Does E-Governance Matter for the People’s Trust in the Government? Evidences from Shanghai, China

Abstract

E-governance has become one of the most popular agendas among academia of politics and public management. This study tries to respond whether E-governance has a impact on the level of people's trust in the Chinese government. Using Tolbert and Mossberger's framework, the questionnaire's result of Shanghai city, and quantitative method, this article draw such conclusions as below. First, there are strong relations between E-governance and the level of people's trust in the Chinese government. On some degree, people who are more satisfied with E-governance, will show more trust in the Chinese government. Second, both of entrepreneurial approach and participatory approach have a impact on the level of people's trust in the government. The level of satisfied about 'online discussions' plays a most important role in people's attitude towards the Chinese government. In other words, people who can not discuss public affairs and policies freely might show low level of trust in the Chinese government. Third, the Chinese government's performance about the E-governance is not very good. In the future, the Chinese government should improve their performance about the E-governance, especially the E-participation, which has a significant effect on people's attitude towards the government.