Functions of the evaluation of public services by users’ satisfaction, between discipline and learning[Les fonctions de l’évaluation des services publics par la satisfaction des usagers, entre discipline et apprentissage]

What's the use of an users' satisfaction indicator in the governance of local authorities ? This is the question which this article attempts to answer. Drawing on the Foucaldian approach of government, the study of eight indicators shows that the learning and discipline dimensions, far from excluding each other, are closely interwoven and adapted to each specific context of governance. The function of discipline appears connected by the logic of learning generating visibility, comparability and surveillance. In order to take into account the reservations expressed by stakeholders involved by the evaluation and avoid the failure of the initiative, a process of appropriation is implemented based on interaction moments and discourses of mobilization.