A series of Governing articles, researched and written with the financial support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, examines performance measurement and management with a special emphasis on citizen involvement:

PART 1: Tracking Team
A formerly down-at-the-heels industrial town in central Massachusetts is on the leading edge of an ongoing experiment that marries citizen action and technology.
Plus: Links to resources on citizen involvement

PART 2: Rivals with a Cause
A decision by officials in Hickory, N.C., to embrace bad news and use it to improve performance is probably the key characteristic of the dozens of cities that are now getting involved in regional consortia.
Plus: Links to resources on comparative performance measurement

PART 3: The Fine Art of Reporting Results
A small but growing group of state and local officials is arguing that "comprehensive annual financial reports," beloved by ratings agencies, don't tell anything like the whole story when it comes to whether government is really doing the job.
Plus: Links to resources on reporting results

PART 4: Scrutiny by the People
Washington State has decided to make the first move in a one-of-a-kind experiment that seeks to bring citizens back into the decision-making fold.
Plus: Links to resources on performance auditing

More resources:

Making Governments More Responsive to Their Citizens
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The aim of this program is to promote widepread government performance measurement and reporting, with an emphasis on public involvement to ensure that outcomes are measured objectively and that what is measured matters to ordinary people.
www.sloan.org/programs/stndrd_performance.shtml

Service Efforts and Accomplishments
Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)
The objective of this project is to encourage use and reporting of performance measures and, based on their use, to determine whether performance measures have developed to the point where GASB will consider establishing SEA reporting standards or guidelines for inclusion in general-purpose external financial reports.
www.seagov.org

Government Finance Officers Association
GFOA is the professional association of state/provincial and local finance officers in the U.S. and Canada. The organization has issued several policy statements since 1993 in opposition to GASB's SEA reporting standards.
www.gfoa.org/services/policy/gfoapp2.shtml#ppbud8

Comparative Performance Measurement Program
Center for Performance Measurement, International City/County Management Association
Created in 1997, the Center for Performance Measurement is a comparative performance measurement program within ICMA. CPM assists counties, cities and towns of all sizes with the collection, analysis and application of performance information. The center currently comprises more than 100 participating jurisdictions.
www1.icma.org/main/bc.asp?bcid=107&hsid=1&ssid1=50&ssid2=220&ssid3=297&t=0