A Brave New E-World? An Exploratory Analysis of Worldwide E-Government Readiness, Level of Democracy, Corruption, and Globalization

This chapter reports research results on the relationship between e-government readiness and its components and the level of democracy, corruption and globalization for 191 countries. A supply-side approach to e-government analysis using data about national government Web sites, telecommunication infrastructure and human capital was taken rather than a demand-side approach, which is based on the real use of e-government Web sites by citizens, businesses and government, or their perceptions of the online services delivery. Statistically significant differences in the level of e-government readiness and its components between three groups of countries classified according to the level of democracy were identified using ANOVA. It was also shown, using correlation and regression analysis, that e-government readiness indices are related to the level of democracy, corruption and globalization.

Electronic Democracy at the American Grassroots

In this chapter, I examine the delivery of electronic democracy (e-democracy) by U.S. local governments through their e-government activities. In particular, I examine three issues related to local e-democracy through data from focus groups with officials from 37 municipal and county governments across the U.S. The issues are: (1) why local governments decided to adopt e-government, and whether e-democracy was among the reasons for its adoption; (2) whether e-government has produced or affected local e-democracy; and (3) what plans, if any, local governments have with respect to e-democracy in coming years. My principal findings are that e-government at the local level was adopted principally to deliver governmental information and services and to provide citizen access to governmental officials; that e-government does not operate in a manner that either produces or impacts local e-democracy (at least as the term is broadly defined herein); and that e-democracy is not on the radar screens of most American local governments for future deployment.

The Impact of the Internet on Political Activism

The core issue for this study concerns less the social than the political consequences of the rise of knowledge societies; in particular, the capacity of the Internet for strengthening democratic participation and civic engagement linking citizens and government. To consider these issues, Part I summarizes debates about the impact of the Internet on the public sphere. The main influence of this development, as it is theorized in a market model, will be determined by the “supply” and “demand” for electronic information and communications about government and politics. Demand, in turn, is assumed to be heavily dependent upon the social characteristics of Internet users and their prior political orientations. Given this understanding, the study predicts that the primary impact of knowledge societies in democratic societies will be upon facilitating cause-oriented and civic forms of political activism, thereby strengthening social movements and interest groups, more than upon conventional channels of political participation exemplified by voting, parties, and election campaigning. Part II summarizes the sources of survey data and the key measures of political activism used in this study, drawing upon the 19-nation European Social Survey, 2002. Part III examines the evidence for the relationship between use of the Internet and indicators of civic engagement. The conclusion in Part IV summarizes the results and considers the broader implications for governance and democracy.

Scenarios for Future Use of E-Democracy Tools in Europe

Many ICT-based tools for supporting democratic participation that have been developed with public funds and applied in pilot projects have not yet achieved large-scale outreach. Optimists still believe this will happen; sceptics doubt. This chapter starts from the assumption that technological development and diffusion are largely influenced by socioeconomic conditions. It develops a contingency model for e-democracy tools and applies the scenario method for differentiating the future context of these tools. It is based on the results of a research project that described possible futures of European e-government in general and e-democracy in particular on a 10-year time horizon by using the scenario method and inputs from European experts on e-government. Out of three different scenarios, possible and plausible futures of e-democracy are described in order to analyse robust technologies that are expected to be used in all three scenarios.

E-Government Research

A comprehensive analysis of 110 peer-reviewed journal papers suggests that the conceptual domains and application areas covered by e-government research focus predominately on capabilities and interactions, whereas value distributions and policy orientations are largely ignored. Onwards, e-government research is more concerned with conceptualizing government and e-services, than exploring the governmental role in technology diffusion and the role IT plays in democracy and participation. The orientation of the e-government research is an indicator that the legacy of IS-research themes dominates the e-government research body. Interdisciplinary research involving core public administration research along with IS-research is yet to emerge. It is proposed that the field could be more unified if considering both the “e” and “government” of e-government.

E-Gov Research 2003-2006

This chapter follows up on an earlier study (Grönlund, 2004) by assessing the nature of 117 papers from two e-gov (electronic government) conferences, EGOV 05 and HICSS 06, in terms of rigor and relevance criteria using a straightforward maturity model. The study uses the same method as the 2004 one and makes comparisons between the results. We find that however still focusing overwhelmingly on descriptions and little on theory testing and creation, paper quality appears much better in that references to literature have increased grossly, there are very few dubious claims, philosophical research and theoretical arguments are virtually extinct, and the number of case stories is vastly reduced. However, the number of product descriptions is doubled. We also find that there is no particular focus on specific government and society issues, but rather on traditional information systems ones; IT, method and organization.

The Quest for Advocates

Throughout the world, democratic countries, whether old, new, or in transition, are facing innovations in communications and information technology. Especially within developed economies, the challenge toward e-democracy through the digital transformation of democratic institutions has become increasingly evident. With the identification of the notion of the “middleman paradox,” recent research findings have added a new dimension to existing theories on the hesitant evolution of e-democracy, which clearly identifies politicians as an inhibiting factor. Consequently, the research in this chapter attempts to explore further this newly discovered phenomenon by presenting theoretical and empirical evidence. The findings of a multiple case study carried out in all 25 EU member countries, based on an adopted exploratory research design are presented. These findings give more detailed insights on the nature of the middleman paradox and on the ambiguous role of politicians in the further evolution of e-democracy.

E-Government-Induced Business Process Change (BPC)

E-government (e-gov) projects have an increasing influence on how government business processes evolve and change. While early e-gov projects focused on government- to-public information and interaction, the second and third wave of e-gov projects also emphasize internal effectiveness and efficiency, along with intra- and interdepartmental as well as intra- and interbranch integration. With these increases in scope and scale of e-gov projects, existing business processes, including core processes, become candidates for improvement and change. While the private-sector-oriented literature on business process change abounds with descriptive and prescriptive accounts, no equivalent has been found in the public-sector-related literature. Although many insights drawn from the private sector may apply, the public sector seems to develop distinct practices. This chapter contributes to the understanding of current practices in e-gov-induced business process change, comparing those practices to prescriptions derived from private-sector experience. Among other factors, the more inclusive approach observed in e-gov business process change may explain the higher success rate of public-sector projects compared to those reported from the private sector.

Motives, Strategic Approach, Objectives and Focal Areas in E-Gov-Induced Change

In its early catalogue and transaction phases, E-Government (e-gov) has been quite successful, although some critics say that it mainly reaped the harvest of relatively low hanging fruits by making paper-based information accessible over the Web, and also by Web-enabling some existing transaction processes. The subsequent horizontal and vertical integration phases of e-gov, those critics hold, present a greater challenge and require more technological sophistication and organizational effort. Business processes may need streamlining, change, and even replacement in order to become more citizen-centric and also increase government internal effectiveness and efficiency (IEE). This exploratory study finds that strategies and objectives for reaching the integration phase vary with focal areas and motives. However, e-gov, it is found, is a main driver of business process change in the public sector. Many practices and lessons learned from private sector reengineering apply in the government context.

Assessing Digital Government at the Local Level Worldwide

Throughout the world, government agencies are looking to use information technology as a tool for strategically enhancing their performance and creating public value. Our research examines 84 cities worldwide and evaluates their performance using a five-stage framework. The framework builds on existing e-government literature utilizing 92 different measures. The research was conducted between June and October of 2003. Our instrument was translated into the native language of each city and the assessment of each municipal Web site was conducted by a native speaker of the municipality’s language. We review relevant e-government literature for evaluating Web sites in the U.S. and internationally, discuss our sample selection, methodology, theoretical framework, findings, and recommendations. Our results indicate that Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore, New York, and Shanghai are the top five large cities providing digital government opportunities to citizens online. In addition, our research suggests a difference in the digital government capabilities between the 30 developed nations belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and lesser-developed (non-OECD) nations.