E-Government as a New Studying Subject. Towards a Theoretical Integration Proposal. By Juan Ignacio Criado Grande, Mentxu Ramilo Araujo and Miquel Salvador i Serna

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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-GOVERNM
ENT

4. 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-GOVER
N
M
EN
T
Acceso universal y uso con sentido
de las de las TIC
Páginas web

5. How to analyze E-Government?
II.-Theoretical Framework
 II.1. New Public
Management.
 II.2. Public Governance.
• Neoinstitutionalism
• Policy Networks.
III.-Analytical Framework
Governments 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.

6. 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)

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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-Administration

10. 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-Democracy

11. 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-Governance

12. 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

13. IV.2.- Conclusions
E-Government: Towards a Theoretical Integration Proposal
Neoinstitutionalism&
PolicyNetworks
NewPublic
Management