Can e-government promote citizen involvement? This question was addressed by a study of local government websites conducted by faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). 

While earlier studies emphasized criteria such as online services or technical sophistication, the UIC study brought a new perspective by looking at online opportunities to enhance civic engagement. The study looked at the home page and web pages for mayors, councils, and managers rather than city departments. UIC chose to examine local government websites because of their unique opportunity to connect citizens with both government and community.The UIC study examined 95 local government websites throughout the United States, looking at information (i.e., laws and regulations, city budgets and reports, neighborhood data and resources); opportunities for participation both online and offline (i.e., contact information, events, interactive tools including Web 2.0 features, surveys, and discussions), and transparency and accessibility (i.e., language and disability access, ease of search, timeliness of information).

The 75 largest U.S. cities received between 53% and 96% of possible points on the civic engagement index, with an average score of 78%. The 10 highest-ranked U.S. cities are Seattle (96%), Phoenix (95%), Louisville (93%), San Francisco (92%), New York (92%), Boston (88%), Virginia Beach (87%), Chicago (86%), San Jose (86%), and Columbus (85%). Most of these top cities are relatively large, and include places that are known for participatory cultures and for the presence of technology firms.  

The study was supported by the Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement at UIC. The research was completed in 2009 and will be repeated in 2011. Click here to download a copy.

UIC faculty members are continuously engaged in e-government studies, and the department offers a specialization in e-government within the UIC Master of Public Administration program as well as an online, e-Government certificate program. For additional information about this study or programs offered by UIC, call 312/355-0423 or e-mail externaledu@uic.edu.