Author ORCID Identifier

http://orcid.org/0009-0000-8469-123X

Degree Year

2021

Document Type

Thesis - Oberlin Community Only

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Politics

Advisor(s)

Michael Parkin

Committee Member(s)

Swapna Pathak
Christie Parris
Michael Parkin

Keywords

E-participation, Public participation, Website usability, State environmental agency websites, Accessibility

Abstract

In the wake of society’s ongoing increasing reliance on the digital world, in combination with increased urgency to address environmental issues, this paper seeks to answer the question: What does the usability of e-participation on state agency environmental websites look like, what determines this level of usability and accessibility of participation on environmental decisions, and what impact does it have on environmental outcomes? Using data coded from all 50 state environmental agency websites, in addition to qualitative comments from a survey sent to environmental organizations across the country, I find that website usability and accessibility is significantly associated with demand effects such as broadband access and belief in climate change, but surprisingly, political factors, such as state partisan control or industry size, are not significant. Bureaucratic capacity is also significant, but in an opposite way than expected: the data suggests states with larger agency per capita budgets have less usable websites. I also find that highly usable websites are associated with an increased percentage of asthma cases in the states. Overall, websites don’t appear to be highly usable or accessible and so this paper seeks to offer specific recommendations for improving accessibility and usability, in order to increase equitable access to public participation, given that partisanship and the need for a greater budget should not be viewed as hindrances to implementing these suggestions.

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