A Brave New E-World? An Exploratory Analysis of Worldwide E-Government Readiness, Level of Democracy, Corruption and Globalization

Abstract

This paper reports research results on the relationship between e-government readiness and its components and the level of democracy, corruption, and globalization for 191 countries. A supply-side approach to e-government analysis using data about national government Web sites, telecommunication infrastructure, and human capital was taken rather than a demand-side approach, which is based on the real use of e-government Web sites by citizens, businesses, and government, or their perceptions of the online services delivery. Statistically significant differences in the level of e-government readiness and its components between three groups of countries classified according to the level of democracy were identified using ANOVA. It was also shown, using correlation and regression analysis, that e-government readiness indices are related to the level of democracy, corruption, and globalization.