Misplaced Trust? Exploring the Structure of the E-Government-Citizen Trust Relationship

Abstract

A growing body of research focuses on the relationship between e-government, the relatively new mode of citizen-to-government contact founded in information and communications technologies, and citizen trust in government. For many, including both academics and policy makers, e-government is seen as a potentially transformational medium, a mode of contact that could dramatically improve citizen perceptions of government service delivery and possibly reverse the long-running decline in citizen trust in government. To date, however, the literature has left significant gaps in our understanding of the e-government-citizen trust relationship. This study intends to fill some of these gaps. Using a cross-sectional sample of 787 end users of US federal government services, data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index study, and structural equation modeling statistical techniques, this study explores the structure of the e-government-citizen trust relationship. Included in the model are factors influencing the decision to adopt e-government, as well as prior expectations, overall satisfaction, and outcomes including both confidence in the particular agency experienced and trust in the federal government overall. The findings suggest that although e-government may help improve citizens’ confidence in the future performance of the agency experienced, it does not yet lead to greater satisfaction with an agency interaction nor does it correlate with greater generalized trust in the federal government overall. Explanations for these findings, including an assessment of the potential of e-government to help rebuild trust in government in the future, are offered. 错位的信任？探讨电子政务和公众信任关系之现状 摘要 电子政务 ( E-government ) 是一种在信息和通讯技术支持下新兴的公众与政府互相交流的行政模式。关于探讨这种新的行政模式(电子政务)和公众信任之间关系的研究在不断增加。对许多学者和决策者而言，电子政务或许是一种变革性的行政模式，可能使公众对政府政务的印象产生改观，扭转长期以来政府公信力下降的局面，以及提高公众对政府的信任。然而至今，对于电子政务和公众对政府信任之间的关系，我们还缺乏足够的了解。本文旨在填补该领域的空白。本文分析了电子政务和公众信任之间的关系现状。我们采用了美国顾客满意度指数研究 ( American Customer Satisfaction Index Study ) 的客户数据，对787名联邦政府公共服务用户的样本数据运用结构方程模型 ( Structural Equation Models ) 进行分析。我们在模型中加入了以下变量：影响采用电子政务决策的各项因素、对于政务的预期、市民对市政的总体满意度、对于某个具体联邦政府机构的信任度、对于联邦政府的总体信任度。我们的实证分析表明，虽然电子政务有助于提高市民对某个具体政府机构的信任度，但是它对于提高联邦政府的总体公信力没有显著的效果。最后，我们解释了本文的主要发现，并且讨论了未来运用电子政务重建政府公信力的可行性。