E-government and Participation: Public Engagement in Italian Government Websites

Abstract

Communication skills between institutions and their citizens have assumed, in recent years, a vital importance within the decision-making processes. The study aims to investigate the interactional communication relationship between the public body and Italian citizens. In particular, the research focuses on the impact of the quality of IT services on encouraging citizens to use and participate in them. The theoretical framework deployed in the research is based on the managerial component of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), an application branch of the reasoned action theory. The study adopts an empirical method based on web content analysis, conducted on the institutional sites of the Italian provinces, in order to assess the quality of the e-government services provided.