Internet access levels are not the sole determinant of howtransparent government websites are.

Does increased Internet access lead to higher levels of governmental transparency? In new resealed, Grichawat Lowatcharin and Charles Menifield assess the impact of geographic, demographic, socioeconomic, and institutional factors on governmental transparency across more than 800 counties in the twelve U.S. Midwestern states. They found that total land area, population density, percentage of minority population, educational attainment, and the council-manager form of government are statistically associated with higher levels of government transparency at the county level via the Internet.