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Measuring E-government Efficiency pp 257–275Cite as

Perceptions About the Effectiveness of E-Participation: A Multistakeholder Perspective

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Part of the book series: Public Administration and Information Technology ((PAIT,volume 5))

Abstract

Local authorities increasingly need to demonstrate the legitimacy of their decisions and to develop effective and appropriate forms of citizen engagement. Previous literature has highlighted many advantages of citizen engagement, but has also acknowledged that authentic public participation is rarely found. This chapter uses different sets of empirical data reflecting the opinions of different stakeholders about e-participation initiatives. We aim to analyze whether citizens are familiar with e-participation tools, what citizens and organizers think about the effectiveness of citizen participation, and, finally, whether there is a perceived effectiveness gap between online and offline (traditional) forms of participation. Results show that, despite a high rate of Internet use, the level of use of e-participation among citizens is quite low. Nevertheless, the opinions of citizens and public sector managers regarding e-participation tend to be positive. As regards perceived effectiveness, some differences exist between citizens’ and managers’ perceptions. Citizens feel that e-participation is less costly and at least as good as offline participation, but it seems that greater changes are achieved through offline participation. Managers tend to agree that online participation is better in reaching a higher number of potential participants, and also in its immediateness and in the lower effort required, whereas offline participation is thought to be better at building social capital.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Source: Spanish National Institute of Statistics (http://www.ine.es).

  2. 2.

    The survey was conducted by “Chi-Cuadrado S.L.”(http://www.chi-cuadrado.com). A Computer Aided Telephone Interviewing (CATI) system was used. The margin error was ±3.46 for each city and ±2.45 for the total sample of the two cities. More information about the quota distribution of the sample can be obtained from the authors.

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Acknowledgments

This study has been carried out with the financial support of the Spanish National R&D Plan through research project ECO2010-17463 (ECON-FEDER) and of the European Science Foundation/European Collaborative Research Projects through the project EUI2008-03788.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Accounting and Finance, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universidad de Zaragoza, Gran Vía 2, 50005, Zaragoza, Spain

    Sonia Royo, Ana Yetano & Basilio Acerete

Authors
  1. Sonia Royo
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  2. Ana Yetano
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  3. Basilio Acerete
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sonia Royo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Granada, Granada, Granada, Spain

    Manuel Pedro Rodríguez-Bolívar

Appendix. Profile of Pamplona and Zaragoza

Appendix. Profile of Pamplona and Zaragoza

 

Pamplona

Zaragoza

Source of data

Population (1st of January 2012)

197,604

679,624

INE

– % of males

47.8 %

48.4 %

INE

– average age

43.3

41.8

INE

Area (km2)

25.24

973.8

INE

Density of population (inhabitants per km2)

7,829

697.9

INE

Average per capita net income (euros per year) (regional data, 2010)

13,986

11,759

INE

Average household net income (euros per year) (regional data, 2010)

21,127

17,473

INE

% of citizens that have accessed the Internet in the last 3 months (regional data)

72.4 %

72.7 %

INE

Level of education

– Primary or no studies

30.1 %

33.8 %

Survey 1 (see Sect.14.3)

– Secondary or vocational education

35.4 %

34.6 %

– University

34.5 %

31.6 %

Employment status

– Employed

62.3 %

57.5 %

Survey 1 (see Sect.14.3)

– Unemployed

4.5 %

7.5 %

– In training

3.6 %

3.4 %

– Retired

23.9 %

18.5 %

– At home (without own income)

5.8 %

13.1 %

  1. Note: INE (Spanish National Institute of Statistics)

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Royo, S., Yetano, A., Acerete, B. (2014). Perceptions About the Effectiveness of E-Participation: A Multistakeholder Perspective. In: Rodríguez-Bolívar, M. (eds) Measuring E-government Efficiency. Public Administration and Information Technology, vol 5. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9982-4_14

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