Does Centralization Lead to Equality in E-Participation Provision? Evidence from the Russian Regions

Since 2020, Russian regions have maintained their own e-participation channels, as well as unified solutions provided by the federal government. This gives an opportunity to compare different e-participation implementation models and define the impact of centralization policy on e-participation provision equality. Our pilot statistical analysis shows that although centralization could have reduced the importance of ICT budgets, regional disparities due to socio-economic conditions remain persistent.