Open AccessEvolution of e-participation in Greek local government
Author(s) -
Constantina Costopoulou,
Maria Ntaliani,
Filotheos Ntalianis
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
information polity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1875-8754
pISSN - 1570-1255
DOI - 10.3233/ip-190174
Subject(s) - local government , e participation , order (exchange) , government (linguistics) , scale (ratio) , local community , emerging technologies , social engagement , social media , business , political science , public relations , public administration , politics , geography , computer science , linguistics , philosophy , cartography , finance , artificial intelligence , law
Local governments are increasingly developing electronic participation (e-participation) initiatives, expecting citizen involvement in local community affairs. Our objective was to assess e-participation and the extent of its change in local government in Greece. Using content analysis for 325 Greek municipal websites, we assessed e-participation status in 2017 and 2018 and examined the impact of change between these years. The assessment regards two consecutive years, since the adoption of digital technologies by municipalities has been rapid. The main findings show that Greek local governments have made significant small- to medium-scale changes, in order to engage citizens and local societies electronically. We conclude that the integration of advanced digital technologies in municipalities remains underdeveloped. We propose that Greek municipalities need to consider incorporating new technologies, such as mobile apps, social media and big data, as well as e-decision making processes, in order to eliminate those obstacles that hinder citizen engagement in local government. Moreover, the COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the need for enhancing e-participation and policymakers’ coordination through advanced digital technologies.