Interpreting the trustworthiness of government mediated by information and communication technology: Lessons from electronic voting in Brazil

  • Authors:

  • Chrisanthi Avgerou;Andrea Ganzaroli;Angeliki Poulymenakou;Nicolau Reinhard

  • Affiliations:

  • Information Systems Group, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE;Department of Economics, Business and Statistics–University of Milan, Via Conservatorio, 7 20122 Milano, Italy;Department of Management Science and Technology, Athens University of Economics and Business, Patission 76, Athens 10434, Greece;Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade, Universidade de São Paulo, Av.: Prof. Luciano Gualberto, 908 sala G-122, 05508-900 São Paulo, Brasil

  • Venue:
  • Information Technology for Development - Development and the Promise of Technological Change
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

The electronic voting system of Brazil is understood to be widely trusted by the citizens of the country and international observers. More precisely, it is seen as a trustworthy mechanism of producing election results that accurately represent the choices of the electorate. In this article, we discuss briefly the concepts of trust and trustworthiness, and focus to examine the formation of beliefs regarding the latter. We argue that the belief of trustworthiness is only partly attributable to the perception of the merits of the technical system and its enactment procedures. In our case study we found that the institutional actors responsible for the elections—the Superior and the Regional Electoral Courts—have played a key role in the formation of the belief that the electronic elections are trustworthy. We therefore conclude that, unlike common assumptions about the potential of e-government in developing countries to restore trust in government institutions that are considered untrustworthy, the production of trust in government services mediated by information and communication technology relies on citizens' perceptions of their trustworthiness. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Leiser Silva is the accepting Guest Editor for this article