analysis of reliability returned the correlational matrix (

Table 12. Correlational matrix for SWLS items.

	Inter-Item Correlation Matrix
	In General, My Life Is Close to My Ideal	My Living Conditions Are Excellent	I Am Satisfied with the Life I Have	So Far I Have Achieved the Important Things I Wanted in My Life	If I Could Live My Life over again, I Wouldn’t Change Almost Anything
In general, my life is close to my ideal	1.000	0.795	0.773	0.393	0.547
My living conditions are excellent	0.795	1.000	0.843	0.454	0.621
I am satisfied with the life I have	0.773	0.843	1.000	0.478	0.641
So far I have achieved the important things I wanted in my life	0.393	0.454	0.478	1.000	0.375
If I could live my life over again, I wouldn’t change almost anything	0.547	0.621	0.641	0.375	1.000

).

The scale measuring the satisfaction with life has good reliability (Alpha Cronbach = 0.844 > 0.700). The newly constructed index has the following descriptive values (

Table 13. Descriptive statistics for SWSL index.

Descriptive Statistics
	N	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation
SWLS	758	8.00	35.00	23.62	5.82
Valid N (listwise)	758

).

We observe that our index has values in the interval [8,35] with a mean = 23.62. We applied to these five variables a Principal Components Factor Analysis. The sample was composed of 758 respondents, KMO = 0.889, p = 0.000; values that indicate a reliable factor analysis. The results delivered a single factor (with eigenvalue = 3.86 > 1) that explained 77.34% of the variance in responses. To test hypothesis H4 we applied a Spearman correlation analysis (

Table 14. Spearman correlation between satisfaction with public services and SWLS index.

			On a Scale of 1 to 7, How Satisfied Are You with the Public Registration and Civil Status Services in Your City?	SWLS
Spearman’s rho	On a scale of 1 to 7, how satisfied are you with the public registration and civil status services in your city?	Correlation Coefficient	1.000	0.184 **
		Sig. (2-tailed)		0.000
		N	793	758
	SWLS	Correlation Coefficient	0.184 **	1.000
		Sig. (2-tailed)	0.000
		N	758	758

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

).

Calculating the Spearman correlation coefficient (rho) for the variables “satisfaction with public services” and “SWLS” index we deduced that the correlation, although statistically significant, is weak: rho (758) = 0.184, p = 0.000. In conclusion the Hypothesis H4 is confirmed but at the lower intensity of correlation. Thus, a high score for SWLS does not necessarily correlated with being satisfied with public services.

Hypothesis 5  (H5).

Citizens’ perception of quality of life is correlated with citizens’ satisfaction with public services.

For the construction of the ‘perception of quality of life’ we used the following variables (

Table 15. Variables for an index named ‘perception of quality of life’.

Variable	Proposed Item	Measurement
Personal health	On a scale of 1 to 7, please indicate how satisfied you are with your health.	7-point Likert scale (1- extremely dissatisfied; 7- extremely satisfied)
Satisfaction with living	I currently have the home I always wanted to have	7-point Likert scale (1-strongly disagree; 7- strongly agree)
Satisfaction with job	On a scale of 1 to 7, how satisfied are you with your job?	7-point Likert scale (1- extremely dissatisfied; 7- extremely satisfied)
Satisfaction with public transportation	Please express your satisfaction with transport services in your city!	7-point Likert scale (1- extremely dissatisfied; 7- extremely satisfied)
Satisfaction with income	On a scale of 1 to 7, how satisfied are you with your monthly income?	7-point Likert scale (1- extremely dissatisfied; 7- extremely satisfied)

).

We do not show the correlational matrix, but the scale measuring the perception of quality of life has good reliability (Alpha Cronbach = 0.737 > 0.700). The newly constructed index has the following descriptive values (

Table 16. Descriptive statistics for ‘perception of quality of life’.

Descriptive Statistics
	N	Mini mum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation
Quality of life	749	6.00	35.00	23.02	4.65
Valid N (listwise)	758

).

Our index has values in the interval [6,35] with a mean = 23.02. In this case we can check to what extent all the variables can be summed up in a single factor. From the analysis using Principal Components Factor Analysis, we conclude that for 758 respondents, KMO = 0.784, p = 0.000; we have a reliable factor analysis. The results delivered a single factor (with eigenvalue = 2.45 > 1) that explained 59.173% of the variance in responses. To test hypothesis H5 we applied a Spearman correlation analysis and the results can be seen in

Table 17. Spearman correlation between satisfaction with public services and SWLS index.

			On a Scale of 1 to 7, How Satisfied Are You with the Public Registration and Civil Status Services in Your City?	Quality of life
Spearman’s rho	On a scale of 1 to 7, how satisfied are you with the public registration and civil status services in your city?	Correlation Coefficient	1.000	0.169 **
		Sig. (2-tailed)		0.000
		N	793	749
	Quality of life	Correlation Coefficient	0.169 **	1.000
		Sig. (2-tailed)	0.000
		N	749	749

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

.

Spearman correlation coefficient (rho) for the variables “satisfaction with the quality of life index” has the values rho (793) = 0.169, p = 0.000. In conclusion, Hypothesis H5 is confirmed but, as in the previous analysis, at a lower intensity of correlation.

4.2. Conclusions of the Quantitative Analysis According to Hypotheses

In this research we elaborated five hypotheses with conclusions in each case.

Table 18. Conclusions of the quantitative analysis according to hypotheses.

Hypothesis	Result
Hypothesis 1 (H1). Citizens’ satisfaction with public services is significantly different according to the age categories of the respondent.	Partially confirmed
Hypothesis 2 (H2). Citizens’ satisfaction with the efficiency of solving people’s requests is significantly different according to the area of residence of the respondents	Confirmed
Hypothesis 3 (H3). Citizens’ perception of the quality of public services is significantly different among different levels of education of the respondents	Confirmed
Hypothesis 4 (H4). Citizens’ satisfaction with life (SWLS) is associated with citizens’ satisfaction with public services.	Confirmed
Hypothesis 5 (H5). Citizens’ perception of quality of life is correlated with citizens’ satisfaction with public services.	Confirmed

shows the conclusions for each hypothesis that we tested.

O2. Identifying the main difficulties encountered by citizens who call on the public services for records of persons

The main difficulty that people face when they call on public services is the need to fill in a large number of forms in order to resolve their requests (28.61%). Also, a significant number of people—195 people, representing 24.68% of all respondents—mentioned the time of waiting in line as a difficulty, and 150 people (18.99%) stated that it is difficult for them to use public services within the opening hours established by the institution. At the same time, interaction with the staff, with a percentage of only 2.6%, is considered to be difficult by a very small number of people, only 21 people out of the total number of respondents (

Table 19. Main difficulties encountered by citizens.

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	the difficulty of accessing services within the program with the public	150	18.9	19.0	19.0
	the time it takes for my request to be solved	92	11.6	11.6	30.6
	waiting time in line	195	24.6	24.7	55.3
	interaction with the public servants	21	2.6	2.7	58.0
	the need to fill in a large number of forms	226	28.5	28.6	86.6
	other	106	13.4	13.4	100.0
	Total	790	99.6	100.0
Missing	System	3	0.4
Total		793	100.0

).

In our paper we were also interested to find out if there are any connections between the problems encountered by citizens depending on the following variables: Satisfaction with public services (question A2), Efficiency of solving people’s requests (question A7) and Perception about quality of public services (A15).

In this regard, we first recoded our variables in order to conduct the necessary statistical analyses. The way we recoded the variables is presented in

Table 20. The recodification of variables.

Original Variables	Recoded Variables
Satisfaction with public services (A2) 7-point Likert scale (1- extremely dissatisfied; 7- extremely satisfied)	Satisfaction with public services (A2_new) 3-point scale (1-Extremely/very/quite dissatisfied; 2. Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied; 3. Quite/very/extremely satisfied)
Efficiency of solving people’s requests (A7) 7-point Likert scale (1- extremely inefficient; 7- extremely efficient)	Efficiency of solving people’s requests (A7_new) 3-point scale (1-Extremely/very/quite inefficient; 2-Neither efficient nor inefficient; 3-Quite/very/extremely efficient)
Perception about quality of public services (A15) 7-point Likert scale (1- extremely poor; 7- extremely good)	Perception about quality of public services (A15_new) 3-point scale (1-Extremely/very/quite poor; 2-neither good nr poor; 3- Quite/very/extremely good)

.

Next we analyzed the associations between the variables chosen and the results can be found in Appendix F. According to the analysis presented in Appendix F, in all three cases the variables are associated (chi squareꭓ2 = 37.063, df = 10, p = 0.000; chi square ꭓ2 = 44.836, df = 10, p = 0.000; chi square ꭓ2 = 31.139, df = 10, p = 0.001). In other words, the type of problem encountered influences the degree of Satisfaction with public services, Efficiency of solving people’s requests and Perception about quality of public services. Hence, the results of the analysis showed that the difficulty of accessing services within the program with the public is associated rather with a neutral (20.2%) or positive (20%) evaluation regarding Satisfaction with public services. The same problem is associated with the contrary opinion regarding Efficiency of solving people’s requests (22.5% and 19.8%). At the same time, this type of problem is associated with a positive evaluation regarding Perception about quality of public services. The time it takes for the request to be solved is rather associated with a negative opinion regarding Satisfaction with public services (21.1%) and with a neutral evaluation regarding Efficiency of solving people’s requests and Perception about quality of public services.

Table 21. Percentages in dependent variables for each of the problems reported by the respondents.

Problems	The Dependent Variables (with All Three Point Scale)
	Satisfaction with Public Services (%)			Efficiency of Solving People’s Requests (%)			Perception about Quality of Public Services (%)
	1	2	3	1	2	3	1	2	3
the difficulty of accessing services within the program with the public (1)	9.2	20.2	20	22.5	12	19.8	0	16	19
the time it takes for my request to be solved (2)	21.1	19.2	9.2	20	26	8.9	21.1	25.3	11.7
waiting time in line (3)	25	20.2	25.4	26	31	23.5	26.3	26.7	24.7
interaction with the public servants (4)	6.6	5.8	1.6	2.5	4	2.5	5.3	2.7	2.7
the need to fill in a large number of forms (5)	25	29.8	28.9	4	23	30.6	47.7	25.3	28.6
Other (6)	13.2	4.8	14.9	2.5	4	14.6	0	4	13.3

presents the connections described above and the percentages in the dependent variable in each of the problems mentioned by the respondents.

4.3. Qualitative Analysis

O3. Identifying the perception of directors of institutions that offer public services for records of people in Romania and the opinion of people with the role of decision-maker from Brașov County about the quality of public services

-

The difficulties faced by the directors in the management of public services for records of persons

Considering the difficulties encountered by the directors of the institutions in the management of public services oforf records of persons, they mainly emphasized the lack of an adequate space to carry out their activity: “the lack of an adequate space for issuing identity cards to citizens, which is why their access to the institution was limited”, “the lack of a space to serve the entire activity of the institution”. Another difficulty mentioned by the majority of the directors was the collaboration with the other institutions: “weak collaboration with the Bucharest coordination structure”, “deficient collaboration with certain mayors”. A good part of the respondents specified as difficulties the lack of IT equipment: “lack of IT and communication equipment at the level of civil status offices within the county town halls”; lack of staff: “the constraint to organize the activity with a disproportionate staff structure /insufficient in relation to the workload at the institution level”; or the rigidity of the legislation and its non-uniform application: “the non-harmonization of the legislation, the different and non-uniform interpretation of the laws”.

-

Directors’ opinion about increasing the quality of life by improving public services

According to the results of the research, the directors of institutions recognize the connection between public services and the quality of life of citizens, saying that facilitating access to these services can also contribute to increasing the quality of life. Some of the directors’ answers emphasize these aspects:

-

“quality of life is a multidimensional subject determined by aspects such as: living conditions, health, family, balance between personal and professional life. At the same time, it captures the person’s relationship with the community and the society in which he lives as well as aspects of the quality of society as such (the quality of public services). In relation to these aspects, I believe that measures to increase the degree of accessibility to the services of records of persons and civil status can lead to an increase in the quality of life of citizens”

-

“getting employees to go to the homes of people who cannot go to the institutions, for the issuance of civil status documents”

At the same time, some of the directors emphasized the connection between public services and the quality of life by emphasizing the idea that the documents provided by the civil registration and civil status services are necessary for citizens in any activity they carry out: “the quality of life of citizens is dependent on identity documents and civil status documents, which facilitate the right to other services and obtaining material, economic and social advantages”.

-

Directors’ opinion about the problem of efficiency and improvement of public services for records of persons

Following the discussions with the directors of institutions in the country, we found that although they consider that public services are in a process of continuous improvement, the directors emphasized the need to carry out more concrete actions in order to optimize the public services for records of persons and marital status. In the context of the specific measures that the directors would apply immediately if they had the opportunity, various strategies are outlined that should be implemented in order to improve public services. In this regard, the measures refer to:

Digitization of public services. The directors first stated that it is necessary to create a single, common electronic system that allows the interconnection of the databases of the institutions that are at the service of the citizen. Then, citizens should be able to schedule an appointment online, receive or send documents online and check the progress of their applications. The following examples are representative of the strategies mentioned by the directors:

-

“the implementation of a unique, common system of communication and collaboration between the state institutions at the service of the citizen”

-

“the creation of an online platform with the citizen–through which he could check the status of the settlement of his requests”

Training and education of civil servants. According to the answers of the managers, there should be continuous work on the improvement of employees, and they should be recruited according to their training and skills:

-

“continuous training of staff, both on specialized issues and on direct communication with beneficiaries”

-

“continuous improvement of staff to provide prompt and professional services to citizens”

Informing citizens. It involves carrying out activities through which citizens are informed about the documents they need for their requests to be resolved:

-

“enhancing the activity of informing citizens in all possible ways, in several languages, regarding the documents that are necessary to resolve requests”

Restoration of work spaces. Refers to the modernization of work spaces both for the benefit of employees and for the benefit of citizens:

-

“arranging and equipping the work spaces where they interact with the public in order to offer decent conditions to citizens when they request public services”

Amendment of legislation. Refers to the improvement of certain legal provisions:

-

“legislative changes aimed at picking up the identity card of minors–it can also be picked up by parents or legal representatives, finding appropriate solutions for issuing identity documents to vulnerable people in terms of the possibility to provide proof of residence (people without shelter)”

The establishment of several headquarters: “in line with the record of people, the establishment of headquarters at the level of several localities could be discussed in such a way that citizens can travel smaller distances”

Equipping with modern technical equipment: “equipped with the latest generation technical infrastructure”

Next, in

Table 22. Summary of the qualitative results obtained from the discussion with directors of institutions.

Dimension	Description of Results
The difficulties faced by the directors in the management of public services for records of persons	The directors mainly emphasized the lack of an adequate space to carry out their activity. Other difficulties mentioned referred to: weak collaboration with the central public administration located in the capital of Romania (Bucharest), deficient collaboration with certain mayors, lack of IT equipment, lack of staff and problematic legislation
Directors’ opinion about increasing the quality of life by improving public services	The directors recognize the connection between public services and the quality of life of citizens, and they stated that facilitating access to these services can also contribute to increasing the quality of life: “the quality of life of citizens is dependent on identity documents and civil status documents, which facilitate the right to other services and obtaining material, economic and social advantages”.
Directors’ opinion about the problem of efficiency and improvement of public services for records of persons	The directors emphasized a series of measures which should be taken into account in order to improve the quality of public services. These measures refer to: Digitization. The directors highlighted the necessity of creating a unique, singular online system that allows the interconnection of the databases of the institutions that are at the service of the citizen. In this regard, the directors stated that citizens should be able to make appointments online, to receive or send documents online and to check the stage of their requests. Training and education of civil servants. The directors stated that training should be offered to civil servants constantly and that they should be hired on the basis of their skills and knowledge. Informing citizens. The directors said that each institution should carry out activities through which citizens are informed about the documents they need for their requests to be solved. Restoration of work spaces. The directors emphasized the necessity of modernizing the work spaces both for the benefit of employees and for the benefit of citizens. Amendment of legislation. Refers to the improvement of certain legal provisions. The establishment of several headquarters. The directors stated that citizens should have at their disposal more headquarters Equipping with modern technical equipment. The directors also highlighted the need to buy modern software and technical equipment.

we briefly described the results for each of the dimensions approached within the discussion with the directors.

-

The opinion of people in decision-making roles about the efficiency of the public services for records of persons at the level of Brașov County

The results of this research show that the respondents had mostly positive opinions about the way the public records services in Brașov County work. They affirm that the services are efficient and that they meet the needs of the citizens, but certain people also emphasized the fact that these services should be improved. The following responses are representative of the aspects mentioned above:

-

“the activity is efficient and adapted to the requirements of the citizens”

-

“works efficiently in terms of the quality of the information provided and the time it takes to resolve requests”

-

“I am of the opinion that at the moment the personal registration services meet the needs of the inhabitants, but that any public service can be improved in the interest of the citizens”

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The opinion of people in decision-making roles about the problems faced by the institutions that offer public services for records of persons and civil status

The results of this research show that the problem mentioned most often by the respondents is the lack of adequate spaces in which the institutions can carry out their activities: “the lack of adequate space to serve the population, many of these institutions operating in the headquarters of the town hall”, “problems are reproduced by inadequate workspaces”. Another frequently mentioned problem is the lack of staff: “insufficient staff”, “the main problem is insufficient staff”. Other problems described to a lesser extent are “overcrowding” within the premises and “material problems”.

Comparing these results with those obtained from the discussions with the directors of institutions, similarities can be seen regarding the main problems faced by the institutions that offer public services for records of people. In this regard, both the decision-makers at the Brașov County level, as well as the directors of institutions from the country, mentioned that the main problem is the premises in which they carry out their activity, many of which are inadequate.

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The opinion of people in decision-making roles about the main dissatisfaction of citizens towards public services for records of persons

The main dissatisfaction mentioned by decision-makers is the long waiting time both for the issuance/submission of documents and for the settlement of requests: “long waiting times”, “the main dissatisfaction of citizens is certainly related to the time lost for submission of documentation”. Another problem often mentioned by respondents refers to the large number of documents that citizens have to fill in: “many documents”, “excessive bureaucracy”, “submitting physical documents”.

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The opinion of people in decision-making roles about the quality of the public services for records of people in Brașov County

People with a decision-making role appreciate the quality of public services at the level of Brașov County as good or very good. They stated that they had direct contact with the services and that they formed their opinion following their experiences with these services. They also briefly described the reasons why they consider the public services in Brașov County to be high-quality, such as, promptness and quick resolution of requests. Some of the answers of the decision-makers emphasize these aspects:

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“I consider that these services have evolved significantly and meet the needs of citizens”

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“from the experience I have had personally with these services, I appreciate their good quality and I appreciate the promptness in resolving requests”

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Opinion of people in decision-making roles about the role of online platforms in increasing citizens’ satisfaction with public services

Most respondents are convinced that the use of online platforms is beneficial and essential to make people more satisfied with the public services provided to them. The following quotes are representative of the respondents’ positive responses:

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“I am firmly convinced that the degree of satisfaction will increase”

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“I consider that the online platform can be a viable solution, although this service is by definition carried out directly with the public”

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“absolutely essential”

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“I consider it a beneficial measure for increasing the citizen’s satisfaction fence”

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The opinion of people in decision-making roles about the link between the quality of public services and the level of satisfaction of citizens

Decision-makers at the level of Brașov County believe that the relationship between the quality of public services and the satisfaction of citizens is directly proportional. In this regard, the respondents emphasized the fact that quality public services positively influence citizens’ satisfaction with services but also with their own lives:

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“the two aspects are directly proportional: high quality, high level of satisfaction”

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“public services were established to manage solving problems in specific areas and then their quality is reflected in the level of satisfaction (citizen satisfaction)”

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The opinion of people in decision-making roles about the issue of efficiency and improvement of public services at the level of Brașov County

Taking into account the opinion of people in a decision-making role on the measures that should be taken, by the institutions that have the opportunity, to improve public services, the majority of respondents emphasized the need for digitization. Thus, the respondents emphasized the importance of developing online platforms so that citizens can upload, download and send documents online: “the possibility of downloading documents from an online platform, as well as submitting documents”, “the emphasis should be placed on the digitization part, on the online exchange of information between institutions based on the protocols concluded between them”.

Also, another measure frequently mentioned by the respondents refers to the recruitment of staff and their training: “in order to improve the quality and efficiency of the services of records of people, I believe that more attention should be paid to the way in which the people who work in these services, placing more emphasis on the human quality of the candidates”.

Taking into account the changes or strategies that decision-makers would implement if they had this possibility, the respondents focused on the following measures:

Digitization: In the context of digitization, the respondents refer to the improvement of online platforms that already exist and to the provision of possibilities to upload and send documents online:

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“improving online platforms to reduce the time to resolve each request from citizens, but also to support them by quickly accessing documents”

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“transmission of documents online–to find ways of easier communication of civil status documents, than the email, which takes a lot of time”, “circulation of documents online”

Professional training of employees: The measures that respondents would adopt refer to staff training through courses and adopting human resources strategies:

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“staff specially trained in relation to the public”

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“I would implement a human resources strategy that would provide me in the future with staff able to face the new challenges represented by IT evolution”

Arrangement of work spaces:

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“modernized workspaces”

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“I would build headquarters with decent surfaces”

Equipping with modern equipment:

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“the material endowment necessary to increase the quality of services”

Informing citizens: Respondents would opt for information campaigns to increase the visibility of the institution and the actions it carries out:

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“information and awareness campaigns to make this institution more visible”

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“improving PR activity

Communication with other institutions: Respondents highlighted the need for effective communication among all institutions that are at the service of the citizen, and they also emphasized the role of online platforms in making this collaboration more efficient:

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“using online platforms to communicate with other state institutions”

Other strategies mentioned to a lesser extent by the respondents, include reducing the waiting time in the queue, establishing a single counter, or extending the program with the public. Next, in

Table 23. Summary of the qualitative results obtained from the discussion with people in decision-making roles.

Dimension	Description of Results
The opinion of people in decision-making roles about the efficiency of the public services for records of persons at the level of Brașov County	People in decision-making roles had mostly positive opinions about the way the public records services in Brașov County work. They stated that the services are efficient and that they meet the needs of the citizens, but certain people also emphasized the fact that these services should be improved.
The opinion of people in decision-making roles about the problems faced by the institutions that offer public services for records of persons and civil status	The main problem mentioned was the lack of adequate spaces in which the institutions can carry out their activities. Another problem mentioned very often was the lack of staff. Hence, both the people with the role of decision-maker at the Brașov County level, as well as the directors of institutions from the country, mentioned that the main problem is represented by the inadequate spaces in which they carry out their activity
The opinion of people in decision-making roles about the main dissatisfaction of the citizens towards the public services for records of persons	The main dissatisfaction mentioned by decision-makers was related to the long waiting time both for the issuance/submission of documents and for the settlement of requests. Another problem mentioned frequently referred to the large number of documents that citizens have to fill in.
The opinion of people in decision-making roles about the quality of the public services for records of people in Brașov County	The respondents described the quality of public services as being good or very good, and they stated that they formed their opinion on the basis of the interactions they previously had with public servants.
Opinion of people in decision-making roles about the role of online platforms in increasing citizens’ satisfaction with public services	Respondents stated that the use of online platforms is beneficial and essential to make people more satisfied with the public services provided to them.
The opinion of people in decision-making roles about the link between the quality of public services and the level of satisfaction of citizens	The respondents emphasized the fact that quality public services positively influence citizens’ satisfaction with services but also with their own lives.
The opinion of people in decision-making roles about the issue of efficiency and improvement of public services at the level of Brașov County	The respondents emphasized the need for improvement and described a series of measures which should be taken by the institutions which offer public services. The measures refer to: Digitization. The respondents highlighted the need to improve the online platforms that already exist, to provide citizens with the possibility of uploading and sending documents online. Professional training of employees. Civil servants should be offered training regularly and the institutions should develop human resources strategies. Arrangement of work spaces. Work spaces should be modernized. Equipping with modern equipment. The institutions should buy modern technical equipment. Informing citizens. Respondents emphasized the need to develop communication campaigns in order to increase the visibility of the institution and to promote the way they carry out their activities. Communication with other institutions. Respondents highlighted the fact that public administration institutions across the country should collaborate and communicate better in order to deliver public services more efficiently.

we briefly describe the results for each of the dimensions approached within the discussion with people in decision-making roles.

O4. Identifying the measures that should be implemented in order to improve public services at the level of Brașov County

The measures described by the respondents in order to improve the services allowed us to develop an intervention procedure for the optimization of public services at the level of Brașov County. The procedure is structured on a series of dimensions that were established according to the needs mentioned by the respondents.

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The intervention procedure for the improvement of public services at the level of Brașov County

Digitization: It is proposed to implement the following strategies and techniques:

• Improving the existing online platforms at the level of institutions that offer public services for records of people by:

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  updating the information on the official websites of the institutions

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  the establishment of a section with frequently asked questions and related answers on the official websites of the institutions which citizens can consult

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  establishing a section on the official websites of the institutions where citizens can propose improvements to public services

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  updating the data on the documents needed by citizens in order to resolve their requests

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  adding an option for citizens to make appointments online

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  implementation of an online tax payment system for obtaining documents

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  adding an option through which citizens can send documents to the institution online

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  adding an option for citizens to create an account on the institutions’ online platforms

• Establishing a unique online platform that should:

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  connect the institutions that offer public services for records of persons and civil status at the level of Brașov County (the databases should be correlated, so that each institution has the possibility to view the databases of the other institutions)

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  connect the institutions that offer public records of persons and civil status services at the level of Brașov County with institutions from other counties (e.g., a person loses his birth certificate, born in Brașov, currently domiciled in Cluj. To get possession of the duplicate certificate he must come to Brașov. Through digitization, he could pick it up from Cluj, saving him from a trip to Brașov, especially if he is an elderly person)

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  connect the institutions that offer public services for records of persons and civil status at the level of Brașov County with other institutions at the service of the citizen (in this way, when citizens need to receive a document from a public service institution and then send it to another institution, this procedure could be carried out online by the two institutions, without the need for the citizen to travel to the site); “the issuance and transmission of the documents should be done directly to the institution that requested the document (funeral aid, obtaining a survivor’s pensions)”

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  give citizens the opportunity to create an account

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  give citizens the opportunity to download and upload the necessary documents to their account

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  offer citizens the opportunity to pay the fees related to the procedures online

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  give citizens the opportunity to see the status of the settlement of the submitted request

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  provide citizens with technical assistance (user guide)

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  Improving the work spaces. The following strategies are proposed:

• Renovation of the premises where civil servants work:

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  Ensuring the comfort of civil servants by modernizing the work space (desk, chair, place to serve coffee/ have lunch)

• Renovation of waiting areas for citizens

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  Ensuring the comfort of citizens by offering the possibility to take a seat while waiting

• Equipping work spaces with modern technical equipment: computers, updated programs and software
• Expanding the number of counters so as to reduce the time waiting in line

Staff training. In the context of staff training, it is proposed:

• To organize training courses for civil servants

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  The courses should be aimed at improving the knowledge of civil servants about the procedures they must follow and how they should carry out their work

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  The courses should also have a component related to improving the communication skills of civil servants (so that they develop a more positive attitude in interacting with citizens and demonstrate professionalism)

Informing citizens. In this context, the following measures are proposed:

• Carrying out information campaigns regarding the activity carried out by the institutions that offer public services, in order to improve their image

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  It involves highlighting the types of actions carried out and the way in which employees act in certain situations (For example: moving with the mobile station)

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  Information campaigns can be carried out both online and offline

• Sending clear information about the documents required for each type of procedure

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  Information can be transmitted mainly through online platforms (official website, Facebook page)

• Sending clear information regarding the deadlines that must be respected for submitting documents/requesting certain documents (identity card, civil status certificate, etc.)

Extension of the working hours with the public. In the context of the public program, our recommendation is:

• Extension of working hours with the public and after the meal

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  The measure can be implemented for one or two days a week in which citizens can contact the institutions that offer public services even after lunch (until 7/8 pm).

Amendment of legislation. In this context, it is recommended to:

• Review and improve the legal provisions

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  the amendment of GEO No. 63/2010 regarding the number of positions established by it for public community services for records of persons

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  changes aimed at picking up the identity cards of minors so that they can also be picked up by parents or legal representatives, finding appropriate solutions for issuing identity documents to vulnerable people in terms of the possibility to provide proof of residence (homeless people)

5. Discussion

Taking into account the results of the quantitative analysis, the citizens of Brașov County have a positive opinion about the public services they have access to, their degree of satisfaction being high. From this perspective, the present research is similar to a previous study carried out at the level of Pitesti municipality, the results of which highlighted a positive perception to people of public services [14].

Also, similarly to another study, the results of this research highlight the fact that satisfaction with public services increases with age, young people being more dissatisfied with public services [9]. From the point of view of similarities with other studies, the conducted research shows that in general people are satisfied with the accessibility of public services [1]. From the point of view of differences, while the same study [1] highlighted that citizens were dissatisfied with the waiting time in the queue, our research highlights the opposite, the citizens of Brașov County being generally satisfied with the waiting time in line.

Regarding the factors that influence citizens’ satisfaction with public services, quantitative research highlights links between the age and the level of satisfaction of the respondents. For example, people aged between 50 and 65 have a higher level of satisfaction with public services compared to people aged between 18 and 35. Thus, it is possible that young people have higher expectations than older people, from civil servants and from the public services they have access to. At the same time, another possible explanation for this result may be that older people have more free time, which may lead them to have more positive opinions about how their claims are handled.

The living environment is another factor that can influence citizens’ satisfaction with public services. In this regard, at the level of Brașov County, people from the urban area believed to a greater extent than people from the rural area that their requests were resolved effectively. It can thus be deduced that, in the urban area, civil servants perform their work in a more efficient way than civil servants in the rural area. Moreover, the research also showed that people from the urban area use public services more often than people who live in the rural area. The level of education of the citizens of Brașov County also influences their satisfaction in the context of the public services they access. Thus, although we expected people with higher education to have negative perceptions about public services, the results showed the opposite. Thus, people with a higher level of education believed to a greater extent than people who only graduated from high school that the public services they have access to are of high quality. It is possible that, compared to people without higher education, those with higher education pay more attention to the efforts that civil servants make to solve their requests and thus consider the services to be high-quality.

Regarding the influence of quality of life indicators on the perception of public services, the results of the quantitative research show that the income and the material condition of citizens influence their perception about the quality of public services: people who are more satisfied with the income they receive monthly are more satisfied with the quality of public services.

Furthermore, apart from Hypothesis 1, which was partially confirmed (citizens’ satisfaction with public services is significantly different among the age categories of the respondents), all the other hypotheses were confirmed. Hence, the results of our analysis also revealed that citizens’ satisfaction with life is associated with citizens’ satisfaction with public services, and that citizens’ perception of quality of life is correlated with citizens’ satisfaction with public services (Hypotheses 4 and 5 being confirmed).

Moreover, in regards to people’s use of public services, our results showed that the percentage of those who use them quite, very or extremely frequently is generally low, the differences on the basis of age, residency and education being very close. Concerning the relationships between the problems encountered by the respondents when accessing public services and Satisfaction with public services, Efficiency of solving people’s requests and Perception about quality of public services, the research revealed that the problems influence the respondents’ perception regarding these variables. Hence, when it comes to the issue of accessing the services within public opening hours, the research showed that this problem is rather neutrally or positively associated with Satisfaction with public services, but it is negatively associated with perception about the efficiency with which their problems are being solved. Also, the time it takes for their request to be solved is associated with a negative perception about satisfaction with public services, and a neutral perception regarding the efficiency of solving the requests and perception about the quality of public services. Taking into account the results of the qualitative analysis, after conducting interviews with the directors of institutions in the country and with decision-making people at the level of Brașov County, we identified similarities in terms of the difficulties faced by the institutions that offer public services, but also the way in which public services would need to be optimized in the future.

In this regard, according to the directors of institutions in the country, at the national level, the institutions that offer public services of records of persons are faced with difficulties represented by the lack of adequate spaces for carrying out the activity, the lack of IT equipment, the lack of staff, the collaboration with other institutions and rigid legislative provisions. At the same time, the directors in the country have a positive and open attitude towards the digitization of public services, and they recognize the benefits that this digitization can bring. Moreover, the directors of institutions in the country recognize the role of public services in increasing the quality of life of citizens, and they also mention ways in which the optimization of services could improve the quality of life, ways such as reducing waiting time and simplifying procedures and documents.

In the context of the measures that the directors of institutions in the country would implement in order to improve public services, it was observed that they are open to the implementation of measures aimed at a range of dimensions, including human resources/public officials, workspaces, collaboration with other institutions and institutions’ collaboration with citizens, as well as digitization of services. Thus, the directors of institutions in the country believe that the main measure by which services should be optimized is digitization. This digitization is described by the respondents through actions such as scheduling citizens online, submitting documents online, filling in online forms and correlating databases with the databases of other public institutions. Also, a very-often-mentioned measure is that of arranging work spaces, both for the comfort of civil servants and for the comfort of citizens. Then, other measures refer to the professionalization of civil servants, informing citizens, communicating with other institutions, amending legislation or purchasing modern IT equipment.

In the context of the opinion of people in a decision-making role at the level of Brașov County, the results of the research highlighted an openness to digitization and to the diversity of measures that could be adopted to improve public services. At the same time, the majority of respondents believed that the digitization process has a beneficial role. Thus, the opinion of decision-makers about the efficiency of public services is similar to that of the beneficiaries from Brașov County, both groups of respondents being of the opinion that public services are quite efficient. Also, the opinion of people in a decision-making role is correct regarding the main difficulty faced by the institutions that offer public services, this being represented by the inadequate spaces in which they operate. Considering the measures that should be implemented to improve public services, the strategies proposed by the decision-makers are largely similar to those proposed by the directors of institutions in the country. The main measure is digitization, followed by staff training, renovating work spaces, purchasing modern technical equipment and improving communication with other state institutions.

Considering, the aspects previously mentioned, the results of the research which referred to the issues faced by the beneficiaries and the directors of public services institutions, to their satisfaction with the public services, to their perception regarding the quality of the public services for records of persons and marital status and to the methods proposed to improve these services must be considered while taking into account the fact that the research was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, one should keep in mind that the perception and satisfaction of the respondents with the public services might have been influenced by the conditions in which these services functioned during the pandemic.

Furthermore, when comparing the results we obtained from the qualitative research regarding the measures which should be taken in order to improve public services, with the policies, rules or laws that public administration institutions have to follow, we identify similarities. Hence, considering the rules mentioned in law 57, article 433, civil servants have a duty to ensure a quality public service for the benefit of citizens. Next, article 458 of the same law refers to the training and professionalization of civil servants and states in the second paragraph that the public institutions have the obligation to ensure the participation of each civil servant in at least one training and professional development program once every two years [41]. Furthermore, in the context of the public administration the National Strategy for the Sustainable Development of Romania 2030 has as priorities and goals [42] (p. 101):

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The identification and implementation of solutions to stimulate digitization of the Romanian economy through the introduction of digital technologies in public administration and in the banking sector

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The professionalization and improvement of the activity of all institutions of the central and local public administration and especially of the compartments that come into direct contact with citizens for the provision of prompt and civilized services

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The extension and generalization of on-line services

Therefore, the measures and rules that exist at the national level regarding the public administration and the improvement of public services are similar to the measures mentioned by the directors of public institutions who were interviewed in our research, in terms of digitization, professionalization and training of civil servants. Hence, even though the measures described by the respondents of our research already exist in the laws adopted by the Romanian government, our results highlight the fact that there is still a need to pay more attention to those measures and to their efficient implementation. Moreover, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation created by the pandemic might have contributed to the increased focus on the digitization of public administration and public services.

6. Conclusions

Public administration and the public services they provide play an important role in the lives of citizens, as they must respond to certain needs and to solve various problems that citizens face.

The purpose of this paper was to identify the factors that influence citizens’ perception of community public services in order to improve and make them more efficient.

The results of the quantitative research overall highlighted a positive perception of people about public services, and a high degree of satisfaction. According to the results of the research, citizens are quite satisfied, very satisfied or even extremely satisfied with the services, the categories expressing dissatisfaction recording a very small number of responses.

Taking into account the purpose of the research, the results of the quantitative research highlighted that among the factors that influence the perception and satisfaction of citizens with the public services for records of people in Brașov County are age, living environment, level of education and material well-being.

In this regard, the results of the research pointed out that older people have a higher level of satisfaction than younger people with public services. This result may have as a possible explanation the fact that young people may have higher expectations than older people in terms of how their requests should be resolved. The result can also be explained by the context of the time that people have at their disposal: the elderly having more free time, it is possible that, compared to the young, they are not so bothered by the efficiency with which their problems are solved.

Regarding the influence of the residence environment, the research highlighted that the respondents who live in the urban area were more satisfied with the way their requests were resolved. We can therefore deduce that the activity of civil servants in the urban area is more efficient than the activity of those in the rural area.

The influence of the level of education on citizens’ satisfaction with public services was demonstrated in the research. The results showed, contrary to initial expectations, that people with higher level of education believe to a greater extent than those with a lower level of education that the public services they access are high-quality. One of the possible explanations for this result is given by the fact that it is possible that people with higher education are more aware and take into account the effort that civil servants make to solve their requests.

The results of the research also demonstrated the influence of people’s material well-being on the perception of the quality of public services, showing that the more satisfied the citizens of Brașov County are with their monthly income, the more satisfied they are with the quality of the public services they access. Furthermore, the study also highlighted that citizens’ satisfaction with life is associated with citizens’ satisfaction with public services, that citizens’ perception of quality of life is correlated with citizens’ satisfaction with public services and that the issues faced by the respondents influence their satisfaction with public services, their perception about the quality of these services, and their opinion about the efficiency of solving their issues.

The directors of institutions that provide public services in the other counties of the country specified the main difficulties faced by the institutions they manage, which were similar to the difficulties specified by the decision-makers. It can be stated in this regard, that at the national level, the institutions that offer public services for records of persons face the same types of difficulties. Also, both directors in the country and people in decision-making roles recognize the role of public services in increasing the quality of life of citizens.

Considering the practical and theoretical implications of this paper, from a theoretical point of view, it contributes to the literature regarding the way the public administration and the public services work in Romania. From a practical point of view, the nature of our research and the answers we gathered allowed us to elaborate a procedure which comprises measures that should be taken into account in order to improve the way the public services for records of persons and marital status function in Romania. Thus, given that the main measure mentioned by the respondents refers to the digitization of these services, we mention that digitization might be the key element in maintaining the sustainability of public services and in increasing people’s satisfaction with them. Furthermore, regardless of the pandemic context, we argue that a component of the sustainable development of public services that will generate citizen satisfaction is represented by the process of digitization.

Limitations and Future Research Directions

One of the limitations of this study is the fact that only the opinions of the beneficiaries from Brașov County were investigated. Another limit is obtaining only the opinion of people in a decision-making role at the level of Brașov County. Thus, in the future, this research could be expanded by obtaining information from the public services for records of people from directors of institutions from Brașov, but also from beneficiaries and people in a decision-making role throughout the country.