Designing Web technologies for local governance reform: Good management orgood democracy?

This article examines the extent to which innovative applications of Web te chnology might advance local governance reform. Synthesizing theories from communications, public policy, urban political science, and political philo sophy, it develops a theoretical framework far local governance reform drat emphasizes two dimensions: entrepreneurial (good management) versus partic ipatory (good democracy). The entrepreneurial model envisions the city prim arily as a local service provider, while the participatory model stresses t he civic character of cities. A structured content analysis of 270 municipa l Web sites in California is then analyzed to examine the extent to which a pplications of Internet technology support these models of reform. We concl ude that most municipal Web sites lack a clear mission and provide few of t he features that might effect meaningful improvements to local governance. The few that promote a particular approach appear more likely to support an entrepreneurial than a participatory model of reform. Only a few exemplary sites provide a rich array of information and structure communications cha nnels in a fashion that might improve democratic processes.