Engaging through technology: the role of administrative culture and mandates

ABSTRACT

Although information communication technologies (ICTs) offer new possibilities for civic engagement, governments have had limited success enacting ICTs to promote participation. We investigate how administrative culture and formal institutions are related to adoption and use of ICTs for bureaucratic and participatory purposes. Using data from a national survey of U.S. municipal departments, we find that prioritizing bureaucratic over participatory values is negatively related to the adoption of ICTs and use for participation. Legal mandates increase adoption but not use for participation. The findings show the critical role of administrative culture and raise questions about using legal mandates to promote participation.

KEYWORDS:

• ICT enactment
• administrative culture
• formal mandate
• civic engagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies (CSTEPS), Arizona State University.

Notes on contributors

Fengxiu Zhang

Fengxiu Zhang is a doctoral candidate in the School of Public Affairs and a research associate in the Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Studies (C-STEPS) at Arizona State University. Her interests include decision making under risk and uncertainty, organizational adaptation to extreme events, and technology use in government. Her dissertation applies multiple methods (e.g. structural equation modeling and agent-based modeling, stochastic frontier analysis) to gain an integrated understanding of public organization adaptation to extreme events.

Mary K. Feeney

Mary K. Feeney is Professor and Lincoln Professor of Ethics in Public Affairs and Associate Director for the Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on public management and technology use in government.