Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Politics of Citizen Access Technology

1992; Wiley; Volume: 20; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1541-0072.1992.tb00184.x

1541-0072

K. Kendall Guthrie, William H. Dutton,

Public Policy and Administration Research

This article uses comparative case studies to examine the political shaping of public Information utilities developed by American local governments. These public access computer networks are designed lo facilitate access to community information and dialogue. We view technology design as analogous to developing public policy on citizen participation, where the “legislation” is imbedded in the technological design. Research sites included three adopter cities, Santa Monica, Pasadena, and Glendale, California, and one nonadopter city, Irvine. This comparison highlights key technology‐policy choices (including the choice of not developing this application). Our analysis then examines the role of technological paradigms, local political cultures, and organizational arrangements in shaping municipal approaches to addressing these key policy choices.