Christopher Weare

Designing Web Technologies for Local Governance Reform: Good Management or Good Democracy?

This article examines the extent to which innovative applications of Web technology might advance local governance reform. Synthesizing theories from communications, public policy, urban political science, and political philosophy, it develops a theoretical framework for local governance reform that emphasizes two dimensions: entrepreneurial (good management) versus participatory (good democracy). The entrepreneurial model envisions the city primarily as a local service provider, while the participatory model stresses the civic character of cities. A structured content analysis of 270 municipal Web sites in California is then analyzed to examine the extent to which applications of Internet technology support these models of reform. We conclude that most municipal Web sites lack a clear mission and provide few of the features that might effect meaningful improvements to local governance. The few that promote a particular approach appear more likely to support an entrepreneurial than a participatory model of reform. Only a few exemplary sites provide a rich array of information and structure communications channels in a fashion that might improve democratic processes.

Electronic Democracy and the Diffusion of Municipal Web Pages in California

Although the Internet has been touted as a means to improve democratic governance, there has been little systematic analysis of its use. The authors analyze the diffusion of municipal Web sites that include information concerning a specific locality. The analysis is based on demographic and fiscal data from 454 California cities and two surveys of Web site adoption. The authors’ theoretical framework draws from the political economy and technology diffusion literatures. City size, government resources, concentration of social-economic elites, and voter registration levels are the most significant predictors of adoption. In contrast to previous adoption studies, the authors find that liberal political ideology and experience with advanced communication technologies do not appreciably increase the probability of adoption.

The Effects of Internet Use on Political Participation Evidence From an Agency Online Discussion Forum

We seek to clarify the relationship between Internet use and political participation. Although early theorists touted the potential mobilizing effects of the Internet, existing empirical studies have failed to find support for such a relationship. We challenge these findings through the analysis of an experimental use of an online discussion forum in anagency strategic planning exercise. The Web-based discussion run in parallel to the traditional docket attracted new individuals to participate in the decision-making process and influenced the range of topics discussed. These results suggest that extending opportunities for participation can attract new voices, thereby changing decision makers’information environment.

Neighborhood Governance Reform and Networks of Community Power in Los Angeles

This article applies network theory to consider the effects of neighborhood council reform on city governance in Los Angeles. The authors argue that neighborhood councils have the potential to change elite-dominated governance through several network effects: development of bridging social capital—network relationships that cross-cut traditional community cleavages, broadening of horizontal networks that improve information required for collective action, and creation of newties that elevate previously peripheral groups in the system of political communication. Based on field research and a network survey of neighborhood council board members, the authors find that although bonding ties help facilitate collective action, they also maintain social stratification because they develop between similar groups and involve status seeking. The development of weaker bridging ties among more diverse groups appears to promote mobilization through information sharing. Thus, bonding and bridging ties appear to play complementary roles in promoting information dissemination and mobilization among neighborhood councils.

Cross-Talk: The Role of Homophily and Elite Bias in Civic Associations

We examine the manner in which voluntary associations expose individuals to differing perspectives, or “cross-talk.” Specifically we develop hypotheses based on the interactive roles of elite bias and homophily in structuring networks of democratic participation and test them on social network data of Los Angeles neighborhood councils. We find that homophily leads to boards less diverse than their communities, but does not lead to homogeneous cliques within boards. Moreover, we find that elite bias and homophily counteract each other in lower-status communities, leading to more diverse boards than would be predicted by homophily alone. We then examine the effects of assortative mixing on political attitudes and collective action, and find weak support for the proposition that associational diversity promotes tolerance and access to information.

Does the Internet Enhance the Capacity of Community Associations

We employ a social network approach to explore the Internets impact on the capacity of community associations. We focus on how increased e-mail use affects the cohesion and democratic character of associations, and operationialize these concepts employing the standard social network measures of density and centralization. The analysis employs network data from 41 community associations that are comparable on a variety of factors, but which vary in their use of the Internet. It finds that the technological nature of e-mail as well as the background and interests of its users matter. Members of community associations do consider e-mail to be a distinctive communication mode and employ it differently from other modes such as phone and face-to-face communication. Increased use of e-mail is found to be associated with increased network density, a critical support for collective action. In contrast, increased e-mail use can either lead to increased or decreased network centralization, an indicator of the degree to which associational activities provide opportunities for the development of civic skills. In associations with relatively similar levels of e-mail use among members, the technology leads to more decentralized communication patterns, but in associations with disparate reliance on e-mail, e-mail use is associated with increased centralization.

Implementing Electronic Notification in Los Angeles: Citizen Participation Politics by Other Means

Abstract This paper considers whether new information and communication technologies have significant effects on citizen participation by evaluating the development of a major innovation in electronic governance. We analyze the creation of an electronic system in Los Angeles to provide stakeholders a warning of upcoming political decisions and an opportunity to furnish feedback. We evaluate this innovation not only as a technological innovation that affects citizens’ capacity and motivation for participation but also as an alternative institutional means for involving citizens in policy making and public administration. To place this experiment within this larger institutional perspective, we draw upon the lessons of historical reforms aimed to expand citizen participation. We find that although technology does positively affect individuals’ capacity and motivations, technology, by itself, does not overcome the political, institutional, and behavioral impediments that have limited previous participatory reforms. This research was supported by National Science Foundation Information Technology Research Grant #0112899 and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation. The authors would like to thank Tony Silbert, Nail Oztas, Kyu-Nahm Jun, Tony Valluzzo, and Alicia Kisuse for expert research assistance. All errors are the authors’ own.

The illusion of reform. The dilemma of structural telecommunications policy

Structural telecommunication regulations that determine in what markets and under what conditions dominant firms may operate have developed in a chaotic and often contradictory manner in the United States. This article explores the causes and consequences of this policy instability using two disparate concepts: first, the policy development process is disjointed and incremental, and second, alternative regulatory regimes establish different contracting relations between telecommunication firms. The analysis demonstrates why, despite repeated efforts at reform, regulators have not succeeded in resolving the fundamental conflicts inherent in structural policy. In addition, criticisms that existing structural regulations impede innovation are found to be misplaced because no realistic, unproblematic alternative exists.

Social capital and community representation: How multiform networks promote local democracy in Los Angeles

This paper examines the variant roles that specific forms of networked-based social capital play in supporting the democratic functions of a neighbourhood governance network in Los Angeles. A significant body of empirical work has demonstrated the positive role that social capital plays in the functioning of civil society, but there has been less attention to the manner in which different types of network-based social capital promote support efficacy of multifaceted civic organisations. This paper utilises network measures from a survey of the members of a neighbourhood governance network in Los Angeles to explore the associations between types of network ties – within group; among groups; to different external stakeholders – and perceived self-efficacy of the member associations. We find that internal cohesion, or bonding social capital, promotes both advisement of city officials and promotion of local participation, suggesting that this network-based resource is fungible. Other network structures appear to have value in different contexts, in that stakeholder connections promote participation, while bridging social capital is associated with perceived success in advising city officials. The findings suggest that architects of participatory reform should be attentive to system goals in establishing supports for varying forms of system relationships.