Could Mobile Applications for Civil Services Lead to Greater Engagement

I recently read that in February 2011, the city of Arlington, Texas launched a mobile phone application that allows citizens to access certain city services like reporting certain crimes, pay bills, apply for permits, search for local jobs, or use the city directory to contact people and organizations throughout the city. The article focuses on various benefits to participants like the ability to avoid long lines. I am particularly inspired by the opportunity for citizens to access the city services after hours and without having to take time off work. The article discusses the fact that various small cities and some larger cities throughout the country have done similar things. For instance, Boston allows citizen to address issues such as potholes, graffiti, streetlights and other. The article does not address two other side benefits, probably not considered by the mobile application creators. Accessibility to city services is a key indicator of citizen commitment to the social contract, namely that one can put their trust in government officials to address the matters we put in their hands. Second, that the city is and should be responsive to citizen needs, and thus it is the citizen's democratic right to influence what services are made avail ably and prioritized by the city. In other words, the citizen who believe "downtown" has no level of responsibility whatsoever is not likely to put faith in the government structure, and might be inclined to engage in bribery, gangsterism, and other anti-social behaviors. He also is less likely to engage democratically because he would consider it pointless. The citizen benefiting from responsive city services is likely to endorse the existing government structure, support the laws in place, and engage in movements for democratic policy change, rather than considering non-democratic methods for advancing policy adjustments. There are very few topics more important to discuss on "law day" than the relationship between the accessibility of civil services to the social contract and democratic and engaged citizenry.