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The Role of Political Leadership in Driving Citizens’ Engagement Through Social Media: The Case of Dubai’s Public Sector

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Abstract

This chapter examines the use of social media in Dubai’s government from a public policy perspective. It traces its development and the intrinsic role of political leadership in encouraging and creating a virtual space for brainstorming important policy matters with a wider public audience. The chapter argues that the technological advancement Dubai and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (Dubai is one of the seven Emirates that form the United Arab Emirates. Other Emirates in alphabetical order are Abu Dhabi (which serves as the capital), Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain.) achieved in the past few decades, has facilitated the exploitation of social media tools and allowed the engagement of the public in policy making. This is a result of the political leadership’s firm willingness to modernize its public administration and involve the public in shaping public policy. Dubai currently serves as a catalyst for other governments of the Gulf and the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to utilize social media to formulate public policies that are supported and co-formed by the public.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Gulf Cooperation Council is made of six oil exporting states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies, Faculty of Law, Clayton Campus, Monash University, 3800, Victoria, Australia

    Mhamed Biygautane

  2. Zayed University, Dubai, UAE

    May Al-Taee

Authors
  1. Mhamed Biygautane
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  2. May Al-Taee
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mhamed Biygautane .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Data61, Marsfield, New South Wales, Australia

    Surya Nepal

  2. Services Flagship, CSIRO Data61, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Cécile Paris

  3. RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Dimitrios Georgakopoulos

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Biygautane, M., Al-Taee, M. (2015). The Role of Political Leadership in Driving Citizens’ Engagement Through Social Media: The Case of Dubai’s Public Sector. In: Nepal, S., Paris, C., Georgakopoulos, D. (eds) Social Media for Government Services. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27237-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27237-5_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-27235-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-27237-5

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