Title: Acceptance of electronic democracy: an empirically validated approach

Authors: Tobias Kollmann; Ina Kayser; Christoph Stöckmann

Addresses: E-Business and E-Entrepreneurship Research Group, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstr. 9, Essen 45141, Germany ' E-Business and E-Entrepreneurship Research Group, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstr. 9, Essen 45141, Germany ' E-Business and E-Entrepreneurship Research Group, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstr. 9, Essen 45141, Germany

Abstract: The internet equips citizens worldwide with an innovative channel of democratic participation and makes governments more citizen-friendly and accountable. To address a gap in previous research, the overall aim of this article is to identify the factors that determine citizen acceptance of online political participation and, based on these factors, how online participation can be fostered. We first conduct a literature review to establish an acceptance model with IS and political science determinates to account for e-participation acceptance. Using structural equation modelling, we then empirically validate the explanatory power of our model and identify the significant predictors of online participation, which are Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), Political Activity (PA), Civic Orientation (CO) and Political Recruitment (PR). Overall, this study contributes to research and practice by explicating how IS-related influence factors and those from a political participation background can be integrated to further the understanding of citizens' acceptance of e-democracy.

Keywords: e-government; e-democracy; e-participation; TAM; technology acceptance model; civic participation model; civic voluntarism model; electronic government; electronic democracy; electronic participation; citizen acceptance; political participation; citizen participation; structural equation modelling; online participation; perceived usefulness; perceived ease of use; political activity; civic orientation; political recruitment.

DOI: 10.1504/EG.2012.049725

Electronic Government, an International Journal, 2012 Vol.9 No.4, pp.370 - 387

Published online: 22 Nov 2014 *

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