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This paper examines the role that neighborhood associations might play in helping to govern American cities. In contrast to recent arguments that there has been a decline in grass-roots level “social capital,” the empirical evidence suggests that local neighborhood associations are growing in number, and are increasingly active. We discuss the theoretical foundations for involving neighborhoods in governance, and argue that informal associations can mediate between citizens on the one hand, and large-scale bureaucracies and businesses, on the other. In addition, a formal system of associations may encourage discussion among fragmented neighborhoods, which in turn could improve conflict negotiation and develop mutual understanding. We argue that a major impediment to the development of a neighborhood council system in Los Angeles has been a lack of information about existing neighborhood-based associations, and discuss an ongoing initiative to develop a comprehensive base of information regarding neighborhood associations in Los Angeles.

Recent developments in media technology have led some within the communications policy field to question traditional approaches to localism and its continued viability as a meaningful policy principle. In response to this potential turning point, this paper explores the underlying rationales for localism and examines the principle’s relevance in an era when media technologies are less restrained by geographic barriers. In terms of its underlying rationales, it is clear that the principle need not be entirely abandoned. The traditional “spatial” conceptualizations and applications of the localism principle still have relevance. If it can be expanded to account for alternative definitions of community, the principle will remain an important principle for communications policymakers and policy analysts.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the efforts made by Jordan in the direction of e‐governance and people's perception of corruption, trust, and e‐governance.

Desk research was conducted using secondary data sources followed by a field survey conducted with 412 sample respondents in three major cities of Jordan. Following the triangulation approach, the responses of university professors and the common people were also secured.

The Jordanian government's efforts towards e‐governance are commendable in the Middle East. However, there are certain impediments that are witnessed in the form of the digital divide, corruption, social bottlenecks, the stage of democratization, the lack of marketing to stakeholders, and the citizen's lack of adoption of technology. Educated people are aware of the merit of e‐governance contrary to the uneducated ones and perceive that corruption in the Jordanian public sector is increasing.

The study mainly reflects the views of the educated people. The views of the uneducated ones are secured through basic interactions as they expressed their inability to respond to the questionnaires. Somehow, the respondents are not very open to freely share their opinions or have abstained from participation‐since they consider this a sensitive issue within the Jordanian cultural and political setup. Further, asking opinions of members of the public might not be the ideal way of judging the level of corruption, or changes in it.

People's perception is that Jordan is affected by a low level of corruption and that its citizens lack awareness of e‐governance. To remedy this, its citizens need to be motivated to trust and to participate in the process of e‐governance and to increase their understanding of the tools and technologies available.