GCI

Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Faculty Scholar Detail, 2003-2004

Eric W. Welch
Assistant Professor
Public Administration Program
College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs
Linking Technology and Democracy: A Study of City Government Use of the Internet
to Facilitate Public Discourse

During his year as a GCI Faculty Scholar, Eric W. Welch studied virtual interactivity between citizens and government through networked information and communication technologies. The premise of the research was to examine a variety of different facets of the citizen-government relationship as it begins to incorporate e-democracy as a mechanism to address communication and participation challenges of governance. The 2003-2004 academic year was devoted to the collection and analysis of data and to the development of academic manuscripts for publication in leading public administration and political science journals.

Data collection was accomplished in three ways. First, in cooperation with the Chicago Police Department, Welch collected data on citizen use and police response to email feedback through the Citizen ICAM website. He also developed, with the collaboration of Sanjay Panday at Rutgers University, Camden, a series of internet-related questions for a survey of government health agencies to investigate the extent to which government reform, organizational culture, capacity, political support, and other factors affect the adoption and implementation of internet and intranet technologies. Finally, he worked with colleagues at Northwestern University to devise questions on citizen internet use for a random survey of Chicago city residents in order to test the extent to which one well-known and often used web-based crime information system had any effect on citizen trust in government.

Welch wrote numerous papers as a result of these three sets of data, some of which were accepted for publication, and some that are still under revision and review. Eric Welch is an Assisted Professor of Public Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Professor Welch received his Ph.D. from Syracuse University.

The Great Cities Institute Faculty Scholars Program brings UIC faculty to the Institute for a year in residence to begin, further, or complete an engaged research project. Scholars are free from their formal teaching responsibilities during their term. Prospective scholars apply by submitting a proposal that is peer reviewed along three key metrics of engaged research: interdisciplinarity, partnership, and impact.

GCI Faculty Scholars implement and further their own research agendas, as well as develop grant proposals, participate in the Great Cities Institute Lecture Series, and contribute to the Great Cities Institute Working Paper Series. Applications are released in the fall semester and due at the start of the spring semester.