Algorithmic decision-making in public e-services and its influence on citizens' legitimacy perceptions


Bruder, Jonas ; Sievert, Martin ; Helmig, Bernd



Document Type: Conference presentation
Year of publication: 2024
Conference title: The Annual Conference of the European Group for Public Administration 2024 (EGPA 2024)
Location of the conference venue: Athens, Greece
Date of the conference: 03.-06.09.2024
Related URLs:
Publication language: English
Institution: Business School > ABWL, Public & Non Profit Management (Helmig 2008-)
Subject: 350 Public administration
Keywords (English): algorithmic decision-making , public e-services , legitimacy , e-government , citizen-state interactions
Abstract: The emerging application of algorithmic decision-making systems in public administration bears many challenges regarding fairness, opaqueness, and societal values. Especially the reduction or erasure of human decision-making in public e-services raises important questions, as citizens are used to being served by human public officials by default. Current research on AI and algorithmic decision-making shows that the use of algorithms also affects citizens’ perceptions of legitimacy. We applied a discrete-choice experiment to test if algorithmic decision-making influences citizens' preferences for public e-services of different quality and their respective legitimacy perceptions of the responsible public organization. The results from a sample of 1214 German citizens indicate that contrary to our expectations, there are no systematic differences in perceptions and preferences between citizens served by an algorithm and those granted a decision by a human bureaucrat. The results have implications for research on algorithmic decision-making in the public sector and public e-services. They demand further investigation into when and how citizens even care about the application of algorithmic decision systems in the public sector.


SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions


Dieser Eintrag ist Teil der Universitätsbibliographie.




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