The Role of Digital Communication Practices in Ensuring Citizen Participation and Transparency in Public Administration

Abstract

Together with the transition from the management paradigm to the governance paradigm, sharing of the management power with the all actors of society has come to the fore. Within the multi-actor structure which is proposed by governance, citizens are a key stakeholder group. For successful implementation of governance paradigm, it is necessary to support citizen participation and strengthen transparency in public administration. In the literature, it is noteworthy that many studies emphasize that digital communication practices strengthen citizen participation and transparency in public administration. In the light of this information, digital communication efforts of public institutions are discussed in terms of governance paradigm and it is aimed to determine evaluations of citizens towards public institutions' digital communication practices in this study. Findings obtained from the research has indicated that digital communication practices play an important role in ensuring citizen participation and transparency in public administration.