Implementing Electronic Notification in Los Angeles: Citizen Participation Politics by Other Means

This paper considers whether new information and communication technologies have significant effects on citizen participation by evaluating the development of a major innovation in electronic governance. We analyze the creation of an electronic system in Los Angeles to provide stakeholders a warning of upcoming political decisions and an opportunity to furnish feedback. We evaluate this innovation not only as a technological innovation that affects citizens’ capacity and motivation for participation but also as an alternative institutional means for involving citizens in policy making and public administration. To place this experiment within this larger institutional perspective, we draw upon the lessons of historical reforms aimed to expand citizen participation. We find that although technology does positively affect individuals’ capacity and motivations, technology, by itself, does not overcome the political, institutional, and behavioral impediments that have limited previous participatory reforms.This research was supported by National Science Foundation Information Technology Research Grant #0112899 and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation. The authors would like to thank Tony Silbert, Nail Oztas, Kyu-Nahm Jun, Tony Valluzzo, and Alicia Kisuse for expert research assistance. All errors are the authors’ own.