The diagnosis of citizen security. A necessary approach for local public management

Abstract

Citizen security is a recurring issue on the governmental agenda of many States working to implement the sustainable development model promulgated by the United Nations in its 2030 Agenda. Cuba is no exception, so citizen security and its provision, as part of public management at the local level, constitute a challenge to advance in the materialization of the Economic and Social Model of Socialist Development. In this understanding, the objective of this work was to analyze the current state of citizen security and its local public management in the municipality of Guantánamo. It is a qualitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional and descriptive study, which based on the use of methods such as analysis-synthesis, induction-deduction, the authors' experience, documentary review and the criteria provided from a survey applied to a sample of public servants involved in its provision, made it possible to identify progress and challenges in this activity. The results reveal the complexity of the concept of citizen security, as well as the multidimensional, interdisciplinary, multi-actor and participatory nature that should characterize its provision from local public management. They also establish an empirical basis that reveals the existence of possibilities that can be explored to make the actions of local authorities and their impact on citizen security more effective.