Digital Governance and Citizen Trust: A Study of e-Governance Service Delivery in Rural Local Bodies of Karnataka

Sunitha G

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i05.87338

Digital Governance and Citizen Trust: A Study of e-Governance Service Delivery in Rural Local Bodies of Karnataka

Author(s)	Dr. Sunitha G
Country	India
Abstract	Digital governance is increasingly positioned as a solution to weak service delivery and low institutional trust in rural India, yet whether digitally accessible services actually translate into citizen trust in local government remains empirically underexamined. This study investigates how Digital Service Accessibility (DSA) shapes Citizen Trust (CT) in rural local bodies of Karnataka, examining the sequential mediating roles of Perceived Transparency (PT) and Citizen Satisfaction (CS). Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) and Putnam's (1993) Social Capital Theory, a quantitative cross-sectional survey was administered to 423 citizens residing in villages, town panchayats, and taluk headquarters across Karnataka. Exploratory Factor Analysis confirmed a clean four-factor structure (KMO = .922; Bartlett's χ²(190) = 3640.96, p < .001), and Confirmatory Factor Analysis in AMOS established strong reliability and convergent validity for all constructs (composite reliability = .834–.856; average variance extracted = .503–.545), with discriminant validity confirmed via the Fornell–Larcker criterion and Heterotrait-Monotrait ratios (all below .65). Structural Equation Modelling revealed that Digital Service Accessibility significantly and positively predicted Perceived Transparency (β = .603, p < .001), which significantly and positively predicted Citizen Satisfaction (β = .653, p < .001), which in turn significantly and positively predicted Citizen Trust (β = .618, p < .001). The direct path from Digital Service Accessibility to Citizen Trust was non-significant (β = .029, p = .594), while the total effect (β = .272, p = .001) and the standardized serial indirect effect through Perceived Transparency and Citizen Satisfaction (β = .243, 95% CI [.201, .298], p = .001) were both significant, indicating full mediation. These findings suggest that digital accessibility alone does not build citizen trust in local government; trust is earned only once accessibility is converted into perceived transparency and, subsequently, service satisfaction — with direct implications for the design of rural digital governance programmes such as Karnataka's Grama One initiative.
Keywords	Digital Governance, e-Governance, Perceived Transparency, Citizen Satisfaction, Citizen Trust, Structural Equation Modelling, Karnataka
Field	Arts
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On	2026-09-08
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i05.87338

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Digital Governance and Citizen Trust: A Study of e-Governance Service Delivery in Rural Local Bodies of Karnataka

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