8/14/2019 Article Review: The Effects of E-Government on Trust and Commitment

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Terry Kinder

Fundamentals of Public Administration

Article Review D-10

Tolbert, Caroline and Mossberger, Karen, The Effects of E-Government on Trust and Commitment,Public Administration Review, vol. 66 (May/June 2006), pp.354-369.

Tolbert and Mossberger examine whether e-government can reverse the decline of public trust in

government that began in the mid-1960s. The issue of public trust in government is important because high,

sustained levels of distrust can erode the rule of law and ultimately undermine the legitimacy of the

government. While there are a number of possible reasons for this decline in trust, ranging from Vietnam

and Watergate to economic factors, as well as perceptions that government is wasteful and inefficient, none

of these reasons considered either separately, or together, can account for the current high level of publicdistrust of government.

In the past, scholars viewed trust in terms of policy and electoral outcomes. However, recent research

indicates that citizens also consider whether the process utilized to arrive at those decisions was fair, open

and responsive, and that their perceptions influence their decision to trust or not trust the government.

Underlying distrust of government is a perception that it is no longer responsive to citizens. Citizens want

the decision-making process to be more open and allow for greater participation. E-government has beenoffered as a means to foster increased communication between the people and government. Two models of

e-government have been proposed an entrepreneurial model and a participatory model. Theentrepreneurial model (reinventing government) is based on business and aims to enhance efficiency and

customer service. The participatory approach seeks public participation and dialogue as a means of

increasing government accountability, transparency and responsiveness.

There are six possible benefits of e-government that could result in increased confidence and trust. They are

increased responsiveness, enhanced accessibility, transparency, responsibility, efficiency and effectiveness,

and participation. The first two are process-based and consist of repeated interactions between government

and individuals that deliver some benefit. The second two are institution-based and reflect public opinion ofwhether the government is acting correctly. The last two are a combination of both institution-based and

process-based forms of trust.

So far, governments have preferred the entrepreneurial over the participatory implementation of e-

government. Three hypotheses were tested by Tolbert and Mossberger. First, that using government web

sites increased perceptions of transparency and effectiveness of government; government accessibility, and

government responsiveness. Second, more favorable evaluations of government by citizens would lead to

increased trust. Third, since e-government is more widespread and advanced at the federal level, favorableattitudes would most likely convert to trust first for the federal government, followed by state, and then

local government.

Statistical analysis showed that using government web sites increased perceptions of government

transparency, effectiveness, accessibility and responsibility. The second hypothesis that more favorable

evaluations of government would lead to increased trust also found support, although limited solely to local

government. As for the third hypothesis, favorable attitudes toward government did not lead to trust at the

state or federal level, but did at the local level. Trust of local government may owe to its relative proximityto the people and the direct nature of the benefits it delivers. The relatively large distance separating people

from their state government and the federal government may make building trust more difficult. Anotherpossible explanation is that distrust, especially of the federal government, is so great that it will require

more than the present e-government initiatives to overcome. Process-based measures were the only ones

effective at building increased trust. In the future, government agencies should consider email and other

online transactions in order to increase process-based trust. Participatory opportunities such as chats and

bulletin boards should also be considered.