This study investigates why municipal officials have not fully taken advantage of the interactive features of the Internet to bring citizens closer to their governments. Studies show that although the Internet has great potential to improve government–citizen relations, many governments at all levels have not taken advantage of this potential to improve Web site deliberative features to enhance online citizen participation in the policy process. Based on the data analysis from a survey of local government chief administrative officers in five Midwestern states, the authors find evidence that city officials have not taken advantage of the Internet to bring citizens closer to their governments because these officials strongly prefer traditional citizen participation to Internet-based citizen participation. In addition, deployment of resources to support online participation is restrained by the low preference for Internet-based citizen participation. These findings call into question the widespread assumption that public officials enthusiastically embrace the movement toward e-democracy.

This study investigates the factors that impact successful performance management in government internal audit units. Studies show that besides formal compliance with statutory and administrative mandates such as compilation and reporting, public sector performance measures are not utilized for managerial decision making, budgetary allocation and accountability. The National Performance Management Advisory Commission has identified in the Performance Management Framework for State and Local Government, activities that constitute key factors for sustaining performance management. Using 2012 benchmarking data from the Association of Local Government Auditors, this study analyzed the extent to which the uses of government internal audit performance reports, as well as audit performance of the activities identified as key factors in the above-mentioned framework, impact successful audit performance management. Results show that successful performance management is a function of audit oversight body"s commitment, audit staff accountability, availability of adequate resources, as well as the use of audit performance report to monitor achievement against performance objectives, and to coordinate efforts within government. The results also generally confirm both the literature on the low utilization of performance measures and many key factors outlined in the performance management framework.

This article investigates the reasons most African households are not using the internet and discusses the policy implications for bridging the digital divide. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reports that at the end of 2014, only 7 percent of households in LDCs, most of whom are in Africa, had Internet access. This study analyses data from the ITU database and other sources to identify the determinants of the digital divide in Africa. Results show that peculiar challenges such as affordability and digital literacy do influence the percentage of African households who do not use the internet.

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This research determines the impact of local government’s internal audit process on the audit client management’s adoption of audit recommendations. Publicity of financial and operational problems in government in recent years has led to concerns about the quality of government audits, the extent of public managers’ adoption of audit recommendations, as well as citizen demand for accountability in government. In spite of this, the importance of the government audit process in ensuring accountability has gained little attention in public management research. A survey of local government audit executives was conducted to determine various aspects of the local government internal audit process and their relationships with audit client management’s adoption of audit recommendations. Results show that client management’s adoption of audit recommendation is a function of auditor professional designation, due diligence, client relations, documentation and tracking of audit recommendations, as well as of follow-up audits to verify implementation of agreed-upon action plans.