Public Administration and Government Journal Professional

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Tolbert, C., Mossberger, K. (2006). The effects of e-government on trust and confidence in government. Public Administrative Review, 66(3): 354-369.

The authors' thesis in this article is that trust is very important in government and e-government such as government websites can be an effective way for government to build trust with citizens. The methodology the authors use to test this hypothesis is a two-stage model analysis of Pew survey data. The researchers thus examine the relationship between citizens' trust in government and e-government usage. The findings indicate that there is a statistically significant relationship between the two and the researchers discuss the findings in the following terms: using local and/or federal government websites can help to improve interaction between citizens and government and promote "process-based trust" that would otherwise be inconceivable and absent among many individuals within the state (Tolbert, Mossberger, 2006, p. 354).

The researchers conclude that e-government is a positive way for public administrations to boost trust among the population because of the level of interaction and the perception that users have of engaging directly with government entities provided by e-government and websites. The researchers also conclude that these findings could be helpful in parsing diverging viewpoints on e-government effects and allowing for a deeper understanding of how various levels of government can use the Internet to increase the public's trust in public administrative offices.

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To some extent, I agree with the conclusions of the researchers because e-government can be both a convenient and easy way to interact with government, which in person can feel like a large, bureaucratic nightmare -- as anyone who has visited the DMV can attest to. Having a functioning website or e-government presence suggests to the public that the government has its act together, that it is structurally sound, efficient and solid, and that it has taken the time to perfect its web presence in order to be of better use to the public. This generates good will which leads to implicit trust and and a sense of appreciation. Thus, I understand the inherent connection between e-government usage and trust in the government.

On the other hand, I believe that there is too little evidence to indicate that e-government can restore the public's trust in government completely or make up for a number of other faults that the public might perceive with a particular public administration. For instance, one example that can be drawn straight from contemporary politics is the Clinton campaign and the its ever-increasing number of probes by the FBI. There is certainly a lot of mistrust on the public's part….....

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