Local E-government and E-democracy: An evaluation of Greek municipalities

Abstract

The purpose of this study is the development of a citizen-centric framework for the evaluation of local e-government projects that is validated in the context of Greek municipalities. The proposed model consists of four categories, 14 factors/indices and 83 criteria. The framework incorporates the different aspects of e-government as well as e-democracy. To develop and validate the model two research undertakings were conducted: one survey that captured citizens’ opinions about the important e-government features and a website analysis to inquire about the level of e-government sophistication of Greek local government websites. Results of citizens’ survey served as input for the weighting of the model metrics. The analysis of the Greek municipal websites indicated that municipalities performed moderately well with regard to the disclosure of one-way information while they scored low in the provision of online services for citizens and businesses and the opportunities offered for citizens’ interaction and participation.