Abstract
When assessing the potential of information and communications technology (ICT) to improve relationships between citizens and their government, public management research tends to focus on government applications of ICT and neglects implications resulting from private actors use of ICT. Given the rapid growth in private online mass media outlets over the past decade, this negligence is problematic because it biases our understanding of the implications of ICTs for citizens’ relationship with government. This paper discusses how the proliferation of online mass media outlets may influence citizens’ evaluations of their government. In doing, two key points are distilled. First, as the number of mass media outlets increase online, citizens will tend to access information that reaffirms their expectations of government. Second, as citizens’ access a narrower range of content that reinforces their expectations of government, frequency of access may play a more pronounced role in explaining variation in citizens’ evaluations of government. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications.
Highlights
When assessing the potential of information and communications technology (ICT) to improve relationships between citizens and their government, public management research tends to focus on government applications of ICT and neglects implications resulting from private actors use of ICT
Public management research tends to focus on evaluating the implications of information and communications technology (ITC) from a government centric standpoint
Current events offer compelling evidence to suggest that the evolution of online mass media is anything but irrelevant to citizens’ evaluations of government, with discussions of “fake news,” “alternative facts,” “the deep state,” and growing political polarization rampant. It is helpful for the community of public management researchers and practitioners to complement the existing emphasis on government applications of technology with assessments of how the use of ICTs, and in particular online mass media by private parties relate to citizens’ evaluations of government
Summary
Current events offer compelling evidence to suggest that the evolution of online mass media is anything but irrelevant to citizens’ evaluations of government, with discussions of “fake news,” “alternative facts,” “the deep state,” and growing political polarization rampant. Against this backdrop, it is helpful for the community of public management researchers and practitioners to complement the existing emphasis on government applications of technology with assessments of how the use of ICTs, and in particular online mass media by private parties relate to citizens’ evaluations of government. The overarching goal of this article is to reflect on the important relationship between mass media and government performance, and on the challenges confronting this relationship that result from the proliferation of online mass media outlets
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