Mobile Government Services: An Empirical Analysis of Mobile Government Attractiveness

The development of modern information and communication technology (ICT) fundamentally impacts the way citizens and governments interact with each other. In this context, mobile ICT is an essential driver for governments around the world to provide public services to citizens and organizations. Against this background, mobile government has significantly increased in importance for practitioners and has become a fruitful field of scientific research. Given the lack of empirical research on the attractiveness of mobile government, this study examines the key determinants of mobile government attractiveness.     

Exploring the Relationship between Trust in Government and Citizen Participation

Theories of deliberative and stealth democracy offer different predictions on the relationship between trust in government and citizen participation. To help resolve the contradictory predictions, this study used the World Values Survey to examine the influence of trust in government on citizen participation. Regression analyses yielded mixed results. As deliberative democracy theory predicts, the findings showed that people who trust governmental institutions are more likely to vote and sign a petition. However, the data provided limited support for stealth democracy in that trust in government negatively affects the frequency of attending a demonstration.     

Social Media as a Leverage Strategy for Open Government: An Exploratory Study

Social media are regarded to be a cornerstone for addressing the open government challenge that public administration faces. However, scientific knowledge about how social media can leverage open government is limited. Therefore, this study applies a mixed-methods research proceeding to develop a conceptual framework for the strategic use of social media concerning open government initiatives. The study concludes that social media applications can be strategically applied to foster open government and to improve citizen–government interaction. From the findings, strategic recommendations for open government-related social media adoption are developed and practical advice for responsible public managers is given.     

Open Government: Origin,Development, and Conceptual Perspectives

The term “open government” is frequently used in practice and science. Since President Obama’s Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies in March 2009, open government has attracted an enormous amount of public attention. It is applied by authors from diverse areas, leading to a very heterogeneous comprehension of the concept. Against this background, this article screens the current open government literature to deduce an integrative definition of open government. Furthermore, this article analyzes the empirical and conceptual literature of open government to deduce an open government framework. In general, this article provides a clear understanding of the open government concept.     

Transparency for Results: Testing a Model of Performance Management in Open Government Initiatives

Government transparency continues to challenge existing frameworks for understanding organizational performance. Transparency has proven difficult to measure and results assessing its impacts are mixed. This article sets forward a model of performance-based accountability in open government initiatives. Data come from the Open Government Partnership’s (OGP) database of over 1,000 transparency initiatives across 50 countries in 2013. Ordered logistic regression estimates the effect of management practices on three different measures of transparency performance, and the results broadly support the model. Expert interviews from two country cases offer insight into how performance management is used in the context of transparency reforms.     

The Contribution of Open Government to Prosperity of Society

The study finds that open government does not only have effect on economic prosperity, but on social capital and environment through the mechanisms of Rule of Law and Control of Corruption. The role of Rule of Law and Control of Corruption are emphasized in this study, because of their significance in mediating open government and prosperity. Unless mechanisms like regulation formulation, law enforcement and control of corruption are not put into practice; open government itself will not be a driving force to a prosperous society.     

Citizen Satisfaction: A Multicriteria Satisfaction Analysis

Governments across Europe face the challenge of responding to public demand for more valuable, responsive, and efficient and effective services. In this article we will evaluate the public services in Greece. More specifically, this article refers to a citizen's satisfaction web survey for Citizens’ Service Centers. The analysis of the data is based on the MUSA (Multicriteria Satisfaction Analysis) method. MUSA is an ordinal regression model which is based on the principles of multicriteria decision analysis. The method is an instrument to evaluate quantitative global and partial satisfaction levels and to determine the weak and strong points of citizens Service Centers. Furthermore the results of this study will help the Citizens Service Centers to develop more effective services.     

Open Government Information: Challenges Faced by Public Human Resource Management in China

The implementation in China of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Open Government Information, on May 1, 2008, is considered a potential turning point, a shift from traditional public administration characterized by an entrenched culture of secrecy toward more transparent and accountable administration practices. This article shows, however, that due to a variety of institutional constraints, the implementation of the Regulations is still lacking. Although the success of an open government information (OGI) regime in China ultimately relies on thorough political and administrative reforms, this article presents the argument that short of drastic political system change, the implementation of the Regulations could be improved by adopting innovations at the management level. This article suggests that the Chinese government adopt new human resource management strategies in leadership, training, and performance management that are compatible with OGI in order to significantly improve the implementation of the Regulations. An incremental approach to improving OGI implementation in China will finally pave the way for future political reform.     

The Influences of Perceived Managerial Discretion and Risk-Taking Behavior on Government Organizational Performance

Purpose: This study investigates pertinent factors in perceived managerial discretion (PMD) in association with risk-taking behavior (RTB) and organizational performance within government organizations. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a mix of qualitative methods—using focus group discussions (FGDs) to select key variables affecting PMD and to validate the research findings—and quantitative methods—using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test eight hypotheses developed from FGDs and from a literature review. Out of 340 questionnaires sent out to potential participants, 260 were returned and deemed valid for SEM analysis, reflecting a satisfactory response rate of 76%. Findings: A total of six factors affecting PMD were identified: quasi-legal constraint (QLC), powerful outside forces (POFs), inertial forces (IFs), powerful inside forces (PIFs), power base (PB), and political acumen (PA). The SEM analysis indicated that QLC, PIF, PB, and PA enhance PMD, while IF tends to inhibit PMD. Stronger PMD was associated with weaker RTB on the part of government-official decision makers, while greater RTB was associated with more positive organizational outcomes. These findings are partially consistent with prior findings, with some notable contradictions. Research implications/limitations: The primary limitation of this study was its limited external validity, as these findings can only be extended to organizations with similar characteristics of those of the government institution used as the case study. These findings must be used with care for different types of public organizations. Practical implications: These findings support taking the following steps: (1) review and remove equivocal regulations that could restrain PMD, (2) streamline bureaucracy, (3) establish regulations that allow more space for innovation and discretion, (4) delineate the tasks and responsibilities of decision makers, and (5) discourage abrupt policy changes, promoting proper scrutiny and notice.     

Merger Melancholia: An Empirical Analysis of the Perceptions of the Residents of the Forcibly Amalgamated Manilla Shire Council

Notwithstanding cogent reasons for the continued existence of small local authorities in the sparsely populated Australian hinterland, compulsory council consolidation has been a recurring theme throughout the history of Australian local government. Despite its ubiquity, especially in rural, regional and remote Australian communities, its local consequences have not yet been fully examined by scholars or policy makers. The present paper seeks to remedy this neglect with an exploratory study of the social and economic consequences of forced local government amalgamations through the lens of the ‘lived experience’ of the small rural community of Manilla, which was forced in merge with the much larger Tamworth in 2004.     

An Empirical Typology of Local Government Systems in Eastern Europe

The most widely used typologies of European local government systems are based on research conducted in the 1980s. The most popular are those of Page and Goldsmith (1987), distinguishing between Northern and Southern European systems, and Hesse and Sharpe (1991), distinguishing between Southern, Northern and Anglo-Saxon models. The rare attempts to include the Eastern part of the continent are far from comprehensive or satisfactory. They usually view the whole region as a distinct group, referring to its specific historical background and recent radical decentralisation (Bennett 1993, Heinelt and Hlepas 2006). Disappointingly, the same approach is presented in the most recent comprehensive analysis of European local government systems (Loughlin et al. 2010). This article tries to fill the gap produced by this simplification, by offering a comprehensive picture of the variation within the Eastern European region and suggesting a first attempt at a typology of around 20 countries of the region. The criteria for this typology refers to those used in earlier classifications of the Western European systems and include: (i) territorial organisation and tiers of elected local governments, (ii) scope of functions provided by local governments (functional decentralisation), (iii) financial autonomy, (iv) horizontal power relations within local government institutions (election systems and relationships between mayors and councils).     

Variants of transparency: an analysis of the English Local Government Transparency Code 2015

Transparency policies and initiatives at the local level have expanded around the world but our academic understanding is still limited. Few studies have systematically analysed transparency practices at the local government level. This paper develops an analytical framework to examine local government transparency practices based on the literature. The framework is used to analyse the English Local Government Transparency Code 2015. The study shows that the Code delivers openness to a partial extent but has not yet met all criteria for transparent practices. The findings could contribute to the development and improvement of transparency practices at local governments.     

The Role of Citizen Participation and the Use of Social Media Platforms in the Participatory Budgeting Process

In the United States participatory budgeting (PB) is a relatively new and innovative approach to municipal budgeting that has implications for improving the role of citizen participation in the budgetary process. The research is based on personal interviews with local community leaders involved in the PB process in the 49th Ward of Chicago, Illinois; the 6th Ward of St. Louis, Missouri; and the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Highlights are provided of the specific experiences and perceptions of these community leaders with a particular emphasis on the use of social media platforms in engaging citizens in the PB process. This article concludes with recommendations for creating a PB infrastructure, for increasing citizen participation in the PB process, and for assessing and increasing the impact of PB in cities within the United States.     

Partial Privatisation in Local Services Delivery: An Empirical Analysis of the Choice of Mixed Firms

Mixed public–private firms are increasingly used in several European countries. This paper makes use of survey data from Spanish municipalities to examine the motivations of local governments for engaging in partial privatisation of local service delivery of water distribution and solid waste collection. The empirical analysis indicates that mixed firms emerge as a pragmatic middle way between purely public and purely private production. Indeed, local governments make use of mixed firms when cost considerations, financial constraints and private interests exert contradictory pressures. Political and ideological factors play no significant role in that decision.     

Quality of Service,Expectation, Satisfaction and Trust in Public Institutions: The Abu Dhabi Citizen Satisfaction Survey

Structural equation modelling was utilised to develop and test three models while exploring the causality effect of constructs. The models hypothesised that trust in the government was a result of interactions of several other forces: namely, citizens’ expectation, perception of service quality and satisfaction with these services. The article validates and replicates the findings on the question of causality between performance and trust. The findings were very consistent with the previous ones. The model incorporating citizen's demographic data provided the best fit. According to this model, citizen demographics, expectations and quality of services influence citizen satisfaction; and ultimately, citizen satisfaction influences trust in government. The perceived quality of all services provides significant standardised estimates. However, congestion in streets, parking facilities, parks and recreation and schools are the most salient drivers of citizen satisfaction. The variables of income, education level, years living in Abu Dhabi and marital status exert the highest influence on this satisfaction construct. Perception of quality of services has a significant effect on overall satisfaction; and overall satisfaction drives trust in local government officials. In addition, citizen expectation influences perceptions of the quality of service and overall satisfaction.     

Combining Citizen Participation and Expert Analysis: A Wild,Wild Horses Problem in British Columbia

Local governments face increasingly complex decisions and must inevitably rely on professional staff with specialised knowledge. However, ordinary citizens and stakeholders are demanding the right to directly participate in governmental decisions. What is the appropriate division of labour? The article proposes a practical approach to participatory decision making that tries to combine administrative efficiency and democratic legitimacy. The approach decomposes the decision problem into a number of discrete stages. An action research methodology is used to illustrate the application of the method. Specifically, we decompose a ‘roaming horse’ problem in the interior of British Columbia to identify the information requirements for each stage of the model. We use a series of web-based Delphi surveys to elicit specific information from citizens regarding objectives and potential alternatives. The survey results suggest that a relatively simple and cost-effective deliberative tool like Delphi can facilitate an effective division of labour between citizens and government experts.     

An Empirical Analysis of the Acceptance of E-Procurement in the German Public Sector

The increasing governmental spending and simultaneously declining income of municipality are two of the most significant challenges of the 21^st century. The introduction of the Internet and innovative information and communication tools over the last few decades have led to a cost saving and efficiency advantage in many areas. By far, public administration has not fully profited from these opportunities and advantages. This article seeks to understand the underlying barriers of technology implementation, namely e-procurement, within the public administration area by analyzing the key barriers of central decision makers within the organization. The empirical findings of 289 respondents from the German public administration show that the barrier typologies are identified and that they have a strong impact on the resistance of implementation. However, the collected data could not verify the theoretically postulated relationship between high resistance and low implementation of the new technology.     

Contracting Out Local Government Services to Private Agents: An Analysis of Contract Design and Service Delivery Performance in Ghana

Contracting out is generally justified on the principle that as governments contract out part of their responsibilities in service provision to private agents, they harness the power of market competition which leads to efficiency in service provision. In working with private contractors, local governments (LGs) face problems related to agent opportunism, while agents also face risks such as dereliction of payment responsibility by LGs for services delivered. The literature shows that these problems are addressed through a web of contractual arrangements. Using agency theory, this study investigates the relationship between contract design and quality of services delivery in three Ghanaian cities (Accra, Kumasi and Tema). The study found a surprising negative correlation between contract document and agents' performance. The paper concludes that effectiveness of contracting out documents depends on contract management capacity of government administrators. In its absence, LGs that contract out are exposed to risks. The paper uses the findings to reflect on the inherent deficiencies in agency theory and Africanist literature on patronage.     

Risk Factors and Drivers of Financial Sustainability in Local Government: An Empirical Study

The current international crisis in public finances has made financial sustainability a key issue for governments. Although the European Union (EU) and other international organisations have recommended governments to monitor demographic and economic variables, few studies have considered the influence of these variables on financial sustainability. This paper seeks to identify and analyse the drivers and risk factors that influence the financial sustainability of local government. The findings identify both risk factors (unemployment and population aged under 16 years) and drivers (budgetary outcome) of financial sustainability, which may constitute a useful basis for decision-taking by managers and policy-makers.     

eGovernment Applications and Public Personnel Acceptance: An Empirical Analysis of the Public Servant Perspective

Given the importance of eGovernment applications as an integral part of modern public service provision, this contribution concentrates on the issue of continued technology acceptance of public servants. The goal of this article is to connect individual, technological, and organizational aspects in an explanatory model. Using Theory of Reasoned Action and the Technology Acceptance model, an extended model of continued end-user behavior is analyzed. The results show the importance of Ease of Use, Usefulness, Openness to IT, and Subjective Norm for Acceptance and a Continued Q4 Usage Intention. However, a significant influence of Bureaucratic Culture cannot be shown.