E‐Participation, Transparency, and Trust in Local Government

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2012.02593.x
• Date: 01 November 2012
• Author: Soonhee Kim,Jooho Lee
• Published date: 01 November 2012

Soonhee Kim is professor in the

Department of Public Administration and

International Affairs in the Maxwell School

of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse

University. She is coeditor of The Future

of Public Administration Around the

World: The Minnowbrook Perspective

(Georgetown University Press, 2010)

and Public Sector Human Resource

Management (Sage, 2012).

E-mail: shkim07@maxwell.syr.edu

Jooho Lee is assistant professor in the

School of Public Administration, University

of Nebraska at Omaha. His research inter-

ests include e-government/e-participation,

information technology management in the

public sector, public organization theory,

social and organizational networks, and

human resource management.

E-mail: jooholee@unomaha.edu

E-Participation, Transparency, and Trust in Local Government 819

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 72, Iss. 6, pp. 819–828. © 2012 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.111/j.1540-6210.2012.02593.x.

Soonhee Kim

Syracuse University

Jooho Lee

University of Nebraska at Omaha

 is article examines the relationship between electronic

participation (e-participation) and trust in local govern-

ment by focusing on f‌i ve dimensions of the e-participation

process: (1) satisfaction with e-participation applica-

tions, (2) satisfaction with government responsiveness to

e-participants, (3) e-participants’ development through

the participation, (4) perceived inf‌l uence on decision

making, and (5) assessment of government transparency.

Using data from the 2009 E-Participation Survey in

Seoul Metropolitan Government, this article f‌i nds that

e-participants’ satisfaction with e-participation applica-

tions is directly associated with their development and

their assessment of government transparency.  e f‌i ndings

reveal that e-participants’ satisfaction with govern-

ment responsiveness is positively associated with their

perceptions of inf‌l uencing government decision making.

Furthermore, there is a positive association between

e-participants’ perception of inf‌l uencing government

decision making and their assessment of government

transparency. Finally, the article f‌i nds that there is a

positive association between e-participants’ assessment

of government transparency and their trust in the local

government providing the e-participation program.

Over the last two decades, researchers have

emphasized citizen participation in public

administration decision making as a means

of collaborating with citizens to promote demo-

cratic values such as responsiveness and account-

ability (Franklin and Ebdon 2004; Fung 2006;

Irvin and Stansbury 2004; King, Feltey, and Susel

1998; Nelson and Wright 1995; Weeks 2000).  e

emerging literature on collaborative governance in

public administration suggests that citizens should

be considered not only customers, but also col-

laborative partners in a governance era for build-

ing democratic and ef‌f ective governance (O’Leary

and Bingham 2008; O’Leary, Van Slyke, and Kim

2010). Several scholars have also emphasized that

government ef‌f orts to provide more opportunities

for citizen participation and input into government

performance evaluation and policy decision making

represent an important strategy for improving trust

in government (Citrin and Muste 1999; Kim 2010;

Kweit and Kweit 2007).

 ough scholars acknowledge the potential role of

citizen participation in public administration decision

making in inf‌l uencing public trust in government, the

specif‌i c form of the relationship between the process

of citizen participation and its impact on building

public trust in government is yet to be tested (Mizrahi

and Vigoda-Gadot 2009). Several scholars address

this concern and call for more studies on understand-

ing citizens’ development and citizens’ perceived

inf‌l uence of participation on decision making in the

context of political cultures in dif‌f erent countries

(Fung and Wright 2001; Mizrahi and Vigoda-Gadot

2009). While there are various def‌i nitions of citizen

participation, Verba, Scholzman, and Brady (1995)

def‌i ned it as any voluntary action by citizens that is

more or less directly aimed at inf‌l uencing the manage-

ment of collective af‌f airs and public decision making.

Arnstein (1969) introduced a ladder of participation

that describes levels of interaction and inf‌l uence in

the decision-making process from elemental to more

in-depth participation (e.g., information, communica-

tion, consultation, deliberation and decision making).

Meanwhile, the evolution of citizen participation in

public administration decision making faces a new

phase as many government agencies have initiated

electronic government (e-government) development

and taken advantage of Internet-based applications

to facilitate community development and com-

munication with constituents and to provide online

application services (Heeks and Bailur 2007; Norris

and Moon 2005; West 2004). A growing body of

literature focuses on government ef‌f orts to utilize new

technologies to enable greater citizen participation in

policy formation and evaluation and to create greater

information exchange between citizens and govern-

ment (Komito 2005; Macintosh and Whyte 2008;

Norris 1999; OECD 2001). Many governments

have adopted various forms of electronic participa-

tion (e-participation) applications, including online

E-Participation, Transparency, and Trust in Local Government