ICTlogy

Abstract:

With the advancement of information and communication technologies, opportunities for e-participation have increased compared to the past. However, in an era of rising populism and democratic fragmentation, its positive effects remain uncertain. This study argues that trust in government has not risen with e-participation and, in some cases, has been undermined, explaining this as the paradox of e-participation. This phenomenon depends on whether countries experience democratic fatigue, which varies with political-economic development.

For empirical analysis, this study builds a dataset linking objective indicators of national e-participation with citizens' subjective trust evaluations. Using hierarchical linear modeling, it analyzes 141,404 respondents from 65 countries in the World Values Survey between 2008 and 2020. The results reveal two findings. First, higher Balanced E-Participation Index (BEPI) values are associated with increased government trust, but the effect diminishes as e-participation deepens and eventually turns negative. Second, while non-OECD countries generally show the positive relationship predicted by prior research, OECD countries display an inverted U-shape once a certain threshold is crossed. This threshold is interpreted as the point at which democratic fatigue produces the paradox of e-participation in its effect on trust.

The study shows that strategies to enhance government trust through e-participation should shift from maximization to optimization, and explores this possibility through the dual initiatives and component elements of e-participation.