Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
autonomy of local organizational units, effective e-government requires a consid-
erable degree of centralized coordination. Thus, attempts by Revenue Canada or
Canada Post to implement digital procurement processes have been repeatedly
delayed. In response, traditional vertical bureaucratic structures have had to adapt, in
part by entering into partnerships with one another and with private interests (e.g.,
outsourcing), which in turn raises thorny problems of accountability.
5.3.2 Europe
In Europe, e-government assumes a multiplicity of national and local forms. In
general, Northern and Western Europe fare better than their Eastern and Southern
counterparts (Fig.
5.1
). In 2004, the European Union launched IDABC (Interoperable
Delivery of European e-Government Services to Public Administrations, Businesses
and Citizens) to stimulate e-government adoption by its member states. Despite this
supranational level of encouragement, EU e-government has emerged in a nebulous
legal environment that has left implementation to member states rather than a coor-
dinated central policy (Strejcek and Theil
2003
). Within countries, regions exhibit
enormous differentials in e-government implementation (Lassnig and Markus
2003
).
Finally, the municipal scale adds further diversity: Pina et al. (
2007
) analyzed
e-government websites of cities in 15 countries of the European Union, finding sig-
nificant variations in their degree of transparency, interactivity, and utility among and
within countries (see also Druke
2005
;Torresetal.
2005
). Despite the unevenness in
access, the internet has become an important forum of European politics, greatly
enhancing citizen participation in democratic governance (Norris
2005
).
Britain's attempts to promote e-government can be traced to the 1996 government
paper Government Direct, which sought to advance electronic provision of payments,
tax collections, data gathering, and benefits dispersal. Subsequently, e-government
goals in the U.K. were broadened to include digital job searches, appointments with
government offices, dispersal of health care information, and other activities. The
central point of access is ukonline.gov.uk. Under the neoliberal impulse to privatize
and decentralize, the government frequently contracted the work for the creation of
many e-government websites to private suppliers. In addition, the devolution of
national state authority to many local governments has generated wide variations in
the rate and nature of e-government adoption; thus Pratchett (
2004
,p.3)arguesthat
''despite a nationally prescribe strategy and nationally imposed targets, the reality of
local e-government is one of variable practice and disparate successes.'' Despite its
earnest efforts, e-government usage in the United Kingdom has been low compared to
other OECD states. Critics of the government lampooned its efforts by creating ''a
parody site
www.directionlessgov.com
to illustrate how the by now ubiquitous search
engine Google was a better tool for finding government information than the official
government portal'' (Margetts
2006
, p. 252). Among local boroughs, e-government
has been manifested at a variety of types and levels of success (Weerakkody and
Choudrie
2005
).
