– The purpose of this research is to examine factors that explain top governmental officials' support for e-participation in American local governments, and to examine the impacts of e-participation adoption on local governments in the USA.
– This study utilizes a national survey of e-participation among US local governments, which examines factors that predict greater political-managerial support for e-participation and factors associated with positive impacts from e-participation.
– This research found that demand was the most important factor predicting political-managerial support for e-participation and impacts.
– This study produced somewhat limited results partly because relatively few of the responding governments had adopted any significant number of e-participation activities. A second limitation is that the authors took a quantitative approach to e-participation supports and impacts, which did not enable them to tease out some of the more subtle nuisances of e-participation adoption and its impact on government. A third limitation is that the authors conducted the research only on governments at the local level in one nation.
– Local governments should ensure top level (elected and appointed officials) support for e-participation for it to be successful. Citizen demand, formal planning, and taking e-participation are seriously also associated with adoption and positive impacts. So, local governments should consider these factors when developing e-participation.
– This study is first to examine the impacts of e-participation adoption on local governments in the USA.
