Managerial Ambivalence and Electronic Civic Engagement: The Role of Public Manager Beliefs and Perceived Needs

Abstract

This article addresses an important yet often neglected component of electronic civic engagement efforts: managerial ambivalence about public participation. We examine how managers’ beliefs about public participation and their perceived needs for participation in agency decision making work together to shape electronic engagement efforts. Based on observational data collected in 2010 and 2014 and data from a 2014 survey of managers in 500 U.S. municipal governments, we find that managerial beliefs about participation and their perceived needs for participation are two valid and separate constructs. There is a positive relationship between managerial beliefs and electronic engagement. Perceived needs for participation interact with managers’ beliefs to affect electronic civic engagement. A high level of perceived needs for participation reinforces the effect of managerial beliefs on electronic engagement efforts, but a low level does not offset the effect of managerial beliefs on electronic engagement.

Applying design science in public policy and administration research

“…This approach goes beyond the vast majority of civic participation practices, such as community building and neighborhood support, which do not directly contribute to policy making processes (e.g. Smith, 2009;Zhang and Feeney, 2018).…”

“…Institutions for public governance and policy making are, in their present form, often not up to the task. As a result, democratic and administrative bodies tend to respond to major problems and challenges using yesterday's tools (Shkliarevsky, 2016;OECD, 2017;Zhang and Feeney, 2018).…”

Constrained or creative? Changes in financial condition and entrepreneurial orientation in public organizations

“…Absorbed resources reflect long-term financial condition and unabsorbed resources reflect short-to-medium-term financial condition. For additional detail on the survey, see Zhang and Feeney (2018) and Fusi and Feeney (2018). 5 We performed a factor analysis to ensure that the items we use to construct entrepreneurial orientation and the organizational control scales are measuring discrete constructs.…”

Tension in democratic administration: Does managerial confidence in administrative capacity reduce citizen participation in organizational decision‐making?

“…In our investigation, we asked whether managers in a public organization that emphasizes the bureaucratic values of administrative capacity and technical efficiency may be less likely to pursue citizen participation and seek to reconfigure their organizations' investments in citizen participation. Our work responds directly to calls for attention to the practical aspects of public participation, notably the role of public managers in facilitating or hindering participation (Olivo 1998;Roberts 2004;Zhang and Feeney 2018). It re-emphasizes the importance of bureaucratic actors in structuring public participation in government activities and demonstrates that public managers remain a critical component of the governance framework, with discretion and power to regulate governmentcitizen interactions and, ultimately, the influence of citizens on government work.…”