Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486

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Government Information Quarterly

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/govinf

Can government’s presence on social media stimulate citizens’ online T

political participation? Investigating the influence of transparency, trust,
and responsiveness
Saman Arshad, Sobia Khurram⁎
Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Pakistan

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: This paper empirically investigates the association of quality information provided by a government agency on
Government social media social media and citizen’s online political participation. It further answers the why and how questions regarding
Citizen participation the existence of this relationship by examining the mediating influence of transparency, trust, and responsive-
Government trust ness. The data was collected from 388 followers of the social media platforms of a government agency i.e. Punjab
Perceived responsiveness
Food Authority and the findings of the analysis were obtained using structural equation modeling technique. The
Perceived transparency
e-government
results reveal that the agency’s provision of quality information on social media was significantly related to
Punjab Food Authority perceived transparency, trust in agency, perceived responsiveness, and citizens’ online political participation.
Pakistan Moreover, the results show that perceived transparency mediates the relationship between agency’s provision of
CB-SEM quality information on social media and citizens’ trust in agency. Additionally, trust in agency was an insig-
nificant predictor and perceived responsiveness was a negative predictor of citizens online political participa-
tion, Also, trust in agency and perceived responsiveness suppressed the relationship between agency’s provision
of quality information on social media and citizens’ online political participation. This study aims to bring
awareness and contribution to the body of knowledge about the governmental use of social media and its re-
sulting benefits since in developing countries like Pakistan the research in this area is sparse. Further, it provides
strategic and practical suggestions to agencies regarding advantages of utilizing social media in their commu-
nication with citizens.

1. Introduction this, social media is increasingly catching attention of governments of

Citizens’ political participation is advantageous for both govern-
ment and citizens of the country; while it provides citizens an oppor-
tunity to exercise their right and a sense of empowerment, it also
provides the government with broader sources of information to make
better informed decisions (Michels & De Graaf, 2010). The conventional
channels of political participation are tedious and time-consuming e.g.
visiting offices, writing letters, etc. (Bakker & De Vreese, 2011). How-
ever, the advancements in ICTs has greatly facilitated the participation
process and has produced new users termed as e-citizens or digital ci-
tizens (Shirazi, 2010).
One of the fastest growing digital channels is the social media with
2.62 billion monthly active users worldwide in 2018 (Statista, 2018). It
possesses many distinguishing features and strengths including open-
ness, participation, communication and engagement (Bertot, Jaeger, &
Grimes, 2010; Kim, Park, & Rho, 2015; Zheng & Zheng, 2014). Due to
developed countries which have begun to capitalize on the collabora-
tive power of social media (Mossberger, Wu, & Crawford, 2013) and
devised formal regulations, policies and strategies for its efficient uti-
lization (Al-Aufi, Al-Harthi, Al-Hinai, Al-Salti, & Al-Badi, 2017). On the
other hand, in developing countries, governmental use of social media
is still at an informational stage (Al-Aufi et al., 2017) i.e. the govern-
ments use social media platforms primarily for announcements and
news updates while exhibiting minimal interest for collaboration, en-
gagement, and interaction with citizens.
In recent years, Pakistan has also seen a rise in the usage of social
media having 35 million monthly active users in 2018 with total
number of monthly active Facebook users as 32 million (Wearesocial,
2018). According to Udanor, Aneke, and Ogbuokiri (2016), people in
Pakistan are now utilizing social media for social movements, protests,
and to bring the officials to account. During the past few years, political
leaders and government entities in Pakistan have started to use social

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sobia.ias@pu.edu.pk (S. Khurram).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2020.101486
Received 25 December 2019; Received in revised form 1 May 2020; Accepted 1 May 2020
0740-624X/ © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
S. Arshad and S. Khurram
media to broadcast information (Ali, 2013). They mainly use social
media for spreading awareness (regarding policies, on-going projects,
future prospects, and other developments), news and important public
announcements. The governmental use of social media in Pakistan is at
an informational stage but the government is gradually realizing the
importance of its role (Memon, Mahar, Dhomeja, & Pirzado, 2015). A
few studies have explored the association of generic usage of social
media with citizens’ online political participation in Pakistan and they
too have highlighted the need for further investigation into the matter
(Ahmad & Sheikh, 2013; Javaid, 2017; Zaheer, 2016). Rather than
generic social media usage, this study seeks to move forward by spe-
cifically focusing on government agency’s social media presence and its
influence on citizens’ online political participation, the area which lacks
empirical evidence in the context of Pakistan. This study is aimed to
address the gap that exists in the body of knowledge regarding gov-
ernmental use of social media in the context of Pakistan. It attempts to
create awareness and a realistic picture of the benefits, such as heigh-
tened perception of transparency, trust, responsiveness, and greater
participation, which can be reaped if the government entities in Paki-
stan adopt effective usage of social media platforms to interact with
citizens given its rising trend and increasing power.
In summary, the present study is a contribution to the theoretical
knowledge since in Pakistan most of the research focuses on opportu-
nities and hurdles relating to adoption of e-governance as a whole
(Ovais Ahmad, Markkula, & Oivo, 2013; Rehman, Esichaikul, & Kamal,
2012) while no particular focus has been given to governmental use of
social media platforms and its resulting benefits such as citizens’ online
political participation. Further, the study presents a comprehensive
theoretical model which demonstrates that agency’s provision of
quality information on social media aids in the enhancement of citizens’
perception about its transparency and responsiveness, develop their
trust in agency, and fosters citizens’ online political participation.
However, citizens’ trust in agency does not lead to citizens’ online
participation and their perception about agency’s responsiveness also
refrains them from participating. Moreover, the mediating influence of
trust and responsiveness are examined. In addition to theoretical con-
tributions, these indicators are particularly significant to assess after the
election of new government in Pakistan in 2018 and also because these
are a part of Pakistan vision 2025 which envisions the government of
Pakistan to become more open, transparent, responsive, inclusive, and
connected to citizens in digital realm and encourage citizens’ active
participation to ensure democratic governance by 2025 (Planning
Commission, 2014, p. 55-57).
The paper is split into seven sections; Section 1 above presents
background and introduction of the study. Section 2 provides the lit-
erature review of government agency’s provision of quality information
on social media and citizens’ online political participation. Section 3
provides introduction of perceived transparency, trust in agency and
perceived responsiveness, and presents the details about development
of conceptual model and hypotheses of the study. Section 4 outlines the
research methods including the explanations about the sampling pro-
cedures and the measures used to collect data. Section 5 provides the
results of the analysis. Then, the discussion of findings, limitations and
future directions are provided in Section 6. Lastly, Section 7 presents
conclusion of the paper.
2. Literature review
This section provides the relevant literature related to government
agency’s provision of quality information on social media and citizens’
online political participation.
2.1. Government agency’s provision of quality information on social media
The field of social media is growing vigorously with new users
joining the already existing billions of users each day (Kaplan &
2
Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486
Haenlein, 2010). Due to rapid growth and broad range of benefits,
social media has become popular in the political sector as well. Gov-
ernment entities are progressively employing social media platforms for
information provision, interaction with citizens (Criado, Sandoval-
Almazán, & Gil-García, 2013) as well as to achieve several other goals
e.g. increased citizen participation, trust, and improved public-service
delivery (Freeman & Loo, 2009; Stieglitz & Dang-Xuan, 2013). The in-
teractive nature of social media breaks the costs and barriers of tradi-
tional communication channels (Carlisle & Patton, 2013). Now gov-
ernments can eliminate the middlemen (reporters and editors) in their
communication with citizens who could manipulate or fail to convey
authentic information (Smith, 2010).
Given the strategic importance, social media is being incorporated
at all governmental levels (Bonson, Torres, Royo, & Flores, 2012;
Mergel & Bretschneider, 2013) and governments are now formalizing
and properly regulating their social media communications (Al-Aufi
et al., 2017). This practice is progressively manifested in developed
countries where governments capitalize on participatory and colla-
borative power of social media (Mossberger et al., 2013), and devise
formal regulations, policies and strategies for its efficient utilization
(Al-Aufi et al., 2017). However, in developing countries government’s
social media utilization remains at an informational stage i.e. it is pri-
marily used for announcements and news updates with minimal interest
for collaboration, interaction and participation with citizens. The major
problem is lack of strategic framework (Al-Aufi et al., 2017). The
government officials and agencies in most developing countries create
social media accounts for the sake of online representation without a
proper communication strategy in place. Kuzma (2010) in her study of
50 Asian countries states that only 30% of Asian governments have
social media presence and unlike developed countries they lack stra-
tegic approach for its efficient utilization. Al-Aufi et al. (2017) identifies
the similar lack of strategic approach in many Arab countries as well.
According to Mergel (2013b), governments generally use push, pull
or networking strategy in their utilization of social media platforms
each of which is based on a particular purpose for which these tools are
used. In push strategy social media is used as a supplementary source
for information provision with a top-down approach and is largely fo-
cused on mere representation of government entities on social media.
Pull strategy has a dialogic approach and major focus on engagement.
Stakeholders are encouraged to actively participate and provide opi-
nions on multiple matters. Lastly, networking strategy is majorly a
blend of push and pull strategies. It is a two-way, responsive and cy-
clical communication process in which feedback is taken from and in
turn provided to stakeholders. While networking strategy seems ideal it
still remains hypothetical since there are limitations concerning its
successful implementation which hinders achievement of inherent
benefits that this strategy is deemed to possess (Mergel, 2013b) such as
insufficient administrative capabilities required for its execution, citi-
zens’ reluctance to participate, or lack of assurance among citizens re-
garding the value and practical implementation of their contribution
and their doubt about it being a ‘hollow exercise’ (Feeney & Welch,
2012). It is crucial for governments to customize social media strategy
by aligning with their own set of resources and capabilities instead of
trying to imitate other governments, self-promotion or political mar-
keting. Rather, it must be focused, realistic, context-specific, and
practically implementable (Criado et al., 2013; Mergel, 2012). Un-
fortunately, governments of developing countries that have social
media presence fail to utilize this tool in a systematic manner (Memon
et al., 2015).
2.2. Citizen’s online political participation
Citizens’ political participation involves interaction with political
entities i.e. government officials or agencies in an attempt to influence
the policy decisions (Skoric, Zhu, Goh, & Pang, 2015; Verba,
Schlozman, & Brady, 1995). It produces variety of benefits such as
S. Arshad and S. Khurram
Perceived
Transparency
+
Government
Agency’s
Provision of
+ -
Quality
Information on
Social Media +
Fig. 1. The conceptual model
nurturance of a culture of openness and inclusion, sense of responsi-
bility among citizens, awareness about public issues, empowerment,
legitimacy of government decisions, and broader information sources
for governments to make better informed decisions (Michels & De
Graaf, 2010).
Citizens contact respective government entities with a clear objec-
tive or a certain need of their own or the society (McNeal, Hale, &
Dotterweich, 2008; Scheufele & Nisbet, 2002; Yaghi, 2009). The most
common reasons for citizens to contact government agencies are in-
formation seeking, asking for provision of services, filing of complaints,
informing the government about a certain matter, and providing feed-
back about the performance of the government or the services provided
by them.
Conventionally, citizens had to go through various tedious steps to
voice their opinions and in case of disagreement with some govern-
mental decision citizens had to file complain by telephone or by phy-
sically visiting the respective office (Bakker & De Vreese, 2011). These
methods were both time-consuming as well as costly and it raised a
question of representativeness of citizens’ opinions as many remained
quiet and thereby underrepresented e.g. the young citizens (Schlozman,
Verba, & Brady, 2010). Furthermore, the younger generation which is
tech-savvy repel from these traditional methods of interaction with
government entities (Vissers & Stolle, 2014; Zukin, Keeter, Andolina,
Jenkins, & Carpini, 2006) raising a demand for more contemporary and
digital communication channels (Bakker & De Vreese, 2011).
Internet is a cost-effective and accessible source through which
participation is facilitated. It has eliminated the distance and now ci-
tizens can interact with government entities with just a click. The use of
internet for political participation has introduced a term known as e-
democracy which is a bottom-up communication channel with mes-
sages travelling from citizens to government as opposed to e-govern-
ance which is a top-down communication channel (Breindl & Francq,
2008). Using internet citizens can conveniently access news, search for
political information, sign online petitions, have political discussions in
forums or blogs, participate in online protests, and visit government
official or agency’s websites and various other sources containing po-
litical content (Bakker & De Vreese, 2011; Vissers & Stolle, 2014).
Xenos and Moy (2007) in their study points out that citizens already
interested in politics tend to be more encouraged to participate on
online platforms. However, due to its convenient nature, low cost, and
easy accessibility the internet fosters engagement of even those in-
dividuals who were previously disinterested in politics (Carlisle &
Patton, 2013; Loader & Mercea, 2011; Vissers & Stolle, 2014). People
on the internet, especially on social networks, gets exposed to political
information when someone in their network share it. The individual
might not have intended to view that information, but such uninten-
tional exposure may also influence the individual and lead him/her to
political participation (Vissers & Stolle, 2014). Similarly, some scholars
3
Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486
+
Citizens’ Online
Trust in
Political
Agency
Participation
Perceived
Responsivenes
suggest that socially interactive and networked nature of social media
enables users to become a part of community making them aware of
various prevailing issues and fosters political participation (Gil de
Zúñiga, Puig-i-Abril, & Rojas, 2009; Vissers & Stolle, 2014).
3. Conceptual model and hypotheses
In this section the conceptual model of the study and the hypotheses
are formulated based on the existing theories, evidences and gaps found
in the literature especially in the context of Pakistan. The study pro-
posed that government agency’s provision of quality information on
social media can stimulate citizens’ political participation. It also en-
hances citizen’s perception regarding agency’s transparency, respon-
siveness and their trust in agency. Moreover, because of mediating in-
fluence of perceptions about transparency, citizens develop even more
trust in agency. Perceived transparency refers to citizens’ understanding
of internal workings of the government through public disclosure of
information regarding its activities and decision-making processes
(Porumbescu, 2015; Song & Lee, 2015). Citizens’ trust in agency and
their perception about agency’s responsiveness subsequently hinders
citizens’ online political participation. Further, perceptions about re-
sponsiveness and trust in agency is proposed to have a mediating in-
fluence on the relationship of government agency’s provision of quality
information on social media and citizens’ participation. Trust represents
the perception of citizens that the agency has adequate expertise to take
decisions, works for the best interest of society, and fulfills it promises
and commitment (Grimmelikhuijsen, Porumbescu, Hong, & Im, 2013;
Porumbescu, 2017). Perceived responsiveness is ‘the belief that gov-
ernment officials actually listen to and care about what citizens have to
say’ (Anderson, 2010, p. 64). Fig. 1 illustrates the conceptual model.
3.1. Government agency’s provision of quality information on social media
and citizens’ online political participation
The relationship of government’s provision of quality information
on social media and citizens’ online political participation is the focus of
this study. Hand and Ching (2011) studied the relationship between
official Facebook pages of local governments in cities of Phoenix and
citizens’ engagement and concluded that local governments mainly
utilize social media for authoritative communication and continue to
take ‘speaking-from-power stance’. Hofmann, Beverungen, Räckers, and
Becker (2013) studied Facebook pages of local governments in Ger-
many and Cho and Park (2012) studied Twitter account of an agency in
South Korea, both studies concluded that social media platforms were
used for top-down information dissemination instead of encouraging bi-
directional communication. Similar results were reported by Agostino
and Arnaboldi (2016) who conducted the study on Italian city admin-
istrators’ Facebook pages and found that major purpose of using social
S. Arshad and S. Khurram
media was information provision rather than fostering citizen partici-
pation. Tang and Lee (2013) investigated this relationship in Hong
Kong and concluded that direct interaction with public officials or ac-
tors on Facebook stimulates youngsters’ political participation. Like-
wise, Bonson et al. (2012) and Bertot, Jaeger, and Grimes (2012) have
suggested that government agencies can enhance citizen participation
and trust if they make efficient use of social media.
Most of the literature investigating relationship of government so-
cial media and citizen participation originates from developed countries
while governments of developing countries remain unaware of the
potential of this tool (Al-Aufi et al., 2017). Kuzma (2010) conducted a
study comprising of 50 Asian governments and found that only 30% of
countries adopted social media and even those countries were not using
it for participatory purposes. Inactive and infrequent utilization of so-
cial media for communication with citizens is also indicated by
Abdelsalam, Reddick, Gamal, and Al-Shaar (2013) in their study of
Egyptian government. Similarly, Btoush (2014) found minimal ex-
istence of government agencies on social media platforms in Jordon. In
Pakistan, most of the research focuses on opportunities and hurdles
relating to adoption of e-governance as a whole (Ovais Ahmad et al.,
2013; Rehman et al., 2012), though social media’s potential as a com-
municator is now being increasingly realized (Hussain, 2014). How-
ever, sufficient empirical evidence was not found in terms of social
media utilization by government agencies in Pakistan and its resulting
relationship with citizens’ political participation. Therefore, this study
seeks to contribute to this gap in the body of literature.
Gelders (2005) suggests that the information disseminated by the
government should be assessed by the citizens as complete, timely and
trustworthy. The provided information is most useful and impactful if it
is reliable and readily accessible to the public whenever they need it
(Jaeger & Bertot, 2010). According to Park, Kang, Rho, and Lee (2015),
the information disseminated by the government should have accuracy,
sufficiency, and diversity in terms of its content, as well as timeliness,
and accessibility. Fulfillment of these requirements can lead to greater
legitimacy of the government among its citizens and can stimulate the
citizens to participate in the policy-making procedures (Gelders, 2005).
Therefore, the researchers posit that the quality information provided
by the government agency on social media can lead to citizens’ political
participation given that the information is perceived by the citizens to
have fulfilled the aforementioned requirements.
H1. Government agency’s provision of quality information on social
media is positively related with citizens’ online political participation.
3.2. Government agency’s provision of quality information on social media,
citizens’ perception about agency’s transparency, and their trust in the
agency
The primary objective of government transparency is to foster citi-
zens’ understanding of internal workings of government entities
through disclosure of information regarding their activities and deci-
sion-making processes (Porumbescu, 2015; Song & Lee, 2015). Ad-
vancements in ICTs has engendered a novel form of transparency which
is known as “internet-mediated transparency” (Grimmelikhuijsen &
Welch, 2012; Porumbescu, 2017; Porumbescu & Im, 2015). It enables
government entities to reach wider audience in a timely and cost-ef-
fective manner and it has become easier than ever for citizens to access
government information whenever they require (Porumbescu, 2017).
Governments at all levels are utilizing this medium to be more open
regarding public matters so that citizens can get aware and educated
about the processes leading towards particular decisions. Apart from
awareness, increased perceptions of citizens regarding government
transparency also results in improved trust in government, and facil-
itates citizens’ political participation. As suggested by Rebolledo,
Zamora Medina, and Rodríguez-Virgili (2016) transparency is the
foundation on which a participative democratic system stands.
4
Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486
Transparency of processes and actions allows citizens to pinpoint any
flaws and to suggest any improvements in the decision-making process
before the government issues a final decision (Rebolledo et al., 2016).
One important aspect of internet-mediated transparency is that the
information provided should be timely, easily comprehendible and
usable by the public (Grimmelikhuijsen & Meijer, 2012; Porumbescu,
2015). Information itself cannot encourage citizens to engage in public
matters, rather it is the nature, usability and timeliness of that in-
formation which facilitates participation (Piotrowski & Liao, 2012).
Internet platforms such as social media are expected to fulfill these
requirements specially in terms of reach, understandability, and time-
liness of information.
Social media platforms by their very definition possess capabilities
to facilitate interactive, open, instant, and direct communication. When
adopted by governments, it can bring about transformations in terms of
increased interactions with citizens and improved transparency leading
to an improved culture of democratic participation (Bertot, Jaeger,
Munson, & Glaisyer, 2010). The citizens of today prefer to stay aware of
the policy and community matters and the online channels such as
social media facilitate in this regard (Vissers & Stolle, 2014). Therefore,
government can directly reach out to citizens through these platforms
to raise the perceptions of transparency and to gain their confidence
and trust (Song & Lee, 2015). Similarly, Jaeger and Bertot (2010)
mention in their study that one of the major objectives of adopting
social media by government entities is to improve the culture of
transparency. Further, Mergel (2013b) also mention that social media
channels are commonly used by government for three main reasons; to
get citizens’ opinions regarding improvements in policies, to seek ci-
tizen cooperation in solving issues, and to keep citizens updated re-
garding government processes and decisions i.e. to enhance transpar-
ency. As already discussed, the assessment of citizens about
authenticity, timeliness, completeness and accessibility of the in-
formation disseminated through social media can lead to greater le-
gitimacy of the government (Gelders, 2005). This happens when citi-
zens regularly get informed about the processes regarding policy-
making rather than enforcement of its implementation on citizens
without their input or understanding, which paves way for an improved
channel of communication and develops perceptions of citizens about
the openness and transparent practices of the government (Gelders,
2005; Morgeson, VanAmburg, & Mithas, 2011). Therefore, the re-
searchers posited that the government agency’s provision of quality
information on social media enhances citizens’ perception about its
transparency.
H2. Government agency’s provision of quality information on social
media is positively related with citizens’ perception of government
transparency.
Trust is a necessary requirement for smooth functioning of the
overall system (Houston & Harding, 2013). Citizens find it easier to
comply with policies, rules, and regulations when they have greater
trust in government entities (Im, Cho, Porumbescu, & Park, 2012; Park
et al., 2015) On the other hand, government achieves greater legitimacy
of their decisions from citizens (Houston & Harding, 2013; Tolbert &
Mossberger, 2006). However, literature shows several evidences of
continuous decline in citizens’ trust in governments in many countries
around the world (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2009; Gracia & Arino, 2015).
It has been discussed by scholars that various reasons such as low
economic outcomes, corruption, and scandals may have contributed
towards this atmosphere of mistrust (Gracia & Arino, 2015; Yıldız &
Saylam, 2013). Without an appropriate level of trust, no public in-
itiatives or reforms by government can become successful as citizens’
support is required for their effective implementation (Gracia & Arino,
2015), and consequently the economy fails to prosper. Therefore, in the
light of its paramount importance, it is significant to investigate and
find out the level of citizens’ trust in a country and the ways in which it
can be restored and improved.
S. Arshad and S. Khurram
Song & Lee (2015) suggests that e-government platforms such as
social media enables citizens to engage with government entities and to
easily access up-to-date and relevant information which leads to de-
velopment of trust. They describe citizens’ trust which is developed
through government social media as ‘their attitude toward government
agencies or officials as shaped by their evaluations of the outcomes they
expect to occur from the use of social media in government’ (p. 438). As
for the expected outcomes, social media is expected to bridge the gap
between citizens and government as it facilitates two-way interaction,
making citizens aware of the actions of the government and providing
them a platform to voice their concerns. Consequently, this feeling of
connectedness with government may result in enhanced perceptions
about government’s trustworthiness (Song & Lee, 2015). So, it was
proposed that the provision of relevant and updated information by
government agency on social media fosters citizens’ trust in their gov-
ernment.
H3. Government agency’s provision of quality information on social
media is positively related with citizens’ trust in agency.
However, many scholars present the view that citizen trust is de-
veloped through e-government platforms such as social media by en-
hancing perceptions about transparency (Bertot, Jaeger, & Grimes,
2010; Mergel, 2013b; Shim & Eom, 2008, 2009; Song & Lee, 2015),
since one of the hallmarks of e-government services is its openness and
transparent nature (Criado et al., 2013; Mergel, 2013b). This view is
based on the notion that disclosure of information reduces citizens’
misconceptions regarding efforts and performance of their government
(Grimmelikhuijsen et al., 2013; Mettler, 2011) as it allows them to
comprehend processes and reasons behind government decisions (Buell,
Porter, & Norton, 2018; Cook, Jacobs, & Kim, 2010; Porumbescu,
2015), and to understand contribution of those decisions in public
welfare (Buell & Norton, 2011; Tolbert & Mossberger, 2006). Halachmi
and Greiling (2013) provides another argument in support of positive
influence of transparency on trust in government. They mention that
transparency enables citizens to see work and efforts of government,
therefore citizens trust government to translate those efforts to practical
results.
H4. Citizens’ perception of government agency’s transparency is
positively related with their trust in agency.
The easier access to government information facilitated by e-gov-
ernment platforms such as social media shapes citizens’ perceptions
about government transparency which leads to an increase in their trust
in government (Bertot, Jaeger, Munson, & Glaisyer, 2010; Shim & Eom,
2009; Song & Lee, 2015). The regular updates provided by government
on social media platforms regarding utilization of public resources not
only develops perceptions of higher transparency, but it also builds
citizens’ trust (Warren, Sulaiman, & Jaafar, 2014). Similarly, the find-
ings of the study conducted by Tolbert and Mossberger (2006) also
suggest that through relevant information dissemination on e-govern-
ment websites, citizens’ get a clearer and more transparent view of
government’s actions taken to cater the needs and demands of the
public which results in an increase in the level of citizens’ trust in their
government. Moreover, Porumbescu (2017) investigated two distinct
channels of government transparency i.e. social media and e-govern-
ment websites, and their link with perceived government trustworthi-
ness and found that citizens’ exposure to government’s social media
platforms is positively related with perceived trustworthiness. There-
fore, keeping in view the presented argument and the identified need
for further empirical investigation of this chain of associations between
government social media, transparency, and trust (Song & Lee, 2015),
transparency is proposed to be a mediator between the relationship of
government’s provision of quality information on social media and ci-
tizens’ trust in government.
H5. Citizens’ perception of government agency’s transparency mediates
5
Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486
the relationship between agency’s provision of quality information on
social media and citizens’ trust in agency.
3.3. Citizens’ trust in the agency and online political participation
Citizens democratically elect political representatives by trusting
them to become a source of raising unified voice of public and to fulfill
their duties and responsibilities in a sincere manner (Grimmelikhuijsen
et al., 2013; Grimmelikhuijsen & Meijer, 2012; Porumbescu, 2016;
Porumbescu, 2017). While on one hand, trust ensures greater accep-
tance and legitimacy of governmental decisions by citizens (Houston &
Harding, 2013), it also acts as a motivation for citizens to engage,
collaborate, and cooperate with government for effective and smooth
functioning of the democratic system (Houston & Harding, 2013; Park
et al., 2015; Porumbescu, 2017). Therefore, when citizens trust gov-
ernment entities to work in the best interest of the society they are
better willing to participate since they know that their opinions will be
considered in policy decisions. Some of the scholars who have pre-
viously studied the influence of citizens’ trust in government entities on
political participation inferred trust to be an important predictor of
political participation (Hooghe & Marien, 2013; Huang, Ao, Lu, Ip, &
Kao, 2017; Lee & Schachter, 2018).
In recent times, governments around the world have opened mul-
tiple channels of citizen participation. E-government initiatives is the
striking example of such efforts which makes it easier than ever for
citizens to interact with the government. However, research suggests
that adopting e-government platforms requires a certain level of trust
on citizens’ part (Al-Khouri, 2013; Alzahrani, Al-Karaghouli, &
Weerakkody, 2017; Khan, Rahim, & Maarop, 2018). According to Al-
Khouri (2013) trust is of utmost importance in the promotion of citizen
participation in e-government platforms. Similarly, Teo, Srivastava, and
Jiang (2008) also suggest that existence of trust is central to e-partici-
pation. As mentioned by Keele (2007) in his study, ‘trust in government
will influence civic activity, since it may require some level of trust in
government to participate in activities that engage political institutions’
(p. 244). Mahmood, Sohail, Mushtaq, and Rizvi (2014) conducted a
systematic review in which they identified the hindering factors of ci-
tizens’ political participation in Pakistan. Distrust in government was
found to be one of the factors inhibiting political participation, which
means that citizens’ trust is required for political participation. On the
flip side, some of the scholars have also highlighted that mistrust in-
stead of trust leads to greater political participation (Goldfinch, Gauld,
& Herbison, 2009) or that trust itself is not related to citizen partici-
pation (Parkins et al., 2017). Goldfinch et al. (2009) commented that
‘people who trust in government see no great reason to actively parti-
cipate – they are happy to leave their representatives to deliver what is
best for them’ (p. 337). Mistrust stimulates political participation as
citizens generally participate more to give a negative feedback or to
complain than to appreciate or acknowledge the performance of the
government. This kind of behavior is known as “negativity bias” where
people tend to react more strongly to negative events than to positive or
neutral ones (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Finkenauer, & Vohs, 2001; Rozin
& Royzman, 2001). Naranjo-Zolotov et al. (2019) collected data from
Portuguese citizens and reported trust in government to be an insig-
nificant predictor of intention to participate. Therefore, under the light
of the competing claims found in the literature it is vital to investigate
this relationship. In this study it is posited that citizens having greater
trust in government are less likely to indulge in online political parti-
cipation.
H6. Citizens’ trust in government agency is inversely related with
online political participation.
As discussed above, the presence of mistrust instead of trust sti-
mulates greater political participation by the citizens as they generally
participate more to complain than to appreciate the performance of the
S. Arshad and S. Khurram
government. Therefore, even though the government agency’s provi-
sion of quality information on social media encourages citizens to
participate but those who have greater trust in the agency are less likely
to participate as they feel content with the performance of the agency
and trust them to do what’s best for the society and therefore do not feel
the need to raise their voice or concerns (Goldfinch et al., 2009). The
updates given by government entities on social media can be perceived
by citizens as either positive or negative which is based on the level of
trust citizens have on the government, and so citizens react in terms of
political participation accordingly. Given that the citizens tend to give
negative feedback more than the positive one, it is posited that trust in
the entity reduces their likelihood of participation especially of online
nature (Baumeister et al., 2001; Goldfinch et al., 2009; Rozin &
Royzman, 2001).
H7. Citizens’ trust in government agency mediates the relationship
between agency’s provision of quality information on social media and
online political participation.
3.4. Government agency’s provision of quality information on social media,
citizens’ perception about agency’s responsiveness, and online political
participation
The elected representatives are supposed to be responsive to the
needs, demands and opinions of the citizens to retain voters’ trust and
to remain in power in the future as well (Besley & Burgess, 2001; Hobolt
& Klemmensen, 2006). Esaiasson, Gilljam, and Persson (2016) identi-
fied three forms of responsiveness measures; listening (to get informed
and learn about citizens’ opinions, requests, and complaints), ex-
plaining (to reasonably justify actions leading to certain policy choices),
and adapting (to modify policies to incorporate the opinion of ma-
jority). These measures are particularly helpful in gaining acceptance of
undesirable policy decisions. Listening and explaining provides sa-
tisfaction to citizens that their opinions were communicated and noted
during policy formulation process and since adaptation occurs by
adopting the opinion of majority, no need for protest remains.
Perceived government responsiveness is the belief of citizens that
government would be responsive to their opinions, complaints and re-
quests if they communicated them. The scholars of political science
commonly term perceived government responsiveness as external po-
litical efficacy. Rumbul (2016) refers to external efficacy as ‘the extent
to which citizens believe governments and authoritative institutions
will be responsive to citizen demands or participation’ (p. 34). De Moor
(2015) distinguishes between two distinct but essential elements of
perceived external efficacy; external input and output efficacy. External
input efficacy is the perception about government’s willingness to
consider and adopt citizens’ opinions, while external output efficacy
refers to the perception about governments’ ability to adopt citizens’
opinions in decision-making process. While an individual believes that
a government entity is willing to listen and adopt citizens’ views, he/
she might be skeptical about its ability to translate those views into
policy outcomes.
Internet is becoming a major source for enhancement of perceived
external efficacy (Pinkleton, Austin, Zhou, Willoughby, & Reiser, 2012).
E-government channels which paves citizen-government communica-
tion paths are anticipated to antidote the negative perception of ex-
ternal efficacy (Tolbert & Mossberger, 2006) by enabling the govern-
ment to be responsive to needs and wants of citizens (Gauld, Gray, &
McComb, 2009). Zavattaro and Sementelli (2015) suggest that mere
presence of government entities online portray them as available and
responsive. On the other hand, Dekker and Bekkers (2015) states that
policymakers need to be active to be responsive on the online mediums.
Social media is emerging as an effective tool to enhance responsiveness.
As Panagiotopoulos, Barnett, and Brooks (2013) states in their study
that social media enables citizens to ‘access, share and comment on
government information’ (p. 310), and aids government in reaching and
6
Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486
providing quick and timely response to citizen queries (Al-Aufi et al.,
2017; Mergel, 2013a).
H8. Government agency’s provision of quality information on social
media is positively related with citizens’ perception of government
responsiveness.
Previous studies have demonstrated that citizens having greater
perception of government responsiveness will have greater intention to
participate as they consider their contribution to be more effective
when they believe that their input and requests will impact policy de-
cisions and other political outcomes (Karp & Banducci, 2008; Tarrow,
2011). Sjoberg, Mellon, and Peixoto (2017) and Van Zomeren, Postmes,
and Spears (2008) report the similar findings that those citizens tend to
participate more who are confident that the government would be re-
sponsive to them. However, De Moor (2015) found a negative effect of
external output efficacy on act of contacting the politicians (perceived
government responsiveness is interchangeably termed as external effi-
cacy in the literature, also external output efficacy means adopting ci-
tizens opinions in policy decisions). He explained that citizens might
find less urgency or necessity to interfere with the workings of the
government when they feel satisfied with the government’s ability to
address the problems of the society. A satisfied citizen might have
greater perception about government’s responsiveness but does not feel
the need to participate politically online to notify the issues or to cor-
rect the actions of the government (Almond & Verba, 1963). Also, Gil de
Zúñiga, Diehl, and Ardévol-Abreu (2017) found no evidence of the ef-
fect of external efficacy on political participation. Therefore, the re-
searchers proposed perceived government responsiveness to be in-
versely related with online political participation.
H9. Citizens’ perception of government agency’s responsiveness is
inversely related with online political participation.
Based on the views of Almond and Verba (1963) and the findings of
Gil de Zúñiga et al. (2017) it is proposed that even though social media
aids government entities to be more responsive to citizens’ needs and
demands (Al-Aufi et al., 2017), but those having heightened percep-
tions about the government entities’ responsiveness might refrain from
participation as they believe that the prevailing issues are being taken
care of and there is no urgency or need of their involvement and par-
ticipation.
H10. Citizens’ perception of government agency’s responsiveness
mediates the relationship between agency’s provision of quality
information on social media and online political participation.
4. Research methods
This section outlines the research methods used in the study in-
cluding details regarding the sampling and data collection procedures,
the measures used for data collection, and the analysis techniques
employed for obtaining the results.
4.1. Sampling and data collection
The conceptual model was empirically tested by selecting a single
case study of an agency i.e. Punjab Food Authority by employing
quantitative survey design which is considered appropriate to obtain
data about people’s opinions, behaviors and attitudes regarding a par-
ticular subject without any manipulation, intervention, or bias of the
researcher (Kelley, Clark, Brown, & Sitzia, 2003). The data was col-
lected by conducting a survey from the followers of official Facebook
page and Twitter account of Punjab Food Authority (PFA) which is a
food standards agency in Pakistan. The social media platforms of
Punjab Food Authority are primarily used for dissemination of regula-
tions, alerts and news regarding food and hygiene related public
awareness, to showcase their functions and services, and interaction
S. Arshad and S. Khurram Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486

with public about food related matters. Their aim, through sharing the Table 1
content on social media, is to educate the citizens about the quality of Demographic profile of respondents
food and its health benefits, what constitutes rotten or bad food, and Characteristic Frequency Percent (%)
how to report/complain if an eatery is serving substandard food or
when a provider of an edible item is providing a substandard item. PFA Gender Male 288 74.4%
Female 99 25.6%
engages in two-way information dissemination with its followers/citi-
Age (years) 18-21 41 10.6%
zens as not only complains are reported by its followers/citizens on 22-25 113 29.2%
social media platforms but progress and feedback to complainants 26-29 86 22.2%
about outcome of their complains is also openly and actively provided 30-33 67 17.3%
by PFA on social platforms. Also, it provides additional contact in- 34-37 28 7.2%
Above 37 52 13.4%
formation such as the link to the official website, email address, official
Education Level Highschool 101 26.1%
helpline, and office address. Focus on one agency puts constraints to Graduation (Bachelors) 149 38.5%
generalizability of findings to other agencies. However, future studies Post-Graduation (Masters/ 134 34.6%
can replicate the findings in other contexts as well. The case of PFA was MPhil)
PhD. 3 0.8%
selected based on its higher activity than most agencies found on social
Employment Status Student 98 25.3%
media which makes it an extreme case as per the classification of Unemployed 72 18.6%
Flyvbjerg (2006) meaning that it was found to be especially active and Employed/ Self-employed 207 53.5%
responsive in terms of its social media usage than most other similar Retired 10 2.6%
agencies in Pakistan. Approaching the followers of PFA was considered N= 387

appropriate as they are in direct exposure of the content posted by

agency on social media and being the internet users, they are likely to
indulge in online forms of political participation as well. Only Facebook
and Twitter were selected out of all the social media platforms as these
two are most commonly and frequently used by both citizens and
government agencies in Pakistan. As of April 04, 2019, the total number
of followers of PFA’s Facebook page and Twitter account was 318,454
which constitutes the population frame. The social media marketing
team of PFA collected the data on behalf of the researchers due to the
limitations concerning access to the list of followers. A sample size of
384 responses was needed to achieve sufficient power to make statis-
tical inferences. The team contacted their followers at random till the
required sample size was achieved. During the period of four months
(from April to August 2019), the team sent the link of online survey
randomly to about 500 followers out of which 388 responded (77.6%
response rate). To ensure that no biasness was introduced in the process
of data collection, the PFA team was forwarded a neutral written
message drafted by the researchers to be sent to the followers. The exact
content of the message was “Please fill out the following questionnaire.
Keeping the Facebook page/Twitter account of PFA in mind, indicate
your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statements
by selecting one of the options. The information provided will be used
for research purposes only and the confidentiality of the respondents
will be ensured. Please provide authentic response, your opinions are
valuable to us” The survey was conducted online as it was impossible to
personally reach followers and hand them the questionnaire for filling
due to their geographical dispersion. To avoid the chance of any
missing values, all the questions in the online form were marked as
required which does not allow the respondent to submit the response
until all the questions have been answered. After screening the data and
removing a significant outlier, 387 responses were taken up for ana-
lysis. Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the respondents
in final sample.
4.2. Measures
The questionnaire consisting of 33 items was used to collect re-
sponses, the details of which can be found in Appendix A. All items are
measured with a 5-point Likert scale. Government agency’s provision of
quality information on social media was measured by adapting a seven-
item tool used by Park et al. (2015) which asked the respondents
whether the agency provides sufficient, accurate, diverse and timely
information. Perceived transparency of agency was measured by
adapting a four-item scale used by Al-Aufi et al. (2017) in which re-
spondents were asked whether the agency was providing clear and
transparent information. Trust in agency was measured by adapting
four-item tool used by Park et al. (2015) where respondents were
inquired if they have confidence in the agency and the content it pro-
vides on social media. Perceived responsiveness of the agency was
measured by adapting six-item scale used by Al-Aufi et al. (2017) in
which respondents were asked negatively worded questions including
agency’s ability to handle and respond to inquiries and complains on
social media. Citizens’ online political participation was measured by
adapting eleven-items instrument used by Alathur, Vigneswara
Ilavarasan, and Gupta (2014) and an additional item from tool used by
Vissers and Stolle (2014) where respondents were asked if they have
written blogs, commented on discussion forums, signed an online pe-
tition, emailed representatives, used social media for political partici-
pation, have provided online feedback to government, or contacted a
government official or a politician via internet.
4.3. Analysis technique
To evaluate the research model structural equation modeling (SEM)
was employed. To assess the validity of the measured constructs, con-
vergent and discriminant validity tests were performed through con-
firmatory factor analysis (CFA) in accordance with the suggestions of
Straub (1989) to further validate the adapted instruments. The reason
for employing SEM was that the research model of this study contained
many complex causal relationships occurring at more than one layer i.e.
the dependent variable becomes independent one in the next stage.
SEM is efficient in this regard as it allows to test all the complicated
relationships in the path analysis in a single run.
Covariance-based SEM (CB-SEM) was used as it is suggested for
theory testing and confirmation; to test hypotheses which are derived
from existing literature (Hair Jr, Babin, & Krey, 2017; Reinartz,
Haenlein, & Henseler, 2009). It is better suited for this study than other
SEM techniques such as Partial Least Square (PLS), which is a variance-
based SEM which is more appropriate for exploratory studies in which
the aim is to make predictions and establish theories rather than testing
the existing ones (Reinartz et al., 2009).
An assumption of using Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE)
technique in SEM is the existence of multivariate normality (Gao,
Mokhtarian, & Johnston, 2008; Weston & Gore Jr, 2006). While mul-
tivariate normality is desirable it is often difficult to achieve as is the
case in this study. However, several researchers suggest that MLE is
considered to be more efficient and robust than other estimation
techniques even in case of multivariate nonnormality (Bollen, 1989;
Diamantopoulos, 1994; Olsson, Foss, & Breivik, 2004; Olsson, Foss,
Troye, & Howell, 2000; Reinartz et al., 2009; Savalei, 2008). The de-
cision to use MLE in this study is based on Hair, Black, Babin, and
Anderson (2014) suggestion of using a large sample to avoid the

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S. Arshad and S. Khurram Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486

problems associated with estimations made from multivariate non-
normal data (Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson, 2010; Wang, Fan, &
Wilson, 1996). They recommended a sample size ranging from 100 to
400 for making sound estimations. Since the sample size in this study is
large (387), it fulfills the requirement.
5. Results
This section provides the results of the study including the details
regarding the measurement model, the structural model, and hypoth-
esis testing.
5.1. Measurement model
In this study a two-step approach suggested by Anderson and
Gerbing (1988) and Hair et al. (2014) was used to evaluate the pro-
posed relationships where the fit and validity of the measurement
model were assessed first and then the structural relationships were
tested. The first step in CFA is to look for any items having poor
loadings. To improve the measurement model fit, the 11 items that
showed poor factor loadings (<0.6) with their latent constructs were
identified and eliminated. To further improve the model fit the mod-
ification indices were checked and the error terms which showed large
modification index for covariance were covaried. After achieving model
fit, convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs were as-
sessed. The convergent validity was assessed by evaluating composite
reliability (CR) for all constructs which were higher than the suggested
threshold value of 0.70 (Byrne, 2001; Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, &
Tatham, 2006) and average variance extracted (AVE) was higher than
0.5 for all constructs except for online political participation (AVE =
0.44). Fornell and Larcker (1981) suggests that if a construct has AVE
value less than 0.5 but the value of CR of the same construct is greater
than 0.6 then the convergent validity of the construct is considered
acceptable (See Table 2).
To determine discriminant validity three methods were employed.
First, the Fornell and Larcker’s (1981) method was used in which the
square root of AVE of all constructs were compared with their corre-
lation with other constructs (see Table 3). The results revealed that
three out of five constructs exhibit the square root of AVE to be higher
than their correlations, and thus the discriminant validity for those
three constructs was established. The square root of AVE of government
agency’s provision of quality information on social media (0.749) is
lower than its correlation with trust in agency (0.809), and similarly the
square root of AVE of perceived transparency (0.742) is lower than its
correlation with trust in agency (0.788). Secondly, another method was
used for the two problematic cases in which constrained and un-
constrained models were compared to check whether the constructs
were distinct or not. The χ2 difference test was conducted on one pair of
constructs at a time. The constrained and unconstrained models of both
government agency’s provision of quality information on social media
with trust in agency, and perceived transparency and trust in agency
were compared and in both cases the χ2 difference test turned out to be
significant which proves their distinction (see Table 4). Thirdly, another
rigorous model comparison test of discriminant validity was conducted
in which a three-factor model was formulated where all items were
allowed to load on their respective constructs, then other two models
were formulated where items of two constructs were merged together
to load on a single factor while letting the items of the third construct to
load on itself. Lastly, a one-factor model was formulated in which the
items of all three constructs were loaded on a single factor. When
compared, the three-factor model performed better than all alternative
models having the fit indices within the acceptable ranges and sig-
nificant χ2 difference test (see Table 5). Therefore, it was proved that
the three constructs are distinct and have discriminant validity.
The fit indices for the measurement model indicated that the model
fitted well with the data. Although χ2 test was significant, it was not
considered since it is sensitive to large sample size (Gefen, Straub, &
Boudreau, 2000; Hair Jr, Matthews, Matthews, & Sarstedt, 2017; Lei &
Wu, 2007). The value of normed χ2 (χ2/df) was 1.854 which was less
than the threshold value (χ2/df < 3). Additionally, the goodness-of-fit
index (GFI = 0.926) and Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI = 0.952) were above
the acceptable value of 0.90 (Hair et al., 2006; Hooper, Coughlan, &
Mullen, 2008) and Comparative Fit Index (CFI = 0.959) was above the
acceptable value of 0.94 (Hair Jr, Babin, & Krey, 2017). Standardized
Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR = .045) and Root Mean Square
Error of Approximation (RMSEA = .047) were below the suggested
values of 0.05 and 0.08 respectively (Hair et al., 2006; Hooper et al.,
2008) which demonstrated a perfect fit.

Table 2
5.2. Structural model
Measurement model evaluation
Variable Indicator Factor α CR AVE The next step is to validate and assess the theorized structural re-
loading
lationships among constructs. The fit indices of the structural model
Government agency’s provision of GPQI1 .816 .848 0.864 0.561 were evaluated, and all relevant indices were within the suggested
quality information on social GPQI2 .839 ranges (χ2 = 367.102, df = 199, p = .000, normed χ2 = 1.845, GFI =
media GPQI3 .721 .925, CFI = .959, TLI = .952, SRMR = .046, and RMSEA = .047)
GPQI4 .670
except for χ2 which was significant, however it has been discussed
GPQI7 .682
Perceived government PGT1 .725 .790 0.786 0.551 above that since the χ2 statistic is sensitive to sample size it will not be
transparency PGT2 .750 considered. So, the validity of the structural model was proved. To
PGT3 .751 minimize the complexity of the structural model consisting of latent as
Perceived government PGR2 .709 .874 0.876 0.587 well as observed variables, the factor scores of the latent structural
responsiveness PGR3 .842
PGR4 .828
model were imputed for path analysis in order to test the hypotheses.
PGR5 .746 The fit indices for path model were all within the suggested ranges (χ2
PGR6 .695 = 5.001, df = 3, p = .172, normed χ2 = 1.667, GFI = .995, CFI =
Trust in government agency TGA1 .804 .832 0.851 0.656 .998, TLI = .995, SRMR = .015, and RMSEA = .042), which shows
TGA2 .881
perfect fit. It can be noted that the χ2 has dropped considerably with
TGA3 .739
Online political participation PP2 .620 .879 0.824 0.439 the reduced complexity of the model.
PP3 .602 Before proceeding to hypothesis testing the multicollinearity be-
PP4 .750 tween predictor variables was tested (Hair et al., 2010; Hair et al.,
PP6 .666 2017). Table 6 exhibits no indication of multicollinearity as for each
PP10 .636
PP11 .692
predictor the Variable Inflation Factor (VIF) was fairly below the
threshold value of 5 with corresponding value of tolerance level greater
Cutoff values for factor loadings, Cronbach’s Alpha (α), CR, and AVE are 0.6, than the threshold value of 0.20 (Hair et al., 2010).
0.7, 0.7, and 0.5 respectively.

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S. Arshad and S. Khurram Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486

Table 3
Discriminant validity (Fornell & Larcker’s method)
Variables 1 2 3 4 5

1. Government agency’s provision of quality information on social media 0.749

2. Trust in government agency 0.809 0.810
3. Perceived government transparency 0.727 0.788 0.742
4. Perceived government responsiveness 0.193 0.186 0.097 0.766
5. Online political participation 0.258 0.177 0.266 -0.264 0.663

Note: The square roots of AVEs of the constructs are shown in bold in diagonal. The off-diagonal values are correlations between constructs. All correlations are
significant at p < 0.01.

Table 4 5.3. Descriptive statistics

Comparison of constrained and unconstrained models
Model Constrained Unconstrained ∆χ2
Table 7 provides the descriptive statistics for all the variables in the
(df = 1) study. Correlation between any two variables is not too high (> 0.80)
CFI TLI χ2 (df) CFI TLI χ2(df) to cause the multicollinearity issue (Berry, Feldman, & Stanley
Feldman, 1985). The mean of government agency’s provision of quality
GPQI with .911 .875 165.445 (20) .982 .973 48.605 (19) 116.84*
TGA
information on social media is fairly high (Mean = 4.008) which in-
PGT with .912 .853 103.157 (9) .979 .960 30.896 (8) 72.261* dicates a higher perception of followers regarding the quality of in-
TGA formation provided through social media by PFA. The mean of per-
ceived transparency (Mean = 4.085) and trust in agency (Mean =
Note: *p = 0.00. GPQI = Government agency’s provision of quality information 3.949) is on the high side which shows that followers of PFA have
on social media; TGA = trust in government agency; PGT = perceived gov-
higher perceptions about agency’s transparency and have greater trust
ernment transparency.
in agency’s services. The mean of perceived responsiveness of agency
falls in middle (Mean = 3.171) which shows moderate perception of
Table 5
agency’s responsiveness. The overall level of citizens’ online political
Model comparison test
participation is low (Mean = 2.318) which indicates that there is a
Model χ2 (df) ∆χ2 GFI CFI TLI RMSEA need to encourage citizens to participate politically online.
1. Three-Factor Model 104.947 (41) - .955 .971 .962 .064
2. Two-Factor Model A 229.082 (43) 124.135* .891 .917 .893 .106 5.4. Hypotheses testing
3. Two-Factor Model B 177.633 (43) 72.686* .922 .940 .923 .090
4. One-Factor Model 308.271 (44) 203.329* .860 .882 .852 .125
Table 8 provides the summary of the hypothesized direct and in-
2
Note: *p = 0.00. The ∆χ is calculated in relation to model 1. Model 2 merges
direct relationships. For mediation analysis this study employs the
government agency’s provision of quality information on social media and trust modern approach of estimating the indirect paths i.e. by calculating
in government agency, Model 3 merges perceived government transparency product of path coefficients and make inferences based on the con-
and trust in government agency, and Model 4 merges all three (government fidence limits generated by bias-corrected bootstrapping with 95%
agency’s provision of quality information on social media, perceived govern- confidence interval (BCCI) using 2000 bootstrapped samples (Hayes,
ment transparency and trust in government agency). 2017; Hayes, Preacher, & Myers, 2011; Tofighi & Kelley, 2019).
Table 8 shows that the significant and positive relationship of
Table 6 government agency’s provision of quality information on social media
Multicollinearity test with citizens’ online political participation support H1 of the study (β =
Variables Tolerance VIF .535, p = .000). The study also confirms a positive relationship of
agency’s provision of quality information on social media with per-
1. Government agency’s provision of quality information .462 2.163 ceived transparency (H2) (β = .823, p = .000), with trust in agency
on social media
(H3) (β = .490, p = .000), and perceived responsiveness of agency (H4)
2. Trust in government agency .451 2.215
3. Perceived government transparency .399 2.505
(β = .216, p = .000). The results of indirect effects presented in Table 8
4. Perceived government responsiveness .974 1.026 show that agency’s provision of quality information on social media
indirectly influence trust in agency through its effect on perceived
Note: Dependent Variable: citizens’ online political participation. government transparency (ab = 0.459, BCCI = 0.376 to 0.556). Given

Table 7
Descriptive statistics.
Variables 1 2 3 4 5

1. Government agency’s provision of quality information on social media 1

2. Trust in government agency .651⁎⁎⁎ 1
3. Perceived government transparency .698⁎⁎⁎ .707⁎⁎⁎ 1
4. Perceived government responsiveness .134⁎⁎ .097 .153⁎⁎ 1
5. Online political participation .173⁎⁎ .198⁎⁎ .147⁎⁎ -.270⁎⁎⁎ 1
Mean 4.008 3.949 4.085 3.171 2.318
SD 0.652 0.710 0.701 0.911 0.832

N = 387. *** p < .001, ** p < 0.01.

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S. Arshad and S. Khurram Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486

Table 8
Summary of findings
Direct effects

Relationship Unstandardized SE t standardized p Status

path Path
estimates (B) estimate (β)

H1: GPQI → PP .690 .121 5.685 .535 .000 Supported

H2: GPQI → PGT .962 .034 28.441 .823 .000 Supported
H3: GPQI → TGA .576 .041 13.943 .490 .000 Supported
H4: PGT → TGA .476 .035 13.484 .474 .000 Supported
H6: TGA → PP -.194 .103 -1.897 -.178 .058 Unsupported
H8: GPQI → PGR .340 .078 4.350 .216 .000 Supported
H9: PGR → PP -.312 .037 -8.356 -.381 .000 Supported

Indirect effects

Relationship Indirect effect estimates (ab) 95% BCCI p Status

Lower limit Upper limit

H5: GPQI → PGT → TGA .459 .376 .556 .001 Supported

H7: GPQI → TGA → PP -.112 -.230 -.015 .018 Supported
H10: GPQI → PGR → PP -.106 -.173 -.056 .001 Supported

Note: SE = Standard error; t = Critical ratio. Cutoff values: p < 0.05, t > ±1.96. GPQI = government agency’s provision of quality information on social media;
TGA = trust in government agency; PGT = perceived government transparency; PGR = perceived government responsiveness; PP = online political participation.

that there is also evidence of the direct effect of agency’s provision of
quality information on social media on trust in agency (c’ = 0.490, p =
.000) it is inferred that perceived government transparency partially
mediates the relationship between the two which supports H5 of the
study. The results also report the positive relationship of perceived
transparency and trust in agency (H6) (β = .474, p = .000). Further,
agency’s provision of quality information on social media indirectly
influence citizens’ online political participation through its effect on
trust in agency (ab = -0.112, BCCI= -0.230 to -0.015). There is evi-
dence of direct effect of agency’s provision of quality information on
social media on citizens’ online political participation (c’ = 0.535, p =
.000) which indicates a partial mediation of trust in agency in re-
lationship between the two which supports H7 of the study. The med-
iation effect is negative which means that total effect (c’ + ab = 0.578)
is smaller than direct effect (c’ = 0.690) i.e. intervention of mediating
variable (trust in agency) has suppression effect on the relationship.
Contrary to expectation, the results show that trust in agency is not
significantly related with citizens’ online political participation which
fails to support H8 of the study (β = -.178, p = .058). Further, a ne-
gative and statistically significant relationship exists between perceived
responsiveness of agency and citizens’ online political participation
which support H9 of the study (β = -.381, p = .000). Lastly, agency’s
provision of quality information on social media indirectly influence
citizens’ online political participation through its effect on perceived
government responsiveness (ab = -0.106, BCCI = -0.173 to -0.056).
There is evidence of direct effect of agency’s provision of quality in-
formation on social media on citizens’ online political participation (c’
= 0.535, p = .000) which is greater than total effect (c’ + ab = 0.58).
This indicates an existence of a partial mediation with suppression ef-
fect of perceived government responsiveness in relationship between
the two (H10). Fig. 2 illustrates the path diagram along with standar-
dized path coefficients.
6. Discussion
This section discusses the findings of the study in terms of its the-
oretical and practical implications. Further the limitations of the study
and the recommendations for future studies are also provided.
The main objective of the study was to empirically investigate the
relationship of government agency’s provision of quality information on
social media with citizens’ online political participation directly and
also through the underlying mechanisms of perceived transparency,
trust in agency and perceived government responsiveness with focus on
a specific agency i.e. Punjab Food Authority (PFA). The aim of the study
was two-fold; first, to assess the direct relationships among the vari-
ables to determine a path from independent to dependent variable, and
secondly to find out the indirect relationships to determine the me-
chanisms governing the direct relationships. As mentioned in Table 1,
most of the sample of this study (74.4%) were males, however, the
existence of this skewness is in line with what has been previously re-
ported in the literature. Studies have reported that in developing
countries like Pakistan, men generally use internet including social
media platforms more frequently than women (Ahmad, Rafiq, &
Ahmad, 2018; Jeffery, Oberlander, MacDonald, & Bhatti, 2016). Con-
trary to this, in developed countries such as USA, women are found to
be more frequent users of social media (Pew Research Center, 2017).
However, it has also been observed that generally women tend not to
express their views online on political or social issues and use the in-
ternet mainly for communication or entertainment purposes (Ahmad
et al., 2018; Vicente & Novo, 2014). This might explain a relatively
small number of female participants of the study who were the fol-
lowers of a government agency essentially having a political or social
context attracting more attention of men than women. Table 1 also
reveal that more than 50% of the sample of the study had individuals
ranging from 22 to 29 years of age which is consistent with the findings
of the previous studies that the most frequent users of social media
worldwide and in Pakistan are youngsters (Jeffery et al., 2016; Vissers
& Stolle, 2014), ranging from 18 to 35 years of age (Wearesocial, 2018).
6.1. Theoretical implications
Pakistan is a country where the concept and use of e-government
channels such as social media is still at its initial stages and as it is
getting incorporated in the country there is an increasing demand to
investigate the innovative ways in which these tools can be adequately
utilized by government (Memon et al., 2015). This study contributes to
bring awareness about the inherent benefits of their implementation.
Moreover, this study is one of its kind in the context of Pakistan since no
empirical evidence was found regarding the usage of social media by
government agencies in Pakistan and its resulting influence on citizens’

10
S. Arshad and S. Khurram
Perceived
Transparency
0.82***
Government
Agency’s
Provision of 0.49***
Quality
Information on
Social Media
0.22***
0.54***
Fig. 2. The structural model
⁎⁎⁎
p < 0.01. Solid lines represent significant paths. Dotted lines represent insignificant path.
online political participation. Also, to the best of the researchers’
knowledge, the comprehensive model tested in this study has not been
previously developed in the developing country context, particularly in
Pakistan. The findings show that agency’s provision of quality in-
formation on social media is a significantly positive predictor of their
followers’ online political participation. This finding is consistent with
the existing studies regarding the relationship between these two con-
structs in different countries (Bertot et al., 2012; Bonson et al., 2012;
Tang & Lee, 2013). Other agencies can also take note of PFA’s example
and realize that their active presence and provision of quality in-
formation along with proper social media strategy (Al-Aufi et al., 2017;
Mergel, 2013a) such as pull or networking strategy (Mergel, 2013a),
might encourage many more citizens to become politically participative
online and/or offline, thus giving rise to an engaged community in
Pakistan.
Additionally, the relationships of transparency and trust as well as
perceived government responsiveness and citizens’ online political
participation are also understudied in the context of Pakistan.
Therefore, this study attempts to contribute to these gaps to the body of
knowledge. Findings indicate that PFA’s provision of quality informa-
tion on social media resulted in an increased perception of citizens
regarding transparency of agency and enhancement of their trust in
agency. These findings are in line with evidence found in literature that
use of ICTs, part of which is social media, facilitate greater transparency
due to its open and interactive nature (Bonson et al., 2012; Margetts,
2011; Mergel, 2013a; Song & Lee, 2015) and which ultimately leads to
development of citizens trust (Park et al., 2015). Information disclosure
by government entities reduces misconceptions of citizens by allowing
them to understand reasoning behind decisions and to examine work-
ings of government entities, thus developing their trust
(Grimmelikhuijsen et al., 2013; Halachmi & Greiling, 2013; Buell et al.,
2018). Like PFA, other government entities should benefit from this
empirical evidence and take action to implement proper social media
strategies to rectify the situation of mistrust among citizens of Pakistan.
The results provide evidence that PFA’s provision of quality in-
formation on social media significantly enhances perception of their
followers regarding agency’s responsiveness. A number of studies sup-
port the findings of this study (Kenski & Stroud, 2006; Pinkleton et al.,
2012; Usluel, 2007; Zavattaro & Sementelli, 2015). Social media pro-
vide a two-way communication channel as it enables citizens to view
the relevant content produced by the government entities and to con-
nect with government which ultimately enhances citizens perceptions
about government responsiveness. The results also report that there is
no effect of trust in agency on citizens’ political participation which is in
line with the findings of Parkins et al. (2017) who suggested that trust
has no direct effect on citizen participation. Citizens’ trust in
11
Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486
0.47***
Citizens’
- 0.18 Online Political
Trust in
Participation
Agency
R2 = 23%
- 0.38***
Perceived
Responsiveness
government entities makes them believe that those entities are already
working in the best interest of society therefore they see no point of
participation (Goldfinch et al., 2009). As already mentioned, this belief
is based on negativity bias which means that citizens do not speak up
unless they have something to complain about (Rozin & Royzman,
2001). Also, negative effect of perceived responsiveness on online po-
litical participation is reported which matches with the suggestion of De
Moor (2015) that citizens do not find it urgent to report any issues to
government entities when they have greater perceptions regarding their
responsiveness, believing that the issues must already be taken care of
(Almond & Verba, 1963). The above discussion also explains the sup-
pression effect of trust in agency and perceived responsiveness on re-
lationship of provision of quality information by government agency on
social media and citizens’ online political participation and shows that
even though PFA’s provision of updated and relevant information en-
courages citizens to participate but those with greater trust in agency or
greater perceptions about responsiveness tend not to participate as they
trust them to do what’s best for the society and believe that the agency
is already aware about prevailing issues and must be already re-
sponding to such concerns in best possible manner (Almond & Verba,
1963), therefore they do not find it necessary to raise their voice or
concerns (Goldfinch et al., 2009). An overview of the study including
findings can be seen in the table in Appendix B.
6.2. Practical implications
A number of practical implications can be derived from the findings
of this study which can be implemented not only by PFA but other
government agencies as well. PFA and other agencies can take ad-
vantage from findings of this study by realizing that their active usage
of and provision of quality information on social media yields many
positive outcomes such as enhanced perception of transparency and
responsiveness as well as increased trust of their followers in func-
tioning of the agency. However, the level of online political participa-
tion among followers/citizens is still very low. So, agencies like PFA
should take steps to encourage their followers to participate more and
to give their views and opinions. This can be done by implementing
proper social media strategies e.g. pull or networking strategy, where
citizens could be encouraged to provide input and they can be assured
that their input will actually influence policy decisions made by the
agency.
Moreover, the case of PFA can be taken as a specimen by other
government agencies in Pakistan and other developing countries which
are still not effectively utilizing social media to reach citizens. The case
of PFA is an extreme case which means that the state of social media
usage in this agency is especially better making it a good example for
S. Arshad and S. Khurram
other similar agencies (Flyvbjerg, 2006). Social media is a powerful
tool, increasingly gaining popularity and power with time. Therefore,
the government agencies in developing countries should realize its
importance and take note of benefits produced by efficient usage of
social media, the evidence of which is provided by this study. They can
obtain input from citizens to get notified about prevailing issues and
concerns, and to rectify their functionalities accordingly. If all gov-
ernment agencies in developing countries adopt efficient usage of social
media, it has power to restore the lost trust among citizens and with
transparency that it provides, social media can aid in building a re-
lationship of trust and understanding between government and citizens
which can ultimately lead to improvements in the workings of agencies,
and give rise to a culture of more political involvement on part of the
citizens.
Lastly and most importantly, given the variety of benefits men-
tioned above and various others found in literature regarding the usage
of e-government channels such as social media, governments of de-
veloping countries should make sure that proper IT infrastructure is
developed in all parts of country so that those citizens who still lack
proper internet facilities in their areas can also become a part of online
community. This way, governments will be able to extend their reach
towards citizens from all over the country and it will enable more and
more citizens to have access to e-government channels and to have
opportunity to make their voices heard.
6.3. Limitations and future directions
Some of the limitations of the present study and the possible di-
rections for the future researchers are as follows. The sample of this
study was limited to one agency, the opinion of social media followers
of other agencies was not taken which puts limitation to general-
izability of findings. Future studies can investigate views of followers of
other agencies to find out their position of social media usage and inter-
agency comparisons can be made to find out which agency is per-
forming well in this regard and why. The future studies can also take
opinion of citizens who follow social media accounts of multiple enti-
ties to get an overall view of social media usage by government entities
in developing countries and its resulting influence on participatory
behavior of citizens, or opinion of non-users of social media accounts of
government entities can also be taken to make comparisons between
users and non-users in terms of their political participation.
The scale adapted for measuring citizens’ online political partici-
pation in this study does not differentiate between positive and nega-
tive aspects. The future researchers are recommended to use a different
scale or develop a new one which comprises of both aspects of political
participation. The relationship of trust and perceived responsiveness
with both kinds of political participation can be tested which might
help explain if trust and perceived responsiveness reduce the likelihood
of only the negative aspects of political participation or both.
The demographic profile of the sample indicates that majority of the
participants of the study were younger men which results in limitations
regarding the equal inclusion of the opinion and hence the general-
izability of the findings to both genders and all age-groups. The future
studies can take steps to equally include the views of both men and
women and different age-groups, so age and gender comparison can be
made in terms of online political participation.
The present study considers trust in government agency, while trust
in online medium of communication has not been tested which might
have also predicted citizens’ propensity to participate politically on
online channels.
The data in this study is cross sectional. Longitudinal study might
result in a better understanding of relationships among constructs. Also,
quantitative methods were employed for this study, future studies can
test these relationships qualitatively by taking interviews which can aid
in an in-depth investigation of findings.
Finally, the questionnaire included items adapted from validated
12
Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486
scales already existing in previous research in English language.
However, to facilitate understanding of participants who had problems
in comprehending English language of questionnaire, it was translated
in Urdu language as well which might have caused slight deviation
from original meaning.
7. Conclusion
This section provides a conclusion of the study by briefly discussing
the introduction and aim of the study, the methodology used, the
findings, and the contribution of the study.
Social media platforms have caught attention of many governments
around the world due to their notable features such as cost-efficient
communication, broad reach, and an active presence of its large
number of users. While many developed countries have realized the
strategic importance of this tool to establish improved government-ci-
tizen relationship and to encourage citizen participation, the devel-
oping countries still remain behind. This study aimed to investigate the
role of provision of quality information on social media by a govern-
ment agency in Pakistan (i.e. Punjab Food Authority) in boosting citi-
zens’ online political participation by adopting a quantitative survey
design and conducting a survey of 388 followers of official Facebook
page and Twitter account of PFA. The study employed structural
equation modeling technique for empirical validation and path esti-
mation. The results show a positive influence of agency’s provision of
quality information on social media on their followers’ online political
participation which means that as followers get updated and aware of
activities of agency, their likelihood to participate politically increases.
The results also show that the more the agency provides updated and
relevant information openly on social media, the more the followers
believe that agency is ensuring transparent practices. Likewise, the
more active and present the agency is on social media platforms, the
more responsive they appear to their followers. Additionally, active
provision of quality information by agency on social media also de-
velops trust among their followers. Further, the results revealed that it
is the perception of transparency that agency’s information dis-
semination generates which leads to development of citizens’ trust in
agency. This finding is noteworthy given the rising problem of citizens’
mistrust in government institutions all over the world from the past few
years (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2009; Gracia & Arino, 2015). Government
entities should take note that their availability and presence on social
media platforms, which are increasingly being used by citizens, can
alleviate this issue.
Further, it was found that the individuals who trusted the agency
lacked tendency to participate which might be based on the belief that
the agency is already working in the best interest of society. Similarly,
the results show that if citizens believe that an agency is already re-
sponsive enough to overall concerns of society, they do not find it ne-
cessary to provide input. Moreover, trust in agency and perceived re-
sponsiveness were found to be significant suppressors in the
relationship between the agency’s provision of quality information on
social media and citizens’ online political participation. It is assumed
that there is a presence of “negativity bias” in developing countries like
Pakistan where people generally raise their voice or provide feedback to
government institutions only when there is a complain to be made and
do not provide a positive feedback when everything is going well,
which might explain reduction in participation when levels of trust and
perceptions about responsiveness are high.
This study contributes to the body of knowledge about the benefits
of government’s usage of social media by providing an empirical evi-
dence since in Pakistan, the research in this area is scarce. Also, it brings
awareness to responsibility of government entities to encourage citi-
zens’ political participation not only for complains and negative feed-
back but also for positive and constructive input which can help in
gaining legitimacy of current practices by citizens. This kind of parti-
cipation can be ensured by actively taking views of citizens regarding
S. Arshad and S. Khurram Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486

policies in decision-making stage rather than enforcing their im-
plementation on citizens and then expecting a positive response. On the
other hand, citizens should also realize that their cooperation can yield
a variety of benefits for the overall functioning of governance system in
the country, therefore they should become more active participants in
political sphere. Its high time that both government institutions and
citizens of developing countries realize their respective roles and work
in cooperation to develop an inclusive society where citizens are not
just passive recipients of government decisions rather they are em-
powered enough to become active participants and contributors to
decisions made for betterment of their countries.
Funding sources
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Declarations of Competing Interest
None
Acknowledgment
The authors want to thank the team of Punjab Food Authority for
allowing to collect responses from their social media followers. The
views, findings, and conclusions provided in this article are those of the
authors having no influence or reflection of the opinions of Punjab Food
Authority.
We remain very thankful for the detailed comments received from
all three anonymous reviewers enabling us to significantly improve the
quality of our paper.

Appendix A. Measurement items used for data collection

Variable Statements Source

Government agency’s provision of quality in-
formation on social mediaa
Perceived Transparencya
Trust in agencya
Perceived Responsivenessa
Online Political Participationb
1. (I feel that) the agency’s Facebook page/Twitter account provides sufficient contents of news & information Park et al.
to me in order to understand and get necessary facts. (2015)
2. The agency’s Facebook page/Twitter account provides accurate information to me in order to understand the
government & policy news correctly.
3. The agency’s Facebook page/Twitter account provides diverse and various information to me.
4. The agency’s Facebook page/Twitter account provides the news & information timely.
5. The agency’s Facebook page/Twitter account provides access to other information sources to me (e.g. links to
useful government websites)⁎.
6. The agency’s Facebook page/Twitter account provides additional access to other information channels to me
(e.g. link to agency’s website, contact information)⁎.
7. The agency’s Facebook page/Twitter account provides appropriate information to me.
1. I follow government agency’s news on social media because of its clarity. Al-Aufi et al.
2. I make sure to follow the agency on social media because I believe it provides accurate information (2017)
3. I believe that the agency provides a satisfactory level of transparency on social media.
4. I believe that transparency between citizens and the government is obtainable through social media⁎.
1. I have confidence in the agency and its service. Park et al.
2. I have confidence in the contents that the agency provides on its social media (Facebook/Twitter). (2015)
3. (I feel that) the agency’s social media (Facebook/Twitter) provides better government services to contacting
citizens
4. The agency’s social media (Facebook/Twitter) promoted me to have positive outlook towards government
authorities⁎.
1. This government agency withdraws (escapes/ fails to respond) when there is an increase in the number of Al-Aufi et al.
inquiries addressed on social media⁎. (2017)
2. This government agency only clarifies its position on social media without following-up subsequent posts (or
any comments of people).
3. This government agency does not respond to inquiries addressed on social media.
4. This government agency is not following up on citizen complaints and concerns on social media.
5. There is no specialized employee or representative authorized to respond to what is posted by the public on
social media.
6. The government does not take real actions in practice that reflect what has been addressed by the public on
social media.
1. Do you write blogs or comment on blogs of public interest?⁎ Alathur et al.
2. Do you comment on social issues in Internet discussion forums? (2014)
3. Do you contribute (videos, photos, texts) on social issues to inform the news to government?
4. Do you send SMS (text message) to participate in government-owned discussion forms or competitions?
5. Do you vote using Electronic Voting Machines?⁎
6. Do you contribute to government-owned public participation projects like wiki?
7. Do you sign any online petitions facilitated by government?⁎
8. Do you make transactions through government-owned business portals?⁎
9. Do you use social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, etc. for your political participation?⁎
10. Do you fill any feedback forms provided in government Web sites?
11. Do you e-mail your elected representative?
12. Do you contact a politician or government official by means of the Internet?⁎ Vissers and
Stolle (2014)

All items were measured with a five-point likert scale ranging from astrongly disagree to strongly agree, and b
never to always. ⁎Items removed
due to poor factor loadings.

13
 Appendix B. Overview of the study

Relationship Prior literature Sources Findings Insights

Government agency’s pro- In developed nations, government institutions majorly Hand and Ching (2011), Hofmann et al. (2013), Government agency’s provision of quality infor- The finding is in line with the existing studies. Social
vision of quality infor- use social media platforms for top-down flow of infor- Cho and Park (2012), Agostino and Arnaboldi mation on social media is positively related with media platforms through their interactive nature
S. Arshad and S. Khurram

mation on social med- mation.
ia → citizen’s online In developing nations, the social media usage by
political government is minimal and infrequent. The main focus
participation of research is on introduction and adoption of e-
government initiatives as a whole.
Government institutions can stimulate citizen partici-
pation by making efficient use of social media.
The information provided on social media should be
complete, timely, reliable and readily accessible. Such
qualities of information can stimulate the citizens to
participate.
Government agency’s pro- Advancements in ICTs has given rise to “internet-
vision of quality infor- mediated transparency”. It has become easier than ever
mation on social med- for citizens to access government information whenever
ia → perceived they require.
government An important aspect of internet-mediated transparency
transparency. is that the information provided should be timely, easily
comprehendible and usable by the public.
Social media platforms can facilitate government to
provide regular updates about the processes of policy
making rather than their enforcement which raises
perceptions about transparency.
Government agency’s pro- The problem of continuous decline in trust in govern-
(2016). citizens’ online political participation. can facilitate government institutions to reach a
Abdelsalam et al. (2013), Btoush (2014), large number of active user citizens which can
Rehman et al. (2012), Ovais Ahmad et al. stimulate more awareness and more active partici-
(2013), Hussain (2014). pation on their part.
Bonson et al. (2012), Bertot et al. (2012), Tang
and Lee (2013).
Gelders (2005), Jaeger and Bertot (2010), Park
et al. (2015).
Grimmelikhuijsen and Welch (2012), Government agency’s provision of quality infor- The finding is in line with the existing studies.
Porumbescu (2017), Porumbescu and Im mation on social media is positively related with Government agencies should ensure active presence
(2015). citizens’ perception of government transparency. and provide updated information on social media
platforms to enhance transparency and to ultimately
Grimmelikhuijsen and Meijer (2012), improve their relationship with citizens.
Porumbescu (2015).
Gelders, 2005, Jaeger and Bertot (2010),
Morgeson et al. (2011), Vissers and Stolle
(2014), Song and Lee (2015).
Denhardt and Denhardt (2009), Yıldız and Government agency’s provision of quality infor- The finding is in line with the existing studies. This

14
vision of quality infor- ment has been reported in many countries around the Saylam (2013), Gracia and Arino (2015) mation on social media is positively related with shows the potential of social media platforms as a
mation on social med- world due to low economic outcomes, corruption, and citizens’ trust in agency. tool to mitigate the problem of citizens’ mistrust in
ia → citizens’ scandals. the government which has been a major problem in
trust in agency E-government platforms such as social media enables Song and Lee (2015) numerous countries around the world.
citizens to easily access up-to-date and relevant infor-
mation regarding the actions of government which leads
to development of trust.
Perceived government tra- Citizens’ trust is developed through social media by Shim and Eom (2008, 2009), Bertot, Jaeger, and Citizens’ perception of government agency’s The finding is in line with the existing studies.
nsparency → citizens’ enhancing perceptions about government transparency. Grimes (2010), Mergel (2013a), Song and Lee transparency is positively related with their trust Transparency of government information reduces
trust in agency. (2015). in agency. the misconceptions of citizens by allowing them to
Information disclosure helps reduce citizens’ miscon-Tolbert and Mossberger (2006), Cook et al. understand the background, process, and reasoning
ceptions as it allows to comprehend effort, processes(2010), Mettler (2011), Buell and Norton behind decisions and to examine the workings and
and reasons behind government decisions, and their (2011), Grimmelikhuijsen et al., 2013, Halachmi efforts of government, thus raising their confidence
contribution in public welfare. and Greiling (2013), Porumbescu (2015), Buell and trust.
et al. (2018).
Government agency’s pro- The easier access to government information facilitated Shim and Eom (2009), Bertot, Jaeger, Munson, Citizens’ perception of government agency’s The finding is in line with the existing studies. It
vision of quality infor- by social media shapes perceptions about government and Glaisyer (2010), Song and Lee (2015). transparency mediates the relationship between highlights the importance of utilizing social media
mation on social med- transparency which leads to an increased trust in agency’s provision of quality information on by government to connect with citizens and to
ia → Perceived government. social media and citizens’ trust in agency. exhibit transparency which can exert influence in
government transpar- Regular updates about the utilization of public resources Tolbert and Mossberger (2006), Warren et al. the development of citizen trust.
ency → citizens’ and government’s actions to cater the public demands (2014).
trust in agency. increases citizens’ level of trust.
Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486
 Citizens’ trust in govern- Trust is generally found to be a significant predictor of
ment agency → online political participation in both online and physical set-
political participation. tings.
Conversely, a few studies have reported that mistrust
leads to greater political participation or that trust itself Naranjo-Zolotov et al. (2019).
is not related to citizen participation.
Mistrust can stimulate participation due to negativity
bias i.e. citizens tend more to give a negative feedback (2001).
or to complain than to appreciate or acknowledge the
performance of the government.
Government agency’s pro- Citizens having greater trust in government are less
vision of quality infor- likely to participate as they feel content with the
mation on social med- performance of government and trust them to do what’s
ia → citizens’ best for the society and hence do not find it necessary to
trust in agency → raise their voice or concerns.
online political
participation.
Government agency’s pro- E-government channels including social media facilitate
vision of quality infor- governments to be active and responsive to the needs of
mation on social med- citizens. Social media allows quick and timely response
ia → perceived to citizen queries which enhances citizens’ perception
government about government responsiveness.
responsiveness
15
Perceived government Citizens with greater perception of government respon-
responsiveness → siveness have greater intention to participate politically
online political when they believe that their input and requests will
participation. have contribution towards policy decisions and out-
comes.
Conversely, it has also been reported that heightened
perception of government responsiveness leads to lesser
or no political participation as citizens do not find it
necessary to participate when they feel satisfied with the
government’s ability to address the problems of the
society.
Government agency’s pro- Even though social media aids government entities to be
vision of quality infor- more responsive to citizens’ needs but those having
mation on social med- heightened perceptions about government’s responsive-
ia → perceived ness might refrain from participation believing that the
government prevailing issues are being addressed and their partici-
responsiveness → pation is not required.
online political
participation.
Keele (2007), Teo et al. (2008) , Hooghe and
Marien (2013), Al-Khouri (2013), Mahmood
et al. (2014), Huang et al. (2017), Lee and
Schachter (2018).
Goldfinch et al. (2009), Parkins et al. (2017),
Rozin and Royzman (2001), Baumeister et al.
Goldfinch et al. (2009).
Tolbert and Mossberger (2006), Gauld et al.
(2009), Pinkleton et al. (2012), Zavattaro and
Sementelli (2015), Dekker and Bekkers (2015),
Panagiotopoulos et al. (2013), Mergel (2013a),
Al-Aufi et al. (2017).
Van Zomeren et al. (2008), Karp and Banducci
(2008), Tarrow (2011), Sjoberg et al. (2017).
Almond and Verba (1963), De Moor (2015), Gil
de Zúñiga et al. (2017)
Almond and Verba (1963), Al-Aufi et al. (2017), Citizens’ perception of government agency’s re-
Gil de Zúñiga et al. (2017).
Citizens’ trust in government agency does not
have a significant negative relationship with
online political participation.
Citizens’ trust in government agency negatively
mediates (suppresses) the relationship between
agency’s provision of quality information on
social media and online political participation.
Government agency’s provision of quality infor-
mation on social media is positively related with
citizens’ perception of government responsive-
ness
Citizens’ perception of government agency’s re-
sponsiveness is inversely related with online
political participation.
sponsiveness negatively mediates (suppresses)
the relationship between agency’s provision of
quality information on social media and online
political participation.
The finding is inconsistent with the general opinion
however, it supports the view of a few of existing
S. Arshad and S. Khurram
studies which suggests that trust does not lead to
political participation. This may be due to nega-
tivity bias where people tend to provide negative
feedback more than a positive one and therefore,
when citizens trust the government, they do not find
it necessary to participate.
The finding supports a few existing studies. even
though the government agency’s usage of social
media to provide updated information encourages
citizens to participate but those who have greater
trust in the agency tend not to participate.
The finding is in line with the existing studies. Social
media enables citizens to view the content produced
by the government and to connect with the gov-
ernment which ultimately enhances citizen’s per-
ceptions about government responsiveness.
The finding is inconsistent with the general opinion
however, it supports the view of a few studies which
suggest that the citizens with greater perception
about government responsiveness do not find it
necessary to participate based on the belief that the
issues of the society are being taken care of.
The finding supports a few of the existing studies.
The citizens who are assured of the government’s
responsiveness to the concerns of society might not
feel the need to participate politically to notify the
issues or to correct the actions of the government as
they might believe that government is already
aware about the prevailing issues and they must be
already dealing with these concerns in the best
possible manner.
Government Information Quarterly 37 (2020) 101486
S. Arshad and S. Khurram
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Saman Arshad received MPhil degree (2019) in Management Sciences from Institute of
Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Her research inter-
ests include e-government, use of social media in public-sector, online citizen portals.
Email: saman_arshad@hotmail.com
Sobia Khurram holds a PhD degree (2016) in Management from University of Stirling,
UK, an MS degree (2007) in Management from Institute of Administrative Sciences (IAS)
Pakistan and an MBA degree (2003) from Institute of Business Administration (IBA)
Pakistan. She is currently working as Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the degree in
Human Resource Management at Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the
Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan and also Director External Linkages at University of the Punjab,
Lahore, Pakistan. Her research interests include e-governance, social media, public policy
and organizational studies. Email: sobia.ias@pu.edu.pk