| Summary: | This study looks into citizen satisfaction with service delivery from the perspective of the impact of local legislation reforms come on it. We do so, based on the case of Armenia, a country with a single level of local government where all local authorities, apart from the capital city, are bound by the same law and enjoy similar authorities and responsibilities. Our aim is to understand the extent to which the reform strategy put forward by the government has contributed to increased satisfaction with the services that local authorities provide. The secondary aim is to showcase what aspect of this strategy (i.e., political components or improved service delivery) made a more visible impact on satisfaction.The analysis of citizen satisfaction is based on data from 2015 to 2019 nationwide representative surveys, conducted within the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC) – Armenia “Civic Engagement in Local Governance” (CELoG) Program. Correlation was implemented between the key variables followed by Ordinary Linear Regression. The study concludes that the reform strategy put forward by the government has translated into very marginal, if any, changes in citizens' perceptions and assessment of local service delivery. One could argue that the reforms have changed the citizens' expectations and lack of immediate tangible benefits has negatively impacted their evaluation. One could also make the case for the inertia of improving the quality of services by amalgamated municipalities. The study casts doubt on a large body of literature, disconfirming the impact of environmental factors on satisfaction. Nonetheless, similar to a number of scholars, the study shows that trust and satisfaction are closely related to each other, and that higher satisfaction leads to higher trust. Based on the findings of a previous study, the paper proposes that enhanced administrative autonomy may bring upon a considerable increase in citizens’ satisfaction with services.
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