The Participation Divide? Political Participation, Trust in Government, and E‐government in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Drawing on 438 telephone interview surveys in Australia and 500 in New Zealand, we find evidence of a 'participation divide' where those participating in politics do so using a range of means, including electronic ones. Those less likely to participate in politics, are less likely to participate across all means measured. Those with higher levels of education and income and of European ethnicity are more likely to participate. We confirm the existence of the socalled 'digital divide' with those that use e-government means and those that do not, being stratified by education, ethnicity, income, gender and age. Contrary to our expectations we find that lower levels of trust in government are associated with higher levels of some types of participation, including e-government ones.

Strengthening Citizen Participation in the Development through E-Governance

“…Some studies argued that the greater participation illustrated a successful development [31] [32]. However, the greater participation is not always the sign of positive condition.…”

“…Website is the common place to dig the information of the development process [40] [41]. Most of all government agencies and donors provide the information as well as interactive options in their website.…”

“…In develop countries, ereadiness can be better because they have higher resources even e-readiness keeps emerging in develop countries. From the Australia case study found that the age of citizens influences the behavior of the people participation in relation with the interaction between the Member of Parliament and the people [48]. Old people prefer to use the classical model of interaction such as a letter than to send an email.…”

Increasing E-Trust in E-Government Services: A Case Study on The Users of Internet Tax Office

“…Trust in government increases the e-trust in e-government services (Parent et al, 2005;Welch et al, 2005;Carter & Weerakkody, 2008;Ozkan & Kanat, 2011). But, Goldfinch et al (2009) examining Australia and New Zealand in their study 1 found that individuals that trust less to government prefer to use e-government services more.…”

Connected Youth

“…Communication and transportation technologies have thus opened a window of opportunity through which young people can reach out and make new connections with new people and places ; this is what Hägerstrand (1985) calls a 'space of possibilities'. In such spaces, young people can find resources that may be used for identity construction (Lam 2006), for playing (Sefton-Green 2006), and for involvement and participation in politics (Calenda & Mosca 2007;Goldfinch, Gauld, & Herbison 2009;Vromen 2007).…”