Grievances, Resources, or Values? Predicting Online Citizen-Initiated Government Contacts in China

The development of information technology allows people to contact governments more easily. The demands and complaints conveyed to governments can not only impact policy-making but also motivate authorities to provide better public service. Many scholars have been interested in antecedents of citizen-initiated contacts. Based upon previous studies, we proposed a“reality-value model”to explore patterns of citizen-initiated government contacts in China. Using data from a nationwide political forum, our findings suggest a sharp increase of online citizen-initiated contacts in China. The large regional variation in number of citizen-initiated contacts can be explained by the reality-value model. Perceived needs, resources and political value play important roles in predicting citizen contact. People from provinces with higher levels of grievance-based needs, internet resources, and conservative value are more likely to contact government.