E-Democracy at the American Grassroots

Using data from national surveys conducted in 2006 and 2011, we examine the extent to which grassroots or local governments in the United States have adopted electronic democracy (e-democracy). The results show that few American local governments have adopted e-democracy, particularly meaningful elements in which citizens can actively participate in governmental activities, programs and decision-making. These results are highly inconsistent with the claims of e-democracy advocates. Two important factors account for the lack of e-democracy at the American grassroots: lack of funding and lack of perceived demand. Another important factor may be that early predictions were incorrect. Based on these findings, we would expect that e-democracy at the American grassroots will not be substantially different in the foreseeable future than it is now.