Electronic democracy and citizen participation: The challenge of the digital divide.

摘要

There is a need to understand the role of citizens in the governance of a democratic country. The present American society is fragmented by the prevailing economic ideology, which causes citizens to be selfish in their individual interest in order to maximize their individual goals rather than participating in the social fabric of society. As a result, the community does not adequately support families, churches, neighborhoods, and schools, thereby, hindering the ability to reach common ground regarding societal issues and ultimately governance concerns. In response, the discipline of public administration has emerged itself into reform practices in a quest for the "correct" administrative state or structure. Given the fragmented state of the present society and its members, this researcher contends that the future of public administration is heavily dependent on its ability to encourage the participation of the citizenry in the governance process.; In this information age, it is appropriate to explore the ability of technology, particularly Internet capabilities, to enhance citizen participation in government. Proponents of "teledemocracy" believe that new information technologies will make direct democracy possible in the United States. The information superhighway (the Internet) is considered to be the way to facilitate this process. However, the lack of access to Internet opportunities by a segment of the population while other citizens have full access poses a significant challenge in full use of technology to enhance participation. This unequal access to technology has been characterized as the digital divide.; The U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) is one of the main federal program initiatives that seeks to provide grant funds for innovative, practical information infrastructure projects that try to bring technology to those that have difficulty accessing the "information infrastructure." In an effort to determine the potential impact of technological strategies in local communities to enhance citizen participation in government, this research study will examine the impact of TOP projects awarded grant funds between 1994 and 1997 utilizing an evaluation synthesis/policy analysis approach.