The mixed effects of e-participation on the dynamic of trust in government: Evidence from Cameroon

IF 2.1 4区管理学 Q2 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Australian Journal of Public Administration Pub Date : 2022-11-26 DOI:10.1111/1467-8500.12569

Ge Xin, Elna E. Esembe, Jia Chen

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Regular participation of citizens in governance and policy processes has been considered critical to the functioning of the democratic model of governance. While recent studies have documented the emergence and evolution of participatory governance in Western countries, little is known about the influence of citizens’ participation on e-governance in African countries. Leveraging an original survey conducted in Cameroon on citizens’ participation in and satisfaction with a Facebook-based e-participation initiative, this study explores how participation in the governance process through the Internet has affected African citizens’ trust in their local and national governments. The results first suggest a weak positive association between citizens’ e-participation and their trust in governments. However, further decomposition of the positive association between satisfaction, performance, and trust shows that their relationships are critically enhanced by citizens’ participation in e-governance, suggesting that the trust-enchancing impact of e-participation is likely to be dominated by indirect effects. The results also indicate that the moderating mechanism is likely to differ between citizens’ trust in the local and national governments, which sheds light on the understanding of the effects of e-participation for both academics and practitioners.

[Correction added on 14 February 2023, after first online publication: The section “Summary at a glance” should not have been included. It has been removed.]

Points for practitioners

Novel participatory governance initiatives such as e-Participation could enhance trust in the government, but such an effect is likely to be precipitated indirectly.
e-Participation positively affects people’s trust in their government primarily by reinforcing the trust-enhancing effect of satisfaction with the participatory program and perceived performance of the government.
The effect of e-Participation on trust in government is also positively moderated by citizens' satisfaction with the participatory program and perceived performance of the government.

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电子参与对政府信任动态的混合影响：来自喀麦隆的证据

公民经常参与治理和政策进程被认为是民主治理模式发挥作用的关键。虽然最近的研究记录了西方国家参与式治理的出现和演变，但人们对非洲国家公民参与对电子治理的影响知之甚少。利用在喀麦隆进行的一项关于公民参与facebook电子参与计划及满意度的原始调查，本研究探讨了通过互联网参与治理过程如何影响非洲公民对地方和国家政府的信任。结果首先表明，公民的电子参与与他们对政府的信任之间存在微弱的正相关关系。然而，对满意度、绩效和信任之间正相关关系的进一步分解表明，公民参与电子政务极大地增强了它们之间的关系，这表明电子政务参与的信任增强影响可能主要是间接影响。结果还表明，调节机制可能在公民对地方和国家政府的信任之间有所不同，这有助于学者和从业者对电子参与影响的理解。[在首次在线发布后，于2023年2月14日进行了更正:不应包括“概览”部分。它已被移除。新的参与式治理倡议，如电子参与，可以增强对政府的信任，但这种效果可能是间接促成的。电子参与对民众对政府的信任产生积极影响，主要是通过增强民众对参与计划满意度和政府绩效感知的信任增强效应。电子参与对政府信任的影响也受到公民对参与计划的满意度和政府绩效感知的正向调节。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Australian Journal of Public Administration PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION-

CiteScore

4.40

自引率

9.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： Aimed at a diverse readership, the Australian Journal of Public Administration is committed to the study and practice of public administration, public management and policy making. It encourages research, reflection and commentary amongst those interested in a range of public sector settings - federal, state, local and inter-governmental. The journal focuses on Australian concerns, but welcomes manuscripts relating to international developments of relevance to Australian experience.