What is Municipal Website

Government websites are quickly becoming the first point of contact for citizens and visitors seeking information. Local government websites’ content is key with regard to transparency. Within this chapter, we present a review of the transparency and e-government literatures, explore how they intersect, and present a Basic Transparency Model for local government websites. An analysis of local government websites and the ways in which they are being utilized to increase openness in government is presented. A case study of the municipal websites in New Jersey follows the literature review. We found that 87% of New Jersey’s 566 municipalities have a website. The extent to which these websites increase municipal transparency varies considerably. We conclude the chapter by making recommendations to municipalities to capitalize upon their web presence in order to increase transparency.