The Promise of Digital Government

Abstract

E-government promises to mark a new era of greater convenience in citizen access to governmental forms, data, and information. Its advocates promise that not only will e-government bring the convenience of online transactions, but it will also reverse citizens’ disaffection from government, create dramatic savings, and reinforce rather than erode traditional American freedoms and liberties. E-government, however, is better thought of not as a revolution, but as an attempt to bring the e-business model into the public sector. A component-by-component examination of the e-business model shows that it is fraught with problems, challenges, and limitations as well as opportunities. The promise of digital government will be fulfilled only by a new generation of public managers who are generalists, not technocrats, capable of integrating the disparate fields of consideration, which are necessary aspects of the vision of e-government as a whole.