Abstract
During the past two decades, governments have started to use information and communication technologies (ICT) to offer a new forum for citizen involvement known as e-participation. The rapid development of e-participation has been attracting attention from many researchers. While a growing body of research has explored various factors impacting e-participation, few studies have examined the influence of government structures on the e-participation opportunities that jurisdictions offer users. To fill the research gap and begin investigating this relationship, we use data from 97 New Jersey municipalities to analyze the impact on e-participation of three local government structures: mayor-council, council-manager, and township. The results show that municipalities with the mayor-council form of government are more likely to have higher levels of e-participation offerings. We argue that the role of an elected executive in this structure facilitates the will to provide greater opportunities for citizens to participate online.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 653-659 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Government Information Quarterly |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2014 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Sociology and Political Science
- Library and Information Sciences
- Law
Keywords
- Government structure
- Municipalities
- New Jersey
- e-Participation