What is Government

This chapter will compare the emergence of e-government in Denmark and Canada with a particular emphasis on the municipal and inter-governmental dimensions to the digital adaptation of the public sector. Denmark and Canada share many general traits in terms of the emergence of e-government in both countries. Internet and telecommunications infrastructures are well developed, widely accessible, and (on a relative basis) affordably priced; both countries enjoy high standards of living. Local governments differ greatly, however, in terms of political responsibility and autonomy, financing capacities, and degrees of influence over more senior order government levels. These differences are particularly evident in the field of healthcare, but they are also more generalized and the implications for e-government will be considered in terms of likely future trajectories of public sector reform and democratic legitimacy in each country. In particular, an important lesson derived from this chapter is that Canada faces greater challenges than Denmark in collaborating across jurisdictional boundaries and that weaker municipal capacity within the Canadian context is central to this concern.