E‐participation opportunities and the ambiguous role of corruption:A model of municipal responsiveness to sociopolitical factors

Municipalities ostensibly scale the ladder of e‐participation improvement to gain legitimacy. However, research has not yet addressed how e‐participation initiatives are affected by serious legitimacy concerns such as corruption. One municipal response to corruption is to use e‐participation offerings as a remedial effort to gain citizen trust, but window‐dressing strategies might also be used. In this article, the authors attempt to make sense of this ambiguity by hypothesizing that the effects of perceived corruption on e‐participation offerings depend on the type of e‐participation as well as the level of local social capital and local public accountability demand. Analysis of data from 104 municipal websites in South Africa between 2013 and 2017 reveals support for two moderation mechanisms: (1) a positive remedial response to corruption in the presence of strong social capital and (2) a negative avoidance response

\u3ci\u3eThe State of Citizen Participation in America\u3c/i\u3e

Editors: Hindy Lauer Schachter, Kaifeng Yang Chapter 10: Voluntary Associations, Nonprofit Organizations, and Civic Engagement, co-authored by Angela Eikenberry, UNO faculty member. Chapter 13, Deliberative Polling: Theoretical and Methodological Issues of Civic Engagement, authored by Jeremy Harris Lipschultz, UNO faculty member. This book provides a state-of-the-art assessment of citizen participation practice and research in the United States. With contributions from a stellar group of scholars, it provides readers an overview of a field at the heart of democratic governance. Individual chapters trace shifts in participation philosophy and policy, examine trends at different government levels, analyze technology/participation interactions, identify the participation experiences of minority populations, and explore the impact of voluntary organizations on this topic. A five-chapter section illustrates innovative cases. Another section explores the role of various methodologies in advancing participation research. The scope, depth, and timeliness of the coverage fills two voids in the public administration literature. First, the book provides a unique collection of articles for graduate courses in citizen participation and democratic governance. The volume also offers an excellent compendium for researchers who are at the frontline of participation research and practice.https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/facultybooks/1242/thumbnail.jp