The influence of transformed government on citizen trust: insights from Bahrain

Abstract

The trust and confidence of citizens in their governments has been declining in recent decades. Electronic government (e-government) is seen as a means to reverse this trend. Despite conflicting conclusions in the literature, there is a consensus that e-government-led transformation can improve citizen confidence and trust in government. This research investigates the influence of egovernment-led transformation on citizen trust and confidence in the context of a developing country, the Kingdom of Bahrain. A conceptual model is developed, tested and validated using an online survey targeting ordinary citizens of the country. Based on 313 responses, the findings suggest that citizen trust and confidence is positively influenced by a government transformation, and this relationship is mediated by both government performance and citizen satisfaction. In addition, the results show that key factors must be met to achieve transformed government through the use of e-government systems: transparency, accountability, and meeting citizens' expectations.

Structural changes driven by e-petitioning technology: changing the relationship between the central government and local governments

“…For the institutionalization of the public participation process, however, Bartels (2013) argued that "public encounters, face-to-face contact between public professionals and citizens, was first identified as a key issue in public administration 80 years ago, but never developed into a subject area of its own" (p. 469) due to bureaucratic type of organization. e-Petitions can overcome the hierarchical and bureaucratic structure of public administration with the help of new governance relationships (Farazmand, 2012) and improve the public's trust in government (Welch, Hinnant, & Moon, 2005;Torres, Pina & Acerete, 2006;Kim, Park, & Rho, 2017;Mahmood, Weerakkody, & Chen, 2019). e-Petitioning practices might have many effects on governance in public administration and, for example, stimulate public participation.…”

E-government Implementation in Developing Countries: A Literature Review

“…Lack of ICT skills is a particular problem in developing countries due to the constant lack of qualified staff and inadequate training of human resources (Mahmood et al, 2019). So, it is considered one of the major challenges to e-government initiatives.…”

“…Furthermore, the laws of e-government and e-business are not yet available in many countries (Dawes, 2008), so during e-government implementation policy makers must consider the impact of law and public policy (Mahmood, et al, 2019) as well as, they have to establish protections and legal reforms in order to ensure the security, privacy, and legal recognition of electronic signatures and electronic interactions (Alshehri et al, 2012).…”

“…Successful e-government implementation requires the ability to use computers and the internet, so lack of these skills represents a barrier to e-government (Mahmood et al, 2019). The digital divide is "the gap in opportunity between those who have access to the Internet and those who do not" (Alshehri et al, 2012).…”

“…Therefore, culture plays a significant role in how policy makers and citizens use new technologies and online systems (Choudrie et al, 2010). Individual's culture plays a significant role in resistance to change and slow adoption of new technologies (Mahmood et al, 2019), thus it has negatively affected the acceptance and adoption of e-government system. Consequently, changing the major culture of society is necessary to achieve successful e-government.…”