X-STATIS: A Multivariate Approach to Characterize the Evolution of E-Participation, from a Global Perspective

This paper aims to categorize countries by their e-participation index, according to political, capacity, and governmental environment factors; examine how they are projected based on these factors; and analyze whether this projection corresponds to the current state of e-participation development. It is the first study to provide an overview of the e-participation level using multivariate analysis techniques for three-way data analysis, specifically, the X-STATIS methodology and cluster analysis. These techniques enable the simultaneous representation of countries, factors, conditions, trajectories, and groupings, taking into account national conditions in the evolution of e-participation from 2008 to 2016. The results show that when the conditions of each country interact with the level of e-participation development, and depending on the economic development, 7% of countries are lagging behind in e-participation evolution, given their institutional and political capacity. This delay is particularly relevant in countries that enjoy a higher level of socioeconomic status. Meanwhile, 38% are above the level they would correspond to.

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This paper aims to categorize countries based on their e-participation index, analyze their projection according to political, capacity, and governmental environment factors, and examine if this projection aligns with the current state of e-participation development. It is the first study to provide an overview of e-participation using multivariate analysis techniques and cluster analysis. The results show that 7% of countries lag behind in e-participation evolution due to institutional and political capacity issues, while 38% are ahead of their expected level of e-participation.