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This exploratory study examines civic engagement with e-government via Web sites. It provides an analytical framework that integrates both the supply and the demand sides of citizen interaction with e-government. In modeling three dimensions of online civic engagement (government information access, service transactions, and contributing to government policy-making processes), the study framework incorporates a number of variables, including political activism, civic involvement, perceived benefits and difficulties, information channels, and demographic characteristics. Based on a national sample of Internet users, the study highlights the importance of the supply side (availability of e-government) for promoting civic engagement. Furthermore, political activism is found to be related positively to accessing government policy information and contributing to policy-making processes. The study results also confirm the significant impact of perceived benefits in fostering online civic engagement. Future research can benefit from this study by utilizing a more comprehensive model, treating various dimensions of online engagement separately, and conducting an in-depth analysis of the elements of perceived benefits.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/daniela-dimitrova/3/
This article is published as Chen, Y. C., & Dimitrova, D. V. (2006). Electronic government and civic engagement: Citizen interaction with government via Web portals, International Journal of Electronic Government Research, 2(1), 54-76. doi: 10.4018/jegr.2006010104. Posted with permission.