MPA Major Research Papers

Date of Award

7-1-2010

Degree Type

Major Research Paper

Degree Name

Master of Public Administration

Program

Political Science

Supervisor

Young, Robert

Geographical Areas

Canada

Abstract

This paper examines the variation of specific e-Government features in Canadian municipalities and it assesses the quality of municipal websites by evaluating their ability to meet criteria in the three areas of e-Content, e-Participation, and social media capacity. An e-Government Index was developed to evaluate website quality with respect to the three areas and a study of medium-sized Canadian municipalities – excluding those in Quebec – was conducted. The findings reveal that as a whole, medium-sized municipalities in Canada are more successful at developing the e-Content features of their websites compared to the e-Participation features, demonstrating that they are better at delivering information than they are at engaging citizens in online participation, and there is little use of social media in most municipalities.

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