Perception of Key Public Services in Chile: Comparison and Determinants

ABSTRACT How are key public services perceived to be governed across the different Chilean regions? Are they considered to be of high quality, governed impartially and free of corruption? To answer this question, we construct a Regional Quality of Governance Index (QGI) for Chile using original survey data and assess the QGI based on user's perception of quality, impartiality, and probity of three key public services: police, health and public education and compare the results to previous European measures. Results reveal stark disparities, with Chile ranking low, near Eastern European counterparts like Croatia and Bulgaria, scoring lowest on probity. When analyzing individual determinants, we find that women and those with higher interpersonal trust report better governance evaluations, while the indigenous and self‐employed report poor evaluations. We also find that wealthier municipalities score higher on governance perceptions, while those in more populous areas tend to have negative assessments of impartiality. Our findings advance the study of governance in Latin America by highlighting some of the individual, institutional, and geographic determinants in shaping citizen evaluations of regional governance.