Interpreting the trustworthiness of government mediated by information and communication technology: Lessons from electronic voting in Brazil

Abstract

Original citation:Avgerou, Chrisanthi, Ganzaroli, Andrea, Poulymenakou, Angeliki and Reinhard, Nicolau (2009) AbstractThe electronic voting system of Brazil is understood to be widely trusted by the citizens of the country and international observers. More precisely, it is seen as a trustworthy mechanism of producing elections results that accurately represent the choices of the electorate. In this paper we discuss briefly the concepts of trust and trustworthiness and focus to examine the formation of beliefs regarding the latter. We argue that the belief of trustworthiness is only partly attributable to the perception of the merits of the technical system and its enactment procedures. Significant role in the formation of this belief in the case of the Brazilian electronic elections has played the the reputation of the institutional actors responsible for the elections -the Superior and the Regional Electoral Courts. We therefore conclude that, unlike common assumptions about the potential of e-government in developing countries to restore trust in government institutions which are considered untrustworthy, the production of trust in ICT-mediated government services relies on citizens' perceptions of their trustworthiness.

E-Voting: Success and Failures. Lesson for Africa

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“…At the end of polling the voting machine produces the results from the polling station. These results are also encrypted and loaded onto a diskette which is taken to a results consolidation center [4].…”

“…This at times leads to political unrest [1]. Many researchers suggested e-voting as a solution to the problems of paper ballots electoral process [2][3] [4][5] [6][7] [8].…”

Formatting the Public Sector with ICTs: Exploring Institutional Sources and Processes

“…E-government projects have been adopted in both developed and developing countries as a means to reform the public sector, and as part of a broader objective of achieving social and economic sustainability goals [1], [4], [7], [9], [13], [26]. This paper does not focus in particular on the implications of e-government in contributing to development; rather the aim is to explore how the projects that are part of these national initiatives are locally understood, encountered and appropriated by people who work in the public sector.…”

Categorization of Brazilian Internet Users and Its Impacts on the Use of Electronic Government Services

“…In Brazil, e-government (e-gov) initiatives have become popular among the citizens due to the diversity of electronic services available to the population, such as the electronic voting system, the filing of an income tax return report, the scheduling of medical appointments, and the enrollment of students in public schools, among others (Avgerou, Ganzaroli, Poulymenakou, & Reinhard, 2009;Reinhard & Moya, 2002). However, the success of these initiatives (e-gov) depends on the access and predisposition to use the ICT resources in the interaction between the government and the civil society.…”