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Abstract.  Based on survey evidence in 13 post‐communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, we show that citizens who engage in protest activities are more tolerant than those who do not take part in such activities. We argue that these ‘protesters’ have the potential to play a pivotal role in the democratic consolidation process currently under way in post‐communist countries. Our findings are compatible with earlier results that suggest that the remaking of political culture, in societies where radical social and political changes have been taking place, might be accomplished through concrete experience with the democratic process rather than through adherence to abstract democratic norms.

Evidence suggests that citizens outside larger urban centers are less prone to use the various functionalities of e-government, while they are the most likely to benefit from these services. Few studies have been performed to understand rural citizens' attitudes. Our purpose was to identify factors that influence the use of e-government services in outlying regions in the Province of Quebec (Canada). Our study was based on a subset of attitude-related variables that were shown to be strong predictors in prior research. We performed a survey involving 1587 citizens living in four selected outlying regions of Quebec, and held two focus groups with users and non-users of e-government. Our results confirm that attitude is influenced by perceived usefulness; perceived ease of use, perceived risk and trust and that attitude is strongly related to the intention to use e-government services. These results may help to plan more effective strategies to increase use in non-urban areas.