CHAPTER 6

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_______________________________________

LOCAL E-GOVERNMENT
SOPHISTICATION
IN THE UNITED STATES

TONY E. WOHLERS
 
 
Abstract: Innovations in information and communication technologies have
contributed to new forms of interaction between governments and citizens in
the United States and other
industrialized democracies. The adoption of
these technologies at different levels of government has contributed
to the
emergence of electronic-government (e-government) to communicate
information, deliver services, and offer
additional avenues to interact with
and participate in government. Based on a detailed content analysis of
government Web sites, this study assesses the current capabilities of e-
government sophistication in U. S.
localities and asks whether local
professionalism and political culture make a difference in the level of local
e-government sophistication. While the presence of professional
administrators in government and the prevalence
of moralistic and
individualistic political cultures enhance e-government sophistication at the
local level, the
findings also illustrate that local governments have not fully
embraced the practical implications of
e-government.

Keywords: State of E-Government Sophistication, Government

Professionalism, Political Culture, Local Government

Over the past two decades, innovations in information and communication

technologies have contributed to new
forms of interaction between
governments and citizens in the United States and other industrialized
democracies.
The adoption of these technologies at different levels of
government has contributed to the emergence of
electronic-government (EG)
designed to communicate information, deliver services, and offer additional
avenues to
interact with and participate in government. An increasing body
of research is assessing EG across the
industrialized democracies and large
metropolitan areas. Nevertheless, a systematic analysis of the current state
of
EG sophistication at the local level in terms of information dissemination,
service delivery, and interactive
citizen participation remains rare. Moreover,
the research literature remains silent on the effects of government
professionalism and political cultures on local EG sophistication.
Accordingly, the purpose of this study is twofold:

1. To provide a critical assessment of the state of local EG

sophistication in
municipalities ranging from small to large
metropolitan communities across the United States in terms
information
dissemination, service delivery, and interactive citizen
participation; and
2. To suggest an explanation of local EG sophistication that takes
into account the
presence of professional administrators in local
government and the more subtle influences of different political
cultures.

Following a brief review of the literature about the current trends in EG,
professionalism in
local government, and political culture, the
methodological framework discusses the relevant concepts, sampling
procedures, and assessment tools. Using a series of benchmarks, the third
section assesses and explains the state
of EG sophistication across more than
800 local governments in the states of Washington, Idaho, Wyoming,
Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Jersey,
Rhode Island, and Maine.

TRENDS IN E-GOVERNMENT, PROFESSIONALISM, AND

POLITICAL CULTURE

With the aim of encouraging the use of the Internet as an interactive tool of
information retrieval,
communication, transaction, and public outreach,
many industrialized countries have embraced EG (Bhatnagar, 2004;
Brown,
2005; Chadwick, 2006; Hernon, 2006; Maniatis, 2005; Nilsen, 2006; Petroni
and Tangliente, 2005; Sancho,
2005). The idea of EG in the United States
had its origin in a new vision of “interactive multi-access computer
communities” in the late 1960s. Decades later, the idea of EG crystallized
with the release of the 1997 Access
America: Reengineering through
Technology (Seifert, 2006). For some, EG can increase government
efficiency,
effectiveness, and transparency and improve citizen-government
interactions. However, technical, and
organizational barriers, and potential
ethical challenges may already have and likely will continue to undermine
the development of EG in this and other industrialized countries (Bhatnagar,
2004; Menzel, 1998; Petroni and
Tagliente, 2005; Seifert, 2006; Snellen,
2005; von Haldenwang, 2004; Wong and Welch, 2004).
As illustrated by the Center for Digital Government (2004), Darrell West
(2004a, 2004b, 2005), Ramona McNeal et
al. (2003), and Anna Brannen
(2001), all states have embraced the idea of EG. Noting the EG differences
among the
states, McNeal et al. (2003) argue that the extent of EG
innovation at the state level is a function of
legislative professionalism and,
to a lesser extent, state professional networks. Others, such as West (2005),
explain EG performance in relation to the number and breadth of online
services, Web-site reliability, quality of
privacy policy, and overall
performance using a range of organizational, fiscal, and political factors.
While
these factors, measured by levels of interest-group lobbying,
education, legislative professionalism, fiscal
health, party competition, and
citizen demand, are important, West (2005, p. 81) concludes: “money is most
crucial in terms of overall performance. States with the financial means to
fund digital government are the ones
that have earned the highest scores and
received the highest ranks.” Many of these factors are also relevant to
the
implementation and scope of EG at the local level.
Optimistic forecasts in the 1980s rosily predicted the rapid emergence of
an automated city hall. Others took a
more skeptical point of view arguing
that “new information technologies show about a 10-year lag period between
introduction in local government and acceptance and routinization in a
significant population of local
government” (King, 1982, p. 25). Both sides
would have to concede, though, that the use of the new information
technologies at the local level has jumped from an estimated 9 percent in
1995 to about 90 percent by the early
twenty-first century (Holden et al.,
2002). Some of the major factors determining the adoption and scope of
local
EG include the size of the local government unit, the type of municipal
government and location, and the support
for EG provided by the elected
and appointed members at the executive level. Large government units,
especially
those with city or metropolitan status based on the professionally
driven council–manager form of government,
adopted EG earlier and to a
greater extent than their counterparts (Brown and Schelin, 2005; Holden et
al., 2002;
Moon, 2002).
The online presence of local government is apparent, but the scope or
sophistication of EG as a tool to disseminate information, deliver services,
and enhance citizen participation in government
decisions, continues to
evolve. From the perspective of the traditional bureaucratic paradigm, local
government
Web sites are mostly informative and limited to providing a
range of basic oneway services rather than
transactional services
(ICMA/PTI, 2000, 2001, 2002; Ho, 2002; Holden et al., 2002; Norris and
Moon, 2005;
Phillips and Chase, 1998). Responding to the information
needs of specific groups within the community, city EG
has evolved beyond
this information-oriented stage. From both an EG paradigm and a user-
oriented portal design,
local governments are in the process of centralizing
their citizen-oriented e-communication channels and
categorizing their Web-
based services “according to the needs of different user groups” (Ho, 2002,
p. 437).
Residents can communicate with a centrally managed service
request system, learn about community events and
government employment
opportunities, assess government fiscal health, and acquire city governing-
body agendas and
minutes, while separate business Web sites offer relevant
information concerning the local economic and fiscal
environment (Center
for Digital Government, 2005; Ho, 2002).
In recent years, a dramatic increase in the electronic networking of the
relevant local agencies and departments
has allowed residents to access
online services and transactions. From this service delivery perspective, an
increasing percentage of cities offer Web portals and online services,
including the payment of utility bills,
parking tickets, and taxes, requests for
building permits, and submission of applications regarding government
jobs,
permits, license renewals, and property registration. Mostly governed by the
council–manager form of
government, cities like Corpus Christi, Texas;
Madison, Wisconsin; Roanoke, Virginia; and Delray Beach, Florida,
have
attained the highest level of service and transaction digitalization (Center for
Digital Government, 2005;
Moon, 2002). Despite these accomplishments,
much more growth is possible, but the lack of technology, Web staff,
financial resources, and expertise have hampered it (Holden et al., 2002;
Moulder, 2001).
As illustrated by studies that focus primarily on large metropolitan areas
—thereby neglecting the spread and
potential achievements in EG made by
small and midsize communities—it has become increasingly possible to
retrieve information about local government and to complete various
governmental service transactions online. On
the surface, these ongoing
efforts sound simple but, as illustrated by recent research, they can
profoundly shape
government-citizen relationships. The provision of
government online services “will likely have a positive effect
on levels of
citizen trust and confidence in their governments” (Nugent, 2001, p. 230).
Research by Caroline
Tolbert and Karen Mossberger (2006) confirms this
claim, illustrating that the use of local government Web sites
creates greater
trust in local government. Given this positive influence, greater
accomplishments through
information communication technologies are
possible.
EG can nourish citizen participation in government and build the
foundation for participatory democracy or
e-democracy. At this stage,
government Web sites are much more than highways flanked by billboards
and a series
of service stops along the way. Such sites offer interactive online
tools that can “extend public space
[promoting] consultation and dialogue
between citizens and their governments” (Lenihan, 2005, p. 274). For
instance, the City of St. Paul, Minnesota, offers an e-mail notification and
personalization option, while the
Village of Hastings, New York, provides an
online input system (Clift, 2004).
Opinions about the merits of e-democracy are mixed. Advocates generally
stress e-democracy as an extension of
governance, while others perceive the
implementation of it as running counter to a liberal democracy (Clift,
2004;
Johnson, 2006; Knowles, 2005). The e-democracy optimists argue that the
Internet can be used to “enhance
our democratic processes and provide
increased opportunities for individuals and communities to interact with
government and for the government to seek input from the community”
(Clift, cited in Riley and
Riley, 2003, p. 11). However, other scholars
disagree. Similar to the argument made by Robert Putnam (2000) about
the
relationship between technology and the loss of social connectedness, the
critics claim that the impersonal
dialogue encouraged by EG and the cultural
values associated with the Internet-based technologies undermine the
participatory nature of a democratic political system (Johnson, 2006).
Studying Web sites of the hundred largest U.S. metropolitan statistical
areas, James Scott (2006) finds that most
cities allow citizens to interact with
elected officials and to use a variety of online services. This research
also
shows that while some cities try, only a few successfully facilitate interactive
forms of participatory
involvement in government through online public
dialogue and consultation (Holzer et al., 2004; Scott, 2006). As
with the
delivery of sophisticated online services, several obstacles remain regarding
e-democracy. They include
the lack of information technology expertise to
reduce errors and tampering with the system, the limited access
of the poor
to EG, and the uneven telecommunication infrastructure across the country
(Cavanaugh, 2000; Moynihan,
2004; Toregas, 2001).
While considerable advances in EG have been made and many tangible
barriers remain to full realization of its
possibilities at the local level, the
literature fails to investigate possible influences of other significant,
but less
tangible factors on local EG sophistication, including professionalism in
local government and political
culture. According to Richard Stillman
(1977) and John Nalbandian (1991), the quality of professionalism in local
government, as exemplified by city managers or chief administrators, has
evolved and changed fundamentally. Over
several decades, it has expanded
and changed “from an orthodox view of dichotomy between politics and
administration to the sharing of functions between elected and appointed
officials; from political neutrality and
formal accountability to political
sensitivity and responsiveness to community values themselves; and from
efficiency as the core value to efficiency, representation, individual rights,
and social equity as a complex
array of values anchoring professionalism”
(Nalbandian, 1991, p. 103).
Following in the footsteps of Putnam (1993) and others, recent research
shows that professionalism in local
government has evolved even further.
Appointed government professionals such as city managers have emerged as
transformative forces within their communities able to build political
capacity and enhance civil society.
Increasingly pervasive, this
transformative quality of professional administrators involves “the tasks of
community building and enabling democracy—in getting things done
collectively while building a sense of
inclusion” (Nalbandian, 1999, p. 189).
Others agree with this transformative role of city managers. According to
James Svara (1999), the professional influence of city managers on local
governance strengthens the link between
city hall and the community. These
developments in city government seem conducive to the implementation and
expansion of EG as a means of strengthening communication and interaction
with the local residents.
Given the role of information and communication technologies as an
extension of government to provide
information, services, and avenues of
citizen interaction with government, prevailing political cultures provide
another contextual factor that can either strengthen or undermine the scope
of EG. While a direct relationship
between political culture and the
implementation of information and communication technologies has not
been
discussed in the literature, scholars have investigated the implications
of political culture for government.
Specific scholarly attention has been
paid to the success of democratic government, government performance, and
views of and expectations from government in relation to political culture.
Research by Gabriel Almond and Sidney
Verba (1963) and Putnam (1993)
illustrates a strong relationship between civic culture and successful
democratic
government. Further substantiating Daniel Elazar’s (1984)
research on the different subcultures in the United
States, recent research by
Tom Rice and Alexander Sumberg (2001) finds a positive relationship
between civic culture and government performance in terms of policy
liberalism, policy innovation, and
administrative effectiveness.
Rooted in people’s religious beliefs, ethnic backgrounds, and migratory
patterns, Elazar (1984) identifies three
dominant political subcultures
scattered throughout the United States, including the moralistic,
traditionalistic, and individualistic political cultures. Despite the prevalence
of mixed political culture
across the country, most states are clearly
dominated by one of the aforementioned political cultures. These
political
cultures remain relevant and have implications for how individuals view
government and what they expect
government to do. Driven by high moral
standards and mostly concentrated in the northern tier of the country, the
moralistic political culture nourishes involvement in government and, as
such, contributes to an active role of
government. In contrast, the
traditionalistic political culture in the south, with its emphasis on preserving
the
dominant class structures, encourages a less active government
dominated by the elite. Finally, the scope of
government embedded within
an individualistic political culture is demand driven and concerned with
fostering
access to the marketplace. Accordingly, government is viewed as a
means to advance one’s own social and economic
interests.

METHODOLOGY

As suggested by the existing research, a variety of simple and advanced

online features have been adopted by
large metropolitan communities.
Moreover, we now know that the regional location of municipalities, the
availability of resources in terms of infrastructure, funding, and expertise,
and the form of local government
influence the scope and sophistication of
local EG. While the current research is impressive, gaps remain.
Research on
the state of EG sophistication across a wide range of municipalities in terms
of population size is
rare. Furthermore, the roles of professional
administrators not only in the context of the manager–council form
of
government but also across different forms of local governments, and the
influence of political culture on EG
have been mostly ignored in the
literature. To fill these gaps, this study assesses the state of EG
sophistication
across a wide range of small, midsize, and large municipalities and
hypothesizes that the presence
of professional administrators and the
prevalence of the moralistic and individualistic political cultures
enhance
local EG sophistication.
To assess the state of local EG sophistication and test the hypothesis, a
detailed content analysis of active
municipal Web sites was conducted
between November 1, 2006, and September 10, 2007. Descriptive
approaches were
used to analyze the data. Based on different population
categories—small, medium-size, and large
municipalities—this study drew a
stratified sample of more than 800 incorporated municipalities in relatively
small states located in the West, Midwest, South, and East. Accordingly, the
randomly selected municipalities
within different population categories are
in Washington (WA), Idaho (ID), Wyoming (WY), Minnesota (MN), Iowa
(IA), Wisconsin (WI), Oklahoma (OK), Arkansas (AR), Louisiana (LA),
New Jersey (NJ), Rhode Island (RI), and Maine
(ME). The U.S. census data,
information collected by the respective municipal state associations and
leagues, and
Elazar’s prevailing political culture classification within the
selected states served as the principal data
sources to determine the
municipalities’ size, the presence of chief administrators, and the prevalent
political
cultures that surround them.
This study defines EG as the ability of local government Web sites to
communicate information, offer a range of
online services, and facilitate
citizen participation in both the government and the community.
Traditionally,
the assessment of EG sophistication has traditionally relied on
a sequential approach that implies different
degrees of EG sophistication
(Chadwick and May, 2003; Giuliani, 2005; Moon, 2002; Petroni and
Tagliente, 2005;
Scott, 2006; West, 2004a, 2005). Accordingly, this study
relies on a three-level assessment
approach, which, as suggested by Karen
Layne and Jungwoo Lee (2001), reflects the evolutionary nature of EG to
grow increasingly more sophisticated. At the lowest level of local EG
sophistication, the billboards level,
emphasis is on the display of and access
to relevant information used by residents to learn about and gain access
to
government units and the elected officials. To allow residents to gather
relevant government information, this
study argues that the posting of news
and notices, council meeting agendas and minutes, board or committee
agendas and minutes, regulations and ordinances, finance and budget data,
and background information about the
elected officials is critical. In
addition, direct e-mail access to the elected officials and the possibility to
sign up for e-mail notification about city hall events provides another vehicle
to residents to obtain relevant
information from those who shape and
implement city politics.
The remaining two levels, service delivery and interactive citizen
participation, tend to require more
sophisticated online features compared to
the billboards level. Moreover, privacy issues and the possibility of
manipulating certain online features associated with these levels remain
potential concerns. The service-delivery
level allows multiple constituents
within the community to gain tangible benefits from the use of online
services. The payment of taxes, utilities, license fees, and fines via the
Internet allows residents and
businesses to benefit from the convenience of
privacy-protected online transactions. Using the Internet as a
means to
request services and records, apply for or renew permit applications, register
property, and search for
employment opportunities within government can
also produce direct benefits.
 Finally, the interactive citizen-participation level offers a range of
interactive online features that
facilitate and encourage citizen input or
involvement in both government and community organizations. In
particular,
e-comment forms, discussion forums, and e-polling allow for direct citizen
input on a wide range of
government activities, while voter registration
search, voter registration, enabled links to civic organizations
within the
community, and city hall encouragement of citizens to volunteer for services
facilitate citizen
involvement in government and in the community. Table 6.1
illustrates the three-level assessment of EG and
also allows for the
employment of a simple additive index to measure each level of local EG
sophistication.

FINDINGS

Interesting patterns emerge regarding the presence and state of EG

government sophistication across the different
population categories in terms
of billboards, service delivery, and interactive citizen participation. As
expected, the online presence of local governments increases as a function of
population. For the selected
population categories, the presence of EG for
municipalities with between 100 and 1,000 residents is 8.5 percent.
This
relatively low, but visible, Internet presence in very small communities
almost triples to 37.3 percent for
municipalities with populations between
1,001 and 2,000. From this point on, online presence increases at an
accelerating rate, peaking at 75.4 percent and 96.4 percent for municipalities
with between 2,001 and 30,000
residents and eventually stabilizes at a fully
comprehensive online presence for municipalities larger than
30,000 (see
Figure 6.1).
The descriptive analysis regarding EG sophistication across the selected
population categories generally confirms
the previous patterns but also holds
some surprises. As indicated by the respective billboards, service delivery,
and interactive citizen participation mean scores shown in Figure 6.2, small
municipalities with
populations of between 100 and 2,000 residents are
generally characterized by extremely low EG sophistication.
Through posted
news and notices, meeting minutes and agenda minutes, e-mail access to
elected officials, and
other means, small municipalities provide and facilitate
access to relevant government information, government
units, and elected
officials. As expected, however, they rarely expand into the more
sophisticated service
delivery and interactive citizen participation areas.
While there is a clear upward trend, a visible expansion
into the more
sophisticated service delivery and interactive citizen participation levels
occurs for
municipalities with populations of more than 2,000, and the
respective mean scores reach peak levels for
municipalities larger than
70,000. Yet, EG as a tool for service delivery and citizen participation in
both
government and the community remains limited even in large
metropolitan areas.

Table 6.1
The Three-Level Assessment of Local E-Government Sophistication
Level Dennition Indicators

Billboards Index E-government offers relevant information used News and Notices

Score (20) by residents to learn about and gain access to Council Meeting Agendas

government
units and the elected officials. Council Meeting Minutes

Board/Committee Agendas

Board/Committee Minutes

Regulations and Ordinances

Finances and Budget

Background Elected
Officials

Email Elected Officials

Email Notification Sign-up

Service Delivery E-government allows multiple constituents Payment of Taxes

Index Score (18) within the community to gain tangible benefits Payment of Utilities

from the use of

online services. Payment of License Fees

Payment of Fines

Request for Services

Request for Records

Permit Application/Renewal

Property Registration

Employment Opportunities

Interactive Citizen E-government offers a range of interactive E-Comment Forms

Participation features that facilitate and encourage citizen Discussion Forums

Index Score (14) input or

involvement in both government and E-Polling

community organizations. Voter Registration Search

Voter Registration

Enabled Links to Civic

    Organizations

Facilitate Voluntary Services

 The transformative management perspective provided by chief
administrators makes a positive difference overall
and in almost every state.
Ranging between 0 and 20, 0 and 18, and 0 and 14, Table 6.2 shows the
respective mean scores for billboards, service delivery, and interactive
citizen participation in relation to the
presence or absence of chief
administrators. The presence of chief administrators across different forms
of local
government is associated with considerable gains across all three
levels of local EG sophistication. There is a
35 percent increase in the
overall mean score regarding the billboards level for municipalities with
chief
administrators. The presence of chief administrators also has a positive
impact on both the service delivery and
interactive citizen participation
levels. In the latter areas the respective overall mean scores, which remain
relatively low and thus indicate low levels of service delivery and interactive
citizen participation, more than
double with the presence of chief
administrators.

Figure 6.1 Online Presence by Population Category (in percent)

 
Figure 6.2 Local e-Government Sophistication by Population
Category (mean scores)

Table 6.2
Local E-Government Sophistication by Chief Administrator (mean scores)
Local E-
Government
Sophistication
Interactive Citizen
State Administrator Billboards Service Delivery Participation
WA With 15.55 3.55 4.00
Without 11.20 3.20 2.66
ID With 14.75 2.50 3.25
Without 11.33 3.33 2.66
WY With 12.50 3.00 3.50
Without 11.00 2.33 2.33
MN With 13.51 2.54 3.09
 Without   7.14 0.42 0.28
IA With   9.20 1.92 2.64
Without   5.77 0.88 2.44
WI With 13.33 2.22 2.44
Without   8.41 0.83 0.74
OK With 11.28 2.64 3.36
Without   5.71 0.57 2.00
AR With 12.66 3.66 2.33
Without   6.10 1.00 1.20
LA With 12.40 3.60 4.80
Without   4.85 0.57 2.00
NJ With   8.66 1.66 2.16
Without   6.58 0.47 1.88
RI With 11.16 2.66 3.16
Without 11.60 1.60 2.80
ME With 12.26 3.00 3.21
Without   9.11 1.55 1.77
Overall With 12.03 2.66 3.01
Without   7.79 1.17 1.45

As expected, the degree of local EG sophistication in each state also

varies considerably with the presence or
lack of professional managers.
Except for Idaho and Rhode Island, in the areas of service delivery or
billboards,
communities within each state exhibit higher levels of EG
sophistication with a chief administrator at the helm
of government
management. The peculiar outcomes in Rhode Island and Idaho might
suggest that different levels of
local professionalism exist in relation to the
implementation of EG. Nevertheless, the favorable local EG
environment
created by chief administrators is most obvious for communities in the West,
Midwest, and especially
in the South, as illustrated by the respective
municipalities in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Arkansas,
and
Louisiana (see Table 6.2).
In addition to the facilitating role played by chief administrators, both the
moralistic and individualistic
political cultures tend to strengthen local EG
sophistication. As indicated by Table 6.3, municipalities
embedded within
the moralistic and the individualistic political cultures are associated with
higher mean scores
for the billboards and service delivery levels than
communities within the traditionalistic political culture.
Particularly in the
areas of billboards and service delivery, the moralistic political culture
outperforms both
the individualistic and the traditionalistic political cultures.
However, in the area of interactive citizen
participation the pattern is almost
the reverse. The traditionalistic and especially the individualistic
political
cultures outperform the moralistic political cultures in the area of interactive
citizen
participation—a finding that is significant overall, and, as such,
incapable of conveying a detailed picture of
the local EG sophistication
levels in relation to political culture.

Table 6.3
Local E-government Sophistication by Political Culture (mean scores)
Interactive Citizen
Political Culture Billboards Service Delivery Participation
Moralistic 10.65 2.02 2.22
Individualistic   9.51 1.97 2.42
Traditionalistic   8.67 1.88 2.40

The previous discussion has focused mostly on the overall EG

sophistication levels in relation to population,
chief administrators, and
political culture. A closer analysis across the specific content items by state,
starting with the billboards level, reveals a more nuanced picture. With the
notable exception of municipalities
in Oklahoma, which excel in posting
council and commission agendas on their Web sites, municipalities in the
West, East, and Midwest and those surrounded by a dominant individualistic
and especially moralistic political
culture tend to offer a broader and deeper
array of information compared to their southern and traditionalistic
counterparts. An overwhelming majority of the individualistic and moralistic
municipalities rank at the top
quartile across the billboards content items.
Among these billboards items, the posting of the latest news,
council and
commission activities, regulations, and e-mail links for the elected officials
are the most
prevalent, while background information about the elected
officials and especially the opportunity to sign up for
e-mail notifications are
the least prevalent information commodities (see Table 6.4).
Given the advanced developmental stage of the billboards level compared
to the service delivery and interactive
citizen participation levels, several
small and large municipalities, with the occasional exception, provide
access
to the entire billboards range of government information. These
communities, characterized by the
moralistic political culture, include cities
or towns such as Bangor, ME, Richfield, WI, Luverne, MN, Cape
Elizabeth,
ME, Kenmore, WA, Biddeford, ME, Cedar Falls, IA, Portland, ME, and
Seattle, WA.
The service delivery and interactive democracy levels are the least
developed EG areas. Accordingly, only a few
specific services and
interactive citizen participation tools are offered on a consistent basis.
Nevertheless,
trends are visible. The most consistent service delivery items
across municipalities, especially in the West and
East and in the context of
the moralistic and individualistic political cultures, include the payment of
utilities, license fees, and fines, the registration of property, and the search
for employment opportunities
within government, while only a fraction of
municipalities allow residents to request services and records and to
renew
permits.
As with the previous billboards level, individualistic and moralistic
municipalities lead the way, ranking
overwhelmingly among the top quartile.
Traditionalistic municipalities in Arkansas and Oklahoma are the only ones
that seem to have a competitive edge in two content areas, request of records
or posting of employment
opportunities (Table 6.5). Due to the increased
challenges involved in implementing the service delivery
level, only a few
midsize and large cities excel. Bound by the moralistic political culture,
these cities include
Biddeford, ME, Cedar Falls, IA, Portland, ME, and
especially Seattle, WA.
Communities are also in the early stages of facilitating interactive citizen
participation. Similar to the
previously established patterns, the
municipalities leading this level of EG sophistication are predominantly
embedded within the moralistic and individualistic political cultures. The
only traditionalistic municipalities
to fully succeed in the content areas of e-
comment forms and enabled links to civic organizations are located in
Louisiana and Oklahoma, respectively. Through enabled links, numerous
municipalities across the United States
allow residents to learn about and get
involved in civic organizations, such as churches, youth organizations,
sports
clubs, and other volunteer organizations. Other common interactive citizen
participation features are the
availability of e-comment forms to ascertain
input from residents and the explicit encouragement by city halls to
volunteer for services on government and civic organization committees or
boards (see Table 6.6). As such,
the possibility of getting involved in the
electoral process through online voter registration and the
opportunity to
provide input on government matters through discussion forums and polling
remain extremely rare
and can be found only in the moralistic city of Seattle,
WA.

Table 6.4
Billboards Contents by State Ranking (in percent)

Table 6.5
Service Delivery Contents by State Ranking (in percent)
CONCLUSION

The above results demonstrate the validity of the transformative role of

professional administrators in local
government, the influence of the
moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic political cultures, and the
three-level assessment approach of local EG sophistication. A systematic
analysis of EG sophistication at the
local level of government across small,
midsize, and large municipalities that takes into account professionalism
in
city hall and the influences of political culture remains unexplored in the
research literature. This study
begins to close these gaps. Based on a sample
of more than 800 incorporated municipalities across the United
States
located in the West, Midwest, South, and East, this study assesses the current
state of local EG
sophistication in terms of information dissemination,
service delivery, and interactive citizen participation.
Furthermore, to
explain the advances made in each of these areas, the study hypothesizes that
the presence of
professional administrators and the prevalence of the
moralistic and individualistic political cultures enhance
local EG
sophistication.
 In contrast to the existing research literature regarding the use of the
Internet in government, the findings
clearly suggest that not only large but
also midsize and small communities across the United States have embraced
EG. Particularly, relatively small communities with populations of 1,000 to
10,000 residents have a visible
online presence comparable to that of their
larger counterparts. While there is a visible online presence across
different
population categories, the individual levels of local EG sophistication vary
considerably. Numerous
small, and as expected, a great number of midsize
and large municipalities, use the Internet as a tool to inform
their residents.
Mostly located in the East and West, small towns and cities such as Bangor,
ME, Richfield, WI,
Luverne, MN, and Cape Elizabeth, ME, have fully
embraced the information-driven billboards level by offering a
wide range of
facts to learn about or gain access to government and elected officials.
In addition to the billboards stage, the remaining two levels of the
assessment approach, service delivery and
interactive citizen participation,
capture the current state of local EG sophistication well. Beyond the simple
billboards level, local EG performance regarding the generally more
advanced online service delivery and
interactive citizen participation levels
declines substantially and across the board. Regardless of size and the
resources that become available accordingly, only a small proportion of local
government Web sites provide
residents with meaningful opportunities to
gain tangible benefits through a series of online transactions or to
get
involved in shaping government decisions through discussion forums, e-
polling, and online voter registration.
Notable exceptions that have made
great advances in the service delivery area include Biddeford, ME, and
Portland, ME, while Seattle, WA—a city without a chief administrator, but
with an internal committee structure
devoted to the implementation of new
technologies—excels across the service delivery and the interactive citizen
participation levels.
Informed by the research on the influence of local professionalism and
political culture on governance, the
resultant theoretical framework also
builds a solid basis to explain local EG sophistication. Except for very few
cases, the infusion of professionalism provided by appointed administrators
remains particularly important. As
community builders, their transformative
leadership has become increasingly visible in local government and, as
suggested by the findings, has clearly affected the scope of EG. Accordingly,
the presence of chief
administrators is associated with increased
performance levels in the billboards, service delivery, and
interactive citizen
participation areas across virtually all municipalities and especially with
respect to those
located in the South. As for the influence of political culture,
the findings also support the hypothesis.
Municipalities embedded in the
moralistic and individualistic political cultures exhibit higher levels of local
EG sophistication in the billboards and service delivery areas. While
municipalities linked to the
traditionalistic political culture yield the largest
interactive citizen participation mean scores, the
cross-item analysis shows
that moralistic and individualistic municipalities dominate the top quartile
across all
levels.
 

Table 6.6

Interactive Citizen Participation by State Ranking (in percent)

The findings illustrate that despite the advances made in information

communication technologies
in recent decades, local governments in the
United States have not fully acknowledged and realized the more
advanced
stages of EG. As implied by the research in public administration and
political science, the
community-building function of professional
administrators and the influence of the individualistic and
moralistic political
cultures are conducive to the diffusion of new information communication
technologies across
local government. Political culture, however, changes
slowly and is extremely difficult to manipulate. In
contrast, professionalism
in local government is more fluid and more malleable. Hence, the
accelerating spread of
information and communication technologies
throughout the fabric of society and the continuing growth of a
generation
accustomed to the benefits of these technologies would seem to require an
increased diffusion and
deepening of professionalism across municipal
government in the United States.
Limitations regarding the selected assessment approach and the theoretical
background to explain local EG
sophistication remain, thereby paving the
way for future research avenues. Acknowledging the need to draw a more
nuanced portrait of local EG sophistication, future research should elaborate
on the three-level assessment
approach by distinguishing between citizen
participation and citizen deliberation. Generally, more advanced than
the
billboards and service delivery level, the citizen participation level offers a
range of interactive features
that facilitate and encourage citizen input in
government decision making, while the citizen deliberation level
allows
residents to discuss and decide on pertinent policy issues. The overall
influence of local professionalism
on EG is apparent, but its degree of
practical application among the elected and appointed officials and the
specific processes governing the implementation of EG in the context of
professionalism remain in the dark.
Single case studies based on qualitative
research methods would provide a richly contextualized understanding of
these processes. Finally, to minimize the danger of overgeneralizing the
influence of political culture, future
research should rely on a comparative
substate sampling approach to investigate the relationship between
political
culture and local EG sophistication.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I thank the following colleague for comments on this chapter: Doug

Catterall, Cameron University.

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