Electronic participation offered by Chilean Municipalities. Is it that what citizens really want?

Information technology and the internet have an enormous potential for the development of government services at all levels. These technologies not only offer access to a wide range of electronic services to support the daily life of citizens, but they also could help citizens to participate in the governance of their communities. The term "electronic participation" has been coined to describe the use of these technologies with the goal of improving political participation. This article assesses and compares eParticipation services provided by Chilean municipalities with the level of satisfaction perceived by its citizens. The study ranks the level of e-participation offered by 324 municipalities in Chile and assesses the satisfaction of 198 citizens belonging to eight municipalities in the North of Chile. On one hand, the results suggest that the average e-participation offered by Chilean municipalities in the North of Chile is still low. On the other hand, municipalities providing a high level of eParticipation services are not always the ones getting better levels of citizen's satisfaction with their services. Another interesting finding suggests that the informal but permanent communication of some municipalities through twitter can improve citizen's satisfaction with eParticipation.