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‘Mind the Gap’: e-Government and e-Democracy

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Electronic Government (EGOV 2006)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 4084))

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Abstract

It is claimed that Internet technology offers governments the opportunity to engage citizens online and bridge the growing gap between citizens and the state. In the current climate of citizen disengagement this is a potentially important prospect. Academic studies into e-government tend to follow a well-trodden path of technology acceptance, citizens’ willingness and ability to use public services online and the digital divide. Where issues of e-democracy are considered, studies generally highlight opportunities rather than measuring any actual changes in citizen behaviour. This study examines citizens’ perceptions, attitudes and behaviour, seeking specifically to expose whether citizens feel that e-government enhances democratic participation and brings them closer to government and the machinery of the state. In this paper we present the results of the pilot study which suggest that citizens perceive some moderate value in using e-government as a means of keeping themselves informed and communicating with the state, but little value in e-government as a tool of democratic participation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

    Ailsa Kolsaker & Liz Lee-Kelley

Authors
  1. Ailsa Kolsaker
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  2. Liz Lee-Kelley
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for IS Research, University of Koblenz-Landau, Universitätsstr. 1, 56070, Koblenz, Germany

    Maria A. Wimmer

  2. The Information School, University of Washington, 98195-2840, Seattle, WA, USA

    Hans J. Scholl

  3. ESI/Informatics, Örebro University, 701 82, Örebro, Sweden

    Åke Grönlund

  4. Copenhagen Business School, Centre for Applied ICT, 60 Howitzvej, 2000, Frederiksberg, DK

    Kim Viborg Andersen

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© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Kolsaker, A., Lee-Kelley, L. (2006). ‘Mind the Gap’: e-Government and e-Democracy. In: Wimmer, M.A., Scholl, H.J., Grönlund, Å., Andersen, K.V. (eds) Electronic Government. EGOV 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4084. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11823100_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11823100_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-37686-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-37687-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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