Connecting with the Public: An Examination of Motivations for Improvements to Local E-Government in the United States

Local government websites have improved with respect to content and usability since their inception in the late 1990s, providing citizens with service and communications tools. But why specifically has e-government risen to its current level of capacity and capability? Due to budgetary constraints, local governments are increasingly relying on e-government tools to communicate with their constituents, collect revenue and streamline administrative services. While local government’s provision of e-communications tools for service delivery is well documented in the e-government literature, few studies have examined the factors that are responsible for growth in e-government using city- and county-level data. Furthermore, it is unclear whether utilization of e-government tools affects citizen perceptions of and connectedness with local government (Halachmi and Greiling, 2013, p. 580). The focus of this study is twofold: (1) to examine the factors that have contributed to the growth in e-government, and (2) to explore whether e-government utilization is associated with an increase in citizen connectedness with local government. The e-government literature suggests that technological advances that make local government administration more cost-efficient and operationally effective affect e-government growth (Sharif, Irani, and Weerakkoddy, 2010, p. 929; Roberts, 2011). An additional reason for growth of e-government services is the desire to foster citizen connectedness through interaction and participation—based on Thomas Jefferson’s vision of a decentralized and citizen-driven form of governance (Stillman, 1990, p. 157). In this study, I define citizen connectedness with local government as perceived citizen connection with local government. Community relations and engagement literature focused on e-government utilization finds that this digital tool has the potential to serve as a powerful vehicle with which to connect with citizens (Brainard and McNutt, 2010, pp.842 & 853; Hudson, 2011, p. 389; Omar, Stockdale, and Scheepers, 2014, p. 670). This study includes an examination of public trust, access to information, and ability to interact with government, attributes that are vital to the government-citizen relationship (Welch, Hinnant, and Moon, 2005, p. 371). These attributes of citizen connectedness with local government are related to the central tenets of Thomas Jefferson’s political philosophy that includes the ability for the public to provide input on governmental actions and the need for the government to remain open, accessible, and transparent to the public (Hoover, 1951, p. 145). Local government provision of e-government tools that citizens want to utilize is key to citizen connectedness with local government—a facet of their community relations and engagement efforts (Kim, 2015, p. 44; Paagman et al., 2015, p. 121). Jurgen Habermas’s discourse theory informs the need to improve citizens’ connection to their local governments and vet ideas through e-government channels (1984, p. 10). As a result, the optimal ideas arise as possible action items and as discussion points during active two-way communication.