Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
countries, with significantly less interest exhibited by the elderly and less educated
(Gauld et al.
2010
). What these case studies reveal, therefore, is that in the adoption of
e-government, place and location matter profoundly.
5.4 Conclusion
This chapter has emphasized the significant geographical variations in e-government
that exist among states. Rather than consisting of a single, abstract model that can be
applied identically everywhere, the design, implementation, and consequences of
e-government reflect a wide variety of national and local political, economic, cultural,
and institutional contexts. E-government has been implemented at a variety of levels
of enthusiasm, ranging from grudging acceptance to energetic promulgation, and has
encountered variable levels of success or failure. For example, while e-government
has been implemented decisively and successfully in countries such as South Korea,
the U.S., Canada, and Denmark, in contrast, Japan has exhibited a surprising reluc-
tance. The varying forms that e-government assumes, and its levels of implementation
and success, reflect national and local political structures, levels of economic devel-
opment, cultural practices, and the contingent, path-dependent characteristics of
individual countries and regions. Moreover, e-government impacts vary considerably.
In some countries, e-government has successfully facilitated reductions in the size of
the public sector and greater efficiency by limiting duplications in paperwork and
streamlining bureaucracies; in others, it has reduced corruption through enhanced
transparency and accountability; in yet others, it offers more empty hype than sub-
stantial impacts. Within countries, adoption of e-government exhibits considerable
spatial variation, as indicated by the uneven patterns among U.S. states, British local
authorities, French departments, and Japanese prefectures. In addition to national and
local political environments, the matter of the digital divide, which exhibits its own,
distinct, but related geography, is also critical in shaping who has access to e-gov-
ernment services and who does not. While the bulk of residents in the developed world
can utilize the internet easily, a substantial minority, including the familiar litany of
the poor, uneducated, and politically marginalized, does not. The socially and spatially
uneven distribution of internet access among and within countries produces compli-
cated spatialities of inequality that further contribute to the diversity of e-government
impacts. Thus, e-government adoption must be viewed in light of local institutional
and administrative contexts rather than a simplistic ''one-size-fits-all'' strategy.
References
Allen, B., Juillet, L., Paquet, G., & Roy, J. (2001). E-governance and government on-line in Canada:
Partnerships, people and prospects. Government Information Quarterly, 18(2), 93-104.
Anderson, K., Grönlund, A., Moe, C., & Sein, M. (2005). E-government in Scandinavia.
Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, 17(2), 3-10.
