Predictors of on-line services and e-participation: A cross-national comparison

• Countries that have more effective public sector governance offer a higher level of online government services.
• Countries that have more effective public sector governance also offer greater opportunities for e-participation.
• Countries that have an independent national regulatory authority for telecom have more of an online services presence.
• Countries that devote more financial resources to develop and promote ICTs provide more online services.
• Countries that have more open competition in their telecommunication industries provide more online services.
• Countries with more open competition in their telecommunication industries offer greater opportunities for e-participation.
• Online government information and services are more extensive in less democratic countries.

Effective e-government creates an environment for citizens to have greater access to their government and, in theory, makes citizen-to-government contact more inclusive. Our research examines two distinct but related measures of e-government effectiveness, namely the online service index and the e-participation index, both reported in the 2010 e-government survey conducted by the United Nations. We analyze the impact of political structure, public sector performance and policy initiatives on both indices in more than 150 countries. Our multiple regression analysis shows that there is greater e-government capability in countries that have more effective public sector governance and administration, and policies that advance the development and diffusion of information and communication technologies. More democratic institutions and processes, however, appear to have a negative impact on e-government. In addition, countries that practice effective governance and promote competition in the telecommunications sector demonstrate more extensive provision of e-participation. These results suggest that the path to e-government leverages different strategies depending on a nation's political structure, and that authoritarian countries may be utilizing e-government to maintain the status quo.