The ARRA websites through the lens of digital accountability and citizen engagement

Modern information technology offers new ways of fulfilling democracy's goals. Various public services are now more efficiently facilitated through the Internet. Online information, particularly in regard to budgetary matters makes governments visible and open. Efforts remain inadequate, however, in harnessing electronic means to foster greater links between governments and citizens. In this chapter we argue that performance-based government accountability should accompany efforts to increase citizen engagement. We explore this area using a recent, intergovernmental arena of e-governance: the state websites for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). We find that states are better at including engagement data than at demonstrating performance-based accountability. At the end of the chapter we suggest enhancing e-governance relationships through a dialogue on performance and sustaining digital democracy, including its intergovernmental aspects.