Elucidating Online Structure for Democratic Legitimacy: Case of Local Government Online Structure in Java-Indonesia

This study explores the impact of online communicative structures in local government Web disclosure on democratic legitimacy, after the implementation of e-government in Java, Indonesia, as a result of recent bureaucratic decentralization. Being at a very early stage in the e-government initiative, the analysis of 78 local government websites in Indonesia reveals that local government online structures present certain aspects of democratic and interactive appearance. However, the levels of democratized Internet mediated human interactions are restricted. These restrictions reflect the eradication of sensitive information, a low level of responses to citizens’ solicitations, and disclosure of selective information in local government websites. This chapter suggests that restriction on local government online structure is due to the government’s favor of more controlled media interaction influenced by the embedded authoritarian political culture due to many years of institutionalization. In a sense, websites merely function as a symbol of government legitimacy and power over citizens through media technology, which could suggest local government manipulation of democratization processes. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-1740-7.ch074