E-government and citizen-state relations: Evidence from a randomized information campaign with the Botswana Unified Revenue Service

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ziaja, Sebastian; Geray, Markus; Sebudubudu, David; von Schiller, Armin
• 署名单位: Leibniz Association; Leibniz Institut fur Sozialwissenschaften (GESIS); Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; ETH Zurich; University of Botswana
• 刊物名称: GOVERNANCE-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF POLICY ADMINISTRATION AND INSTITUTIONS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0952-1895
• DOI: 10.1111/gove.12893
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: field; delivery; POLITICS; trust

摘要

E-government services are often heralded as a silver bullet for governments willing to engage more meaningfully with citizens. Evidence on the effectiveness of these measures for improving citizen-state relations is scarce, however. Most studies examining e-government focus on efficiency considerations; few consider potential effects on citizen-state relations. The present study analyses the effect of an information treatment about the availability of e-government services on citizen perceptions of government responsiveness. We conducted an experiment in cooperation with the Botswana Unified Revenue Service that randomly assigned registered taxpayers to receive a short message on their mobile phones. Our results indicate that the treatment has a significant, positive effect on the perception that the government addresses citizen needs, and more so for respondents with lower income. The findings suggest that, by affecting how citizens assess political realities, e-government can play an important role in shaping citizen-state relations.