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The American Review of Public Administration
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Virtual Jungles

Survival, Accountability, and Governance in Online Communities

Georgette Dumont

Taunton High School, Taunton, Massachusetts

George Candler

Indiana University South Bend

By making it possible for once dispersed individuals to communicate and cooperate online, the Internet has raised the importance of cybercommunities—informal, online collectivities that provide support by means of many-to-many communication—as an overlooked delivery system for the provision of public goods. The importance to public administration of these communities is discussed through multisectoral analysis. Existing case study-based research on the topic is empirically assessed by mapping the cyberuniverses of three issue areas discussed in that research. Although many of the findings of the existing research remain valid, the internal governance, and so the accountability and legitimacy, of cybercommunities are found to be weak. This raises serious questions about current understanding regarding the implications of online organization for public administration.

Key Words: informal organization • online communities • Internet • accountability

The American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 35, No. 3, 287-299 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0275074005276350
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