Aroon Manoharan

A Study of the Determinants of County E-Government in the United States

As governments rapidly adopt information and communication technologies to improve their service delivery, the study of e-government has emerged as an important area of research in public administration. Researchers have studied various aspects of e-government, including the factors associated with its adoption at state and municipals levels. Literature provides limited information related specifically to counties’ adoption of e-government in the United States, and although some researchers have studied the effect of institutional and contextual factors in particular states, none have studied their influence on counties nationwide. Based on a survey of county administrators primarily responsible for e-government services and a content analysis of counties’ official websites, this research examines the role of institutional, contextual, and socioeconomic factors on e-government adoption at the county level in the United States.

Digitized Government in Worldwide Municipalities between 2003 and 2007

Observers of digitized government suggest that governments around the world are using the Internet to increase the effectiveness and transparency of administrative functions while engaging citizens and transforming the nature of democracy. The current research examines digital government by analyzing data from worldwide municipal websites reviewed in 2003 and in 2007. The findings are bifurcated. The research suggests that digital government performance of cities worldwide is increasing over time. However, the findings also demonstrate volatility in performance levels of city digital government initiatives. In other words, early adopters of digital government often find it difficult to maintain their performance between the survey years, while some late adopters experience dramatic performance improvements. The results suggest that future research needs to consider the reasons for changes in relative performance and the variation of digital government.

A Three Dimensional Assessment of U.S. County e-Government

The research determines the status of counties’ e-government in three dimensions and the factors influencing their success, based on a combination of a county e-government survey and a content analysis of their websites. Despite the technological growth among county governments, the existing studies have little information dealing specifically with local county governments’ use of e-government technology. This research synthesizes the various existing models of e-government to develop a conceptual framework of three distinct e-government dimensions—e-information, e-transaction, and e-participation. The dimension of e-information refers to the provision of relevant and sufficient information through effective communication, thus leading to an informed citizenry; e-transaction involves efficient and effective transactions that result from an integrated citizenry; and e-participation refers to the promotion of an electronic democracy that involves a participatory citizenry. The study produces some significant findings and provides directions for future research in county e-government.

Active Citizen Participation in E-Government: A Global Perspective

Aroon Manoharan is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the Department of Political Science, at Kent State University, USA. His research focuses on egovernance, performance measurement and reporting, organization management, and comparative administration. He received his Ph.D. from the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University-Newark and MPA from Kansas State University. As Associate Director of the E-Governance Institute at Rutgers-Newark, he directed major initiatives including the Digital Governance in Municipalities Worldwide Survey 2007, which evaluated the e-governance performance at the municipal level globally. He also directed the U.S. States and Municipalities E-Governance Survey in 2008. Aroon Manoharan (Kent State University, USA) and Marc Holzer (Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, USA)

Digital governance success factors and barriers to success in prague

In 2010 a series of case studies were conducted in Prague, Czech Republic, examining the implementation and management of digital governance. These best practice case studies were chosen from among Pragues twenty-two administrative districts and through those findings this article discusses critical success factors and barriers to successful implementation of digital government initiatives. A qualitative review of both critical success factors and barriers is discussed at the individual, organizational, and strategic levels and the paper concludes by highlighting strategies managers can take to increase e-government performance. When considered together, the critical success factors, barriers to implementation, and key factors identified in the case studies further add to the growing literature of digital governance and performance management.

E-Governance and Civic Engagement: Factors and Determinants of E-Democracy

Policy design is the key to securing the required policy outcomes and this author argues that flaws in the design of the public policy to modernise electoral processes in the UK impact on the expansion of e-democracy as they influence e-voting adoption decisions of local authorities. The UK government proposed to introduce e-voting through the voluntary public policy process as part of the strategy to modernise the electoral process to enhance participation in representative democracy. However, numbers of local authorities willing to trial the new voting methods have decreased. This chapter draws on prior research and interviews with Election Officers to analyse stages in the policy process. The analysis is based on Anderson’s (2002) heuristic model of the policy process to identify flaws impacting on the effectiveness of this policy to promote e-democracy. The conclusion recommends measures to address the policy weaknesses.This chapter presents a survey study on attitudes towards political campaigning in social media. During the national election in Sweden in 2010, a considerable amount of resources was invested in o ...

Recent trends in e–government: states' and local governments' utilisation of websites

This research evaluates and compares the progress of e–government at the state and local levels in the United States over the last ten years. We assess which functions are frequently included on their websites. To this end, our research question begins with asking: what are the current trends in e–government at the state and local levels? Finally, these findings are contextualised within the historical progress and development of e–government. This research looks to contribute to the field of e–government by presenting a broader picture of the component areas governments have focused on via the Internet.

The Use of Social Media Policies by US Municipalities

ABSTRACT As the use of social media technologies becomes ever more ingrained in the day-to-day functions of public organizations, it is important to develop relevant social media policies to guide their effective use and enable increasingly transparent engagement with citizens. Analyzing the content of such policies can inform scholars about the intended purpose of government’s use of social media. Hence, to build the foundation for a research agenda focused on the role of policy in government’s ability to effectively engage citizens, this exploratory study first identified 156 US cities with a recognizable social media presence and then employed a content analysis to analyze the key elements of their social media policies. Based on our findings, most cities have integrated social media into daily operations, however, many do not provide effective social media policies to guide such use.

Technology and Pedagogy: Information Technology Competencies in Public Administration and Public Policy Programs

Abstract Much of the public administration literature over the last 50 years has focused on the perceived gap between theory and practice, and recent studies examine the implications of such a gap for implementing and engaging in e-government initiatives. To identify solutions to such a gap, however, one must first establish that it exists. This qualitative study analyzes syllabi of 57 Master of Public Administration and Master of Public Policy (MPA/MPP) programs to assess their emphasis on information technology (IT) competencies. Our findings indicate that MPA/MPP programs teach a variety of IT components, but topics are not evenly dispersed or taught in all programs. It is beyond debate whether or not technology skills are required in the workplace—they are. This study endeavors to identify which of these skills are taught in graduate programs aimed at preparing students for the workplace—one increasingly geared toward government-citizen interaction through computer-mediated tools.

Global Clusters in Municipal E-Governance: A Longitudinal Study

This research focuses on the trends in municipal e-governance among large municipalities based on a worldwide survey in 2011. The study replicates previous surveys conducted every other year since 2003 and the longitudinal assessment analyzes specific features of municipal websites. This paper examines these longitudinal trends in terms of four different clusters: 1) digitally mature cities, 2) digitally moderate cities, 3) digitally minimal cities, and 4) digitally marginal cities, and identifies the best practices among them. There were significant changes in the top ranking cities, with Seoul, Toronto, Madrid, Prague, and Hong Kong representing the highest level in e-governance.