RESEARCH ON E-GOVERNMENT:A PROPOSAL OF THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.

E-Government as a New Studying Subject.

Towards a Theoretical Integration Proposal

Juan Ignacio Criado Grande (Complutense University of Madrid)

Mari Carmen Ramilo Araujo (Basque Country University)

Miquel Salvador Serna (Pompeu Fabra University)

2002 EGPA ANNUAL CONFERENCE

“THE EUROPEAN ADMINISTRATIVE SPACE: GOVERNANCE IN DIVERSITY”

POSTDAM, 4-7 SEPTEMBER, 2002

What is exactly the e-Government?

Developing applications to let stakeholders take part in a policy-

making process, etc…

universalising access to a

computer and the ICT;

Developing interactive and

excellent websites;

Creating One-Stop Shops,

e-services, developing Intranets so as to share information between different agencies or within

the same organization;

Creating e-Voting or e-Consultant

Projects;

Theoretical and Analytical Framework

E-Gov

Developing applications to let stakeholders take part in a

policy-making process, etc…

Universalising

access to a

computer and the

ICT

Developing interactive and

excellent websites

Creating One-Stop Shops,

e-services

Developing Intranets to share information between different agencies or within the same

organization

Creating e-Voting

or e-Consultant Projects;

E-

GOVERNMENT

Canales interactivos para permitir la participación ciudadana en la elaboración de las políticias (eGobernanza)

e-servicios integrales (eAdministración)

Infraestructuras y aplicaciones para compartir

información y crear espacios colaborativos

Sistemas de voto y consulta electrónica(eDemocracia)

e-GOVERNM

ENT

Acceso universal y uso con sentido de las de las

TIC

Páginas web

How to analyze E-Government?

II.-Theoretical Framework

II.1. New Public Management.

II.2. Public Governance.• Neoinstitutionalism• Policy Networks.

III.-Analytical FrameworkGovernments and Public Administrations as:

III.1.- Public Services providers.

III.2.- Promoters of the consultation and the extension of the democratic processes.

III.3.- Promoters of policy making process taking into account stakeholders.

I.- Conceptual Framework.

IV.- Conclusions: Evaluating the three dimensions/roles.Towards a Theoretical Integration Proposal.

I.- Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of the E-Government

• e-Government – In the future, the concept of E-Government can go beyond the money transfer, and other

benefits through the use of intelligent plastic cards. With a chip card, the participants could receive public assistance benefits, join formative courses, elderly service delivery, or the payment of day assistance. (…). The E-Government would be fairer, safer, more client oriented, and more efficient than our systems, which are nowadays based on the paper’. (National Performance Review, 1993: 114)

– E-Government as ‘the application of the technologies based on the Internet to commercial and non-commercial activities in the core of the Public Administration’ (OECD, 1998).

– ‘Within the next five years ICT will transform not only the way in which most public services are delivered, but also the fundamental relationship between government and the citizen. After e-commerce, and e-business, the next Internet revolution will be e-Government’. (The Economist, 2000:3)

‘The continuous optimisation of ...Government service delivery, citizen participation and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through technology, the Internet and new media,’ (Gartner Group, 2000)

(Policy Networks)

(New Public Management)

(Neoinstitutionalism)

II.- Theoretical Framework for the Analysis of the E-Government.

• II.1.-The Perspective of the New Public Management for the Analysis of the E-Government: Reinventing Government in the Information Age?

– E-Government vs Traditional Public Administration – E-Government implementation considering the

characteristics of the NPM – Contextual Analysis and e-Government– Rhetoric vs Reality in the development of e-

Government

II.- Theoretical Framework for the Analysis of the E-Government.

• II.2.1.-Governance and E-Government:

– An approach from the neo-institutionalism• Institutions: group of norms, rules, values and processes that guide and constrain the

behaviour of the implied actors, conditioning the effective results of the installation of the so-called E-Government.

• How certain rules and operation rules, supported in certain values and visions of the reality, are able to be transferred from distant and different political-administrative realities that would require of a specific treatment that they frequently don't receive.

– An approach from the analysis of the policy networks.• What governance dynamics are taking place in the policy making process to develop E-

Government's projects; • What actors take part in the definition of the projects, in the election of the performance

alternatives and in the process of decision taking; • What resources they have; • How it takes place and it is managed the interaction of the multiple agents implied in the

process; and how they are valued and they legitimate these projects and their results. • Which rules regulate the behaviour of the actors

III.- Applied Framework for the E-Government's Analysis. An integrated vision.

• III.1.-Governments and Public Administrations as public services providers.

– Aim: Governments and Public Administrations use ICT (websites, portals, one stop shops, etc.) to improve their relations with other agents (Gov, citizens, enterprises, etc.) and develop quality services and more efficient and effective organisations.

• On-line information of already existent services• Creation of new services and programs • Creation of new support tools for the internal management• Creation of new organizational structures

– Main Actors:• Political Responsible• Public Managers• Public Servants• ICT Companies

– Examples: • e-Europe Benchmarking Surveys

• WorldMarkets, Accenture Surveys

• Consultants

• Managerial associations

• Citizens

e-A

d m

i n

i s

t r

a t

i o

n

III.- Applied Framework for the E-Government's Analysis. An integrated vision.

• III.2.-Governments and Public Administrations as promoters of the consultation and the extension of the democratic processes.

– Aim: The potential of the ICT to reinforce the role of the democracy is enormous since they can encourage to actors to participate in the democratic process. Among other functions, the extension of the ICT can:

• Go against the digital divide• Develop simple applications to spread the information and the exchange of

ideas• Extend the electronic voting• Simplify the decision-making process to carry out consultations to the citizens

on topics of interest for the whole community.

– Main Actors:• Citizenship• Political Representatives • Governments and Public Administrations• Political Parties• Mass Media• University, non lucrative Sector and private sector

e-D

e m

o c

r a

c y

III.- Applied Framework for the E-Government's Analysis. An integrated vision.

• III. 3.- Governments and Public Administrations as promoters of policy making process taking into account stakeholders

– Aim: The potential of the ICT to develop new relationship dynamics with the different social agents, whenever those who play the role of promoters or policy networks managers are able to identify these advantages

– Main Actors:• Governments and Public Administrations...• ...Taking into account the Stakeholders • So as to develop transversal and integral policies

– Examples: • Internet for everyone programme from the Spanish Government• Towards Electronic Democracy Project (TED)

e-G

o v

e r

n a

n c

e

IV.1.-CONCLUSIONS: Evaluating the development of the three roles/dimensions of the e-Government

“We have to go beyond the ideas of e-Administration and e-voting, the digital version of concepts from the

XIX and XX century. The e-Administration only unloads the bureaucracy; and the vote from the computer or the mobile phone

only changes the mechanism, but does not allow citizens to take part with more depht in the decision

making process”.

David Rios (2002) Chief of the TED Project (Towards Electronic Democracy)

supported and financed by the European Science Foundation

IV.2.- ConclusionsE-Government: Towards a Theoretical Integration Proposal

Neoin

sti

tuti

on

alism

&

Policy N

etw

ork

sN

ew

Pu

blic

Man

ag

em

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