E-Government and Opportunities for Participation

Abstract

Electronic government has been considered a powerful strategy for administrative reform. Identified benefits from e-government are numerous and range from efficiency and effectiveness to transparency and democratic participation. However, only a few studies focus on the potential of information technologies (IT) to promote citizen participation in government affairs. This participation could be conceptualized in many different ways, from the possibility of submitting a request or question to actively participating in decision-making and voting online. In some developing countries, opportunities for citizen participation are still very limited and information technologies have the potential to expand these communication channels. Based on an analysis of the 32 state portals in Mexico, this chapter proposes an index of citizen participation opportunities, ranks the portals according to this index, and explores some of the determinants of the availability of these participation opportunities through the case of the Mexican state of Michoacán. We argue that assessing the different channels for citizen participation available through e-government Web sites is an important first step for understanding the relationships between government and citizens. Citizen initiated contacts and participation cannot exist if communication channels are limited or nonexistent.