The Promise of All Things E? Expectations and Challenges of Emergent Electronic Government

The ambiguous nature of electronic government (e-government) has resulted in hype & confusion, with little systematic consideration of the expectations & limitations of taking government online. This paper seeks to examine the role of e-government in the US as an evolving process that manifests itself in three distinct sectors: government-to-government, government-to-business, & government-to-citizen. Using this typology as an organizing principle, we show how IT has the potential to enhance government accessibility & citizen participation. We also show how the move toward a market-focused conceptualization of government information & service delivery raises the potential for blurring citizen & consumer roles, possibly at the cost of a robust, informed, & engaged citizenry. 49 References. Adapted from the source document.