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Online citizen public participation in consultation and decision-oriented processes supported by local governments is a key ingredient for successful digital democracy. As the participatory process is a voluntary activity, social capital, and individual motivation can help to understand citizen engagement in the usage of electronic participatory platforms (e-participation). This study presents and discusses the results of a research model evaluated with 200 respondents who experienced e-participation. The research model integrates a well-known theory of information systems, UTAUT, with the social capital theory, and the individual motivators. We found that, besides the positive effects of UTAUT constructs, such as perceived usefulness, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions on the intention to use e-participation; altruism also plays a role as a driver of the intention to use. Social capital partially impacts on the actual usage of e-participation.
Naranjo-Zolotov et al. (2018) studied this question.