E-government Use and Citizen Empowerment: Examining the effects of online information on political efficacy

Abstract

Although the government has made enormous investments in the area of e‑government, whether these efforts do indeed promote greater citizen participation is still being debated between those optimistic and those pessimistic about ICTs potential to change the way people interact with government. This study hopes to bring forth a new perspective, by injecting new empirical evidence, to revitalize discussions between opposing views on ICTs, by arguing that information technology could elevate poli tical efficacyŽ and indirectly enhance political participation. This research attempts to answer the following questions: Does e‑government use increase citizens political efficacy?Ž What are the different influences e‑government mechanisms have on int ernal and external Internet political efficacy?Ž. A regression analysis was used as the method for analyzing data collected from a telephone survey of all Taiwanese citizens above the age of twelve, and with experiences in the use of e‑government services . The results show that factors which affect internal and external Internet political efficacy are different. The enhancement of external Internet political efficacy factors are not directly related to the e‑government mechanism, but are related to citize ns trust in e‑government, political trust, and external political efficacy. Whereas information update speed by e‑government and citizen usage needs for e‑government factors, affect internal Internet political efficacy. The conclusions reached, in theor y, would provide a new angle of reflection and research for the debate on the influences of technology use on civil participation, by technological optimists and pessimists. This new angle suggests that the effects of technology use are on the perceptions and attitudes related to civil participation, and not directly related to participation behaviors. In practice, this generates another urgent reason for the government to invest additional resources in the elevation of internet information quality.