Are government internet portals evolving towards more interaction,participation, and collaboration? Revisiting the rhetoric of e-government among municipalities

Scholars and practitioners argue that the most important interactions between citizens and government happen at the local level. These relationships could become closer and more frequent with the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). In fact, portals could be seen not only as channels for providing government information and services, but also as powerful tools to exchange information and knowledge between different social actors and government entities and to enable participation in collective decision-making efforts about important public affairs. For instance, social media and other Web 2.0 tools could provide new electronic channels for these interactions through their inclusion in local government portals. This paper argues that although important modifications to the organizational and institutional frameworks would be necessary, the potential for local electronic governance through networks of government and non-government actors via internet portals is clearly present. However, a very important first step would be the inclusion of more interaction, participation, and collaboration mechanisms in government portals. Similar to previous efforts with data from the U.S., this paper describes the results of a recent assessment of local government portals in Mexico. The conclusion is that progress toward citizen engagement is slow in local governments and there are very few efforts to increase interaction, participation, and collaboration channels on their portals. Most of them are still following the vision of information and services providers and a local electronic governance model is still in its very initial stages. It seems that e-government in municipalities is still more rhetoric and less reality, at least in some countries.     

Towards cyberactivism 2.0? Understanding the use of social media and other information technologies for political activism and social movements

Information technologies are increasingly important for political and social activism. In particular, web 2.0 tools and social media applications have recently played a significant role in influencing government decision making and shaping the relationships between governments, citizens, politicians, and other social actors. After the Arab Spring and the uprisings that have led to significant political changes in Egypt, Tunisia, and Iran, commentators argue that information technologies have the potential to strengthen social movements and ultimately transform society. However, this influence is not new. There were movements in the 90s, using the new technologies of e-mail and websites, which were able to gather significant social attention and generate political pressure. Based on three Mexican social and political movements that span close to 20 years, this article identifies key similarities and differences in the use of information technologies and proposes a framework to understand the evolution of cyberactivism. Initially, activists used information technologies to promote a movement's main ideas and gain global support. More recently, a single tool or application, such as Twitter, has been the technological basis for certain social and political movements. However, there is a trend towards a more integrated use of social media tools and applications, generating what could be called cyberactivism 2.0. In addition, there are some distinguishable stages in the development of social protests using information technologies; this evolutionary model seems to be useful to understand very different social and political movements using very different levels of technological sophistication.     

Overshadowing in the spatial domain

In Experiments 1 and 2, rats were trained in a Morris water maze to locate a hidden platform, the location of which in the circular pool was defined by four visual landmarks (A, B, C, and D), spaced at equal intervals around the edge of the pool. Control animals were trained with these four visual landmarks only. But for animals in the overshadowing groups, an auditory component, X, was added to Landmark D. Test trials, given at the end of training, consisted of placing the rat in the pool with no platform present and recording the time rats spent in the platform quadrant. In Experiment 1, the overshadowing group spent less time in the platform quadrant than controls when tested with D, but the two groups performed equally well on test trials that did not use D. We conclude that the auditory Component X overshadowed the visual Landmark D. In Experiment 2, we obtained evidence of reciprocal overshadowing, of D by X and of X by D. The results of Experiment 3 suggested that an appeal to generalization decrement might not be sufficient to explain these overshadowing effects.     

Applying the technology acceptance model to a Spanish City Hall

This paper examines the relative importance and significance of the four technology enablers introduced by Davis (1989) in the technology acceptance model (TAM) (perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude towards using and behavioural intention) for use on four different levels of citizen engagement in e-government (null, publish, interact and transact). An extended technology acceptance model (TAM) is developed to test citizen engagement towards online e-government services from a sample of 307 citizens who used the benefits advisor tool within a Spanish City Hall. Although the proposed model follows TAM and explains the intention towards the actual use of e-government by postulating four direct determinants, “A, PU, PEOU and BI” have been considered as parallel processes, meaning that each can have separate influence in different levels of citizen engagement. To achieve this goal, a multinomial logistic regression is developed and tested to confirm the explanatory power of the four technology enablers on the four different levels of e-government. Our findings further suggest that in order to implement e-government, some of the enablers matter more than others to move from one level of citizen engagement to another. The main contribution of the paper is to question the use of existing models which seek to represent the relationship between technology enablers and the adoption of e-government services without considering their impacts on citizens’ engagement. The implications of the findings are discussed and useful insights are provided in relation to policy recommendations geared to create appropriate conditions to build citizens’ engagement intent of use of e-government services.     

The action workflow approach to workflow management technology

Abstract

This paper describes the ActionWorkflow? approach to workflow management technology: a design methodology and associated computer software for the support of work in organizations. The approach is based on theories of communicative activity as language/action, developed in a series of systems for coordination among users of networked computers. This article describes the approach, gives an example of its application, and shows the architecture of a workflow management system based on it.     

Father Involvement During Early Childhood and Its Association with Children's Early Learning: A Meta-Analysis

Research Findings: In the present meta-analysis, information from 21 studies (representing 22 separate samples) was pooled across a 10-year period (1998–2008). Across 2 primary dimensions of direct father involvement (frequency of positive engagement activities and aspects of parenting quality) and 5 dimensions of children's early learning (representing social and cognitive domains), findings revealed small to moderate associations. Among group differences tested to further explain the relationships between these constructs, residential status and the ethnic/racial identification of fathers' surfaced as significant moderators, whereas income status was only meaningful at the trend level. Practice or Policy: In recent years, national attention has increased concerning the important influence of fathers on children's development. Concurrently, national interest has turned to the early childhood period as marking a major transition for young children, during which children are confronted with new and diverse developmental challenges that require emotional, social, and cognitive competence across their home and school environments. Although there is a growing body of research on fatherhood and father involvement, this literature has not been examined systematically to determine the strength of associations between specific dimensions of father involvement and young children's early learning that could inform the efforts of early childhood practitioners and family engagement programming decisions.     

Latin American Universities: From an Original Revolution to an Uncertain Transition

The aim of this paper is to discuss the prospects of Latin American public universities. Its main assertion is that universities could become important actors of development in Latin America, but prevailing trends point in another direction. The paper focuses on the interactions between, on the one hand, specific traditions and social contexts, and, on the other hand, global trends concerning the role of knowledge and academic changes. The specific traits of the evolution of Higher Education in Latin America are discussed, in order to describe the emergence of an original ‘idea of University’. Changes and continuities during the last decades of the 20th century are summarized. Similarities and differences between developed countries and Latin America concerning current trends in Higher Education are analyzed. Particular attention is given to the interactions between what is happening in Latin American universities and the new insertion of the continent in the global economy. A prospective analysis is attempted, focusing on the social commitment of universities.