A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development and Sustainability

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2026

Despite extensive research on e-government adoption and performance, limited attention has been paid to how citizens{u2019} experiences with traditional public services shape trust, legitimacy, and the uptake of digital platforms within hybrid governance systems. This dissertation examines municipal e-service readiness in Tunisia{u2019}s evolving governance landscape, analyzing how offline service experiences, institutional arrangements, and citizen behavior condition the perceived value, adoption, and legitimacy of digital public services. Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, the study integrates survey data from municipal service users, semi-structured interviews with municipal officials and civil society actors, and documentary analysis of donor-supported initiatives. Four interrelated dimensions are investigated: donor influence on civil society engagement, citizen preferences in multichannel governance environments, the relationship between e-service quality and institutional trust, and the mediating role of offline service satisfaction in digital service adoption. The findings demonstrate that digital platforms do not operate independently of existing institutional arrangements. Citizen engagement with e-services is strongly shaped by prior offline experiences, perceived institutional credibility, and continued reliance on face-to-face interactions. Trust emerges as a cumulative and relational mechanism produced across service channels rather than as an automatic outcome of digitalization. These results suggest that digital reform strategies must prioritize institutional coherence, multichannel integration, and trust building mechanisms rather than technological deployment alone. Building on these insights, the dissertation advances a relational model of e-service readiness that conceptualizes digital transformation as embedded within hybrid governance systems. By challenging techno-centric adoption models, it contributes a governance-informed framework for analyzing digital reform in transitional and decentralized contexts.