Fear of Government Misuse Cuts Support for Digital Governance — Even in Democracies

This study examines what drives public support for digital governance tools across different regime types. Survey experiments in five countries test how awareness of possible government misuse, information sources, and satisfaction with public services relate to endorsement of digital governance solutions.

🔎 How the Evidence Was Gathered

Survey experiments were conducted in Russia, Germany, Turkey, the United States, and Estonia. The design assesses respondents' awareness of potential government misuse of digital governance tools, their primary information sources (including government-controlled outlets), and their satisfaction with public services.

🧾 Key Findings

• Awareness that governments could misuse digital governance tools reduces public support for those tools.
• This effect occurs across an autocracy, a hybrid regime, and three democracies — extending prior evidence from China to diverse regime types.
• Individuals who rely on government-controlled information sources are more likely to endorse digital governance tools.
• Contrary to previous claims, gaps in public service quality do not increase support for digital governance; instead, greater satisfaction with government services correlates with trust in the government's capacity to implement digital solutions.

🧭 Why It Matters

These results show that concerns about misuse and the media environment matter more for public acceptance of digital governance than service shortfalls. Democracies and non-democracies alike display reduced support when misuse is salient, while trust shaped by information sources and service satisfaction shapes willingness to adopt digital tools. The findings have implications for policymakers balancing digital innovation with accountability and for scholars studying regime effects on technology acceptance.