THE DIFFUSION OF CIVIC TECHNOLOGY: HOW TECHNOLOGY AND DEVOLUTION ARE RESHAPING CIVIC LIFE IN URBAN AMERICA by Eli Turkel A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Affairs and Public Policy. Spring, 2020 © 2020, Turkel All Rights Reserved THE DIFFUSION OF CIVIC TECHNOLOGY: HOW TECHNOLOGY AND DEVOLUTION ARE RESHAPING CIVIC LIFE IN URBAN AMERICA by Eli Turkel Approved: __________________________________________________________ Maria P. Aristigueta, D.P.A. Director of the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration Approved: __________________________________________________________ John A. Pelesko, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Approved: __________________________________________________________ Douglas J. Doren, Ph.D. Interim Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education and Dean of the Graduate College I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ John McNutt, Ph.D. Professor in charge of dissertation I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Jonathan Justice, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Tibor Toth, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ John Stephens, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the faculty and staff of the Biden School for all of their guidance and support over the last four years. Additionally, I want to thank my dissertation committee for all of their guidance and support, including Dr. Johnathan Justice, Dr. John Stephens, and Dr.Tibor Toth. I met Dr. Stephens at the Code for America Brigade Congress in the fall of 2017. I look forward to seeing Dr. Stephens at future Code for America events. To my chair, Dr. John McNutt, thank you for all of the lunches and talks we had throughout this process. You taught me a tremendous amount about the research process. I also want to thank the Code for America and Open Data Delaware communities. I am grateful to be a part of this movement and to work with all of you. Finally, I would like to thank my family for all of their support during this process and throughout my life. Earning a Ph.D. is something I have aspired to for a long time. The love and guidance of my family allowed me to reach this goal. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research Questions ................................................................................... 3 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................... 5 2.1 Civic Technology As Civic Participation .................................................. 5 2.1.1 Definitions of Participation ........................................................... 7 2.1.2 Wither Participation? .................................................................... 9 2.2 Historical Antecedents of Civic Technology .......................................... 10 2.2.1 Community Networks................................................................... 11 2.2.2 Community Technology ............................................................... 13 2.3 Components of Civic Technology ........................................................... 15 2.3.1 Open Civic Data .......................................................................... 17 2.3.2 Technology .................................................................................. 18 2.3.3 Collaborative Processes .............................................................. 19 2.3.3.1 Civic Hacking and Hackathons .................................... 20 2.3.3.2 Code For America ........................................................ 23 2.3.3.3 Code For America Brigades ......................................... 26 2.4 Civic Technology As a Social Movement ............................................... 28 2.5 Related Social Movements ...................................................................... 33 2.5.1 Open Government ........................................................................ 34 2.5.2 Tech4Good .................................................................................. 38 v 2.5.3 Data4Good .................................................................................. 39 2.5.4 Evidence Based Practice ............................................................. 39 2.5.5 Online Protest Movemments........................................................ 40 2.5.6 Participatory budgeting............................................................... 41 2.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 42 2.7 The Consequences Of Diffusion ............................................................. 42 2.7.1 The Diffusion Context .................................................................. 44 3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.................................................................... 47 3.1 Propositions ............................................................................................. 50 3.1.1 Traditional Social Capital ........................................................... 51 3.1.2 Creative Class ............................................................................. 52 3.2 Central Hypotheses .................................................................................. 52 3.3 Covariants ................................................................................................ 54 3.3.1 Distress Score .............................................................................. 54 3.3.2 Networked Social Capital ............................................................ 55 3.3.3 Broadband ................................................................................... 55 3.3.4 Population ................................................................................... 56 3.3.5 Education ..................................................................................... 56 4 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................... 59 4.1 Subjects.................................................................................................... 59 4.2 Design Structure ...................................................................................... 62 4.2.1 Variables and Data Sources ........................................................ 62 4.2.2 Dependent Variable Code For America Brigades ...................... 62 4.2.3 Independent Variables ................................................................. 64 4.2.4 Traditional Social Capital ........................................................... 64 4.2.5 Creative Class ............................................................................. 67 4.2.6 Covariates.................................................................................... 69 4.2.6.1 Education ...................................................................... 69 4.2.6.2 Population ..................................................................... 69 4.2.6.3 Distressed Community Index ....................................... 70 4.2.6.4 Networked Social Capital Organizations ..................... 70 4.2.6.5 Broadband..................................................................... 72 vi 4.3 Data Analysis........................................................................................... 72 4.4 Limitations ............................................................................................... 74 5 RESULTS ......................................................................................................... 76 6 DISCUSSION................................................................................................... 83 6.1 Findings ................................................................................................... 85 6.2 Conclusions ............................................................................................. 88 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................