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The integration of web 2.0 into governmental sphere has changed the way governments interact with their citizens, strengthening electronic participation mechanisms. The present study aims to evaluate web 2.0 infrastructures of Portuguese local governments and assess citizens' adherence to the most widespread web 2.0 applications present on their official portals. According to the study results, 73% of 308 Portuguese local governments have already incorporated one of the web 2.0 technologies, being social networking the most widespread one, used by approximately half of them. Evaluation of citizens' adherence to official Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages of local governments have shown that Portuguese citizens from middle and large sized cities seem to be more likely to adhere to the official pages of local authorities than the European citizens from the countries analysed in another study. Besides, the data revealed that the smaller local government is the higher adherence rate it has. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study that analyzes the evolution of the concepts related to public participation and, in a practical perspective, presents the results of a research aimed to assess the level of electronic participation (e-participation) initiatives that are promoted by government authorities in Portugal at local and national levels. In this way the present research provides basis for local governments benchmarking, since there is no similar study concerning Portugal. The study revealed that local e-participation initiatives have predominantly informing character, and there is a lack of high level e-participation initiatives, like the one identified at national level, that provides more collaborative environment and as a result can improve relationships between government and citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]