E-Government and Websites: A Public Solutions Handbook

237 Pages·2014·1.29 MB·English

by  Aroon Manoharan

E-Government
and Websites
This volume in the Public Solutions Handbook series focuses on various e-government
initiatives from the United States and other nations, and will help guide public service practitioners
in their transition to e-government. The book provides important recommendations and suggestions
oriented toward practitioners. It also makes a significant contribution to the field of e-government
by showcasing successful models and highlighting the lessons learned in the implementation
processes.
Chapter coverage includes:
• Online fiscal transparency
• Performance reporting
• Improving citizen participation
• Privacy issues in e-governance
• Internet voting
• E-government at the local level
E-Government and Websites is an invaluable resource and reference for public managers,
enhancing their ability to deliver public services as promised—efficiently, effectively, and within the
budgets that citizens have entrusted to their municipalities.
About the Editor
Aroon Manoharan is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration at Kent State University.
His research focuses on e-governance, performance measurement and reporting, strategic
planning, organization theory, and intergovernmental relations. His work has been published in the
American Review of Public Administration, State and Local Government Review, Public Administration
Quarterly, International Journal of Public Administration, International Journal of Organization
Theory and Behavior, and International Public Management Review. He holds an MPA from
Kansas State University and a PhD from the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers
University–Newark.
THE PUBLIC
SOLUTIONS
HANDBOOK
SERIES
MARC HOLZER, SSERIES EDITOR
MUNICIPAL SHARED SERVICES
A Public Solutions Handbook
Alexander C. Henderson, Editor
E-GOVERNMENT AND WEBSITES
A Public Solutions Handbook
Aroon Manoharan, Editor
THE PUBLIC
SOLUTIONS
HANDBOOK
SERIES
MARC HOLZER, SSERIES EDITOR
E-Government
and Websites
A PUBLIC SOLUTIONS HANDBOOK
Edited by
Aroon Manoharan
RO Routledge
U
TLED Taylor & Francis Group
G
E
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2015

by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Taylor & Francis
The right of the editor to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the
authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
E-government and websites : a public solutions handbook / edited by Aroon Manoharan.
pages cm.—(The public solutions handbook series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Internet in public administration. 2. Electronic government information. 3. Public
administration—
Technological innovations. I. Manoharan, Aroon, 1979– editor of compilation.
JF1525.A8E1975 2015
352.3’802854678—dc23
2014026940
ISBN: 978-0-7656-4656-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-7656-3727-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-71954-2 (ebk)
Contents
Series Editor’s Introduction, Marc Holzer vii
Introduction, Aroon Manoharan xi
Part I E-Government and Public Reporting and Public Relations
1. E-Government and Public Relations: It’s the Message, Not the Medium
Mordecai Lee 3
2. Understanding and Measuring Online Fiscal Transparency
Jonathan B. Justice, John G. McNutt, and Edward S. Smith Jr. 22
3. Improving the Effectiveness of E-Reporting in Government
with the Concept of Multiple Accountability
Thomas J. Greitens and M. Ernita Joaquin 47
4. Global Trends in E-Performance Reporting
Marc K. Fudge 66
Part II E-Governance and Citizen Participation
5. A Critical Analysis of the Potential of Information and Communication
Technologies for Democracy and Governance
Matthias Finger 81
6. Keys to E-Governance: Technology or Civil Society?
Robert J. Dickey and SeJeong Park 97
7. Improving Citizen Participation via E-Government: The Why and How
Yueping Zheng and Yuguo Liao 112
8. Puzzling Out the Wisdom of E-Crowds in Trustworthy E-Government
Practices: From Technological Applications to Networks
Younhee Kim and Seunghwan Myeong 135
v
vi CONTENTS
Part III Applications
9. E-Voting: Domestic and International Successes and Failures
Cecilia G. Manrique and Gabriel G. Manrique 153
10. E-Government in U.S. Local Governments: Disparities, Obstacles, and
Development Strategies
Hua Xu and Hugo Asencio 175
11. Relevant Issues of Accountability and Transparency in IT Shared Services
Gautam Nayer 190
About the Editors and Contributors 207
Index 213
Series Editor’s Introduction
The impetus for this series of public management handbooks is simply that public man-
agers must have ready access to the best practices and lessons learned. That knowledge
base is surprisingly extensive and rich, including insights from rigorous academic stud-
ies, internal government reports and publications, and foundation-supported research.
Access to that knowledge, however, is limited by substantial barriers: expensive books
and academic journals, “thick” academic language and hard-to-decipher jargon, and
just the sheer volume of information available. Our objectives in initiating this series
are to identify insights based in practice, to build competencies from that knowledge
base, to deliver them at an affordable price point, and to communicate that guidance
in clear terms.
GROUNDED INSIGHTS
Each volume in the series will incorporate case-based research. Each will draw helpful
insights and guidelines from academe, government, and foundation sources, focusing
on an emerging opportunity or issue in the field. The initial volumes will, for example,
address shared services for municipalities and counties, e-government and websites,
managing generational differences, government counter-corruption strategies, public-
sector innovation, and performance measurement and improvement.
COMPETENCIES
We are initiating this Public Solutions Handbook series to help build necessary compe-
tencies, empowering dedicated, busy public servants—many of whom have no formal
training in the management processes of the public offices and agencies they have been
selected to lead—to respond to emerging issues, to deliver services that policymakers
have promised to the public, to carry out their missions efficiently and effectively, and to
work in partnership with their stakeholders. Enabling practitioners to access and apply
evidence-based insights will begin to restore trust in their governments through high-
performing public, nonprofit, and contracting organizations.
Just as important, students in graduate-degree programs, many of whom are already
working in public and nonprofit organizations, are seeking succinct, pragmatic, grounded
guidance that will help them succeed far into the future as they rise to positions of greater
vii
viii SERIES EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
responsibility and leadership. This includes students in master of public administration
(MPA), master of public policy (MPP), master of nonprofit management (MNPM),
and even some master of business administration (MBA) and doctor of law (LLD)
programs.
AFFORDABILITY
Handbook prices are often unrealistically high. The marketplace is not serving the full
range of public managers who need guidance as to best practices. When faced with the
need for creative solutions to cut budgets, educating for ethics, tapping the problem-solving
expertise of managers and employees, or reporting progress clearly and transparently, a
grasp of such practices is essential. Many handbooks are priced in the hundreds of dol-
lars, beyond the purchasing power of an individual or an agency. Journals are similarly
priced out of the reach of practitioners. In contrast, each volume in the Public Solutions
Handbook series will be modestly priced.
CLEAR WRITING
Although the practice of public administration and public management should be informed
by published research, the books that are now marketed to practitioners and students in
the field are often overly abstract and theoretical, failing to distill published research into
clear and necessary applications. There is substantial valuable literature in the academic
journals, but necessarily to standards that do not easily “connect” with practitioner audi-
ences. Even in instances when practitioners receive peer-reviewed journals as a benefit of
association membership, they clearly prefer magazines or newsletters in a straightforward
journalistic style. Too often they set the journals aside.
I am proud to announce the second volume in the Public Solutions Handbook series:
E-Government and Websites, edited by Aroon Manoharan. As governments are transform-
ing to e-government to enhance their delivery of virtually all services, practitioners and
administrators are seeking to meet citizens’ expectations by identifying and adapting best
practices across the world. E-government not only promises to transform the nature of
government interactions with both citizens and businesses but also affects the efficiency
of internal processes.
In particular, this volume offers a citizen-centric perspective beyond e-government
to e-governance. “E-government” refers to the practice of online delivery or facilitation
of services by government to citizens, whereas “e-governance” refers to participatory
opportunities for citizens to provide opinions and advice as to the efficacy of govern-
ment websites. Beyond direct services, e-governance enables citizen-users and advocacy
groups to interact with and advise their governments, and contributors to this volume
underscore this potential. This book is especially useful in that it provides case studies
detailing recent applications of e-government and e-governance. Consisting of chapters
from authors in the United States and other nations, it will help guide public managers in
transforming their governments across the spectrum of e-government to e-governance.
SERIES EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION ix
Each chapter contains key suggestions for practitioners and illustrates successful stories
and lessons learned in the implementation processes.
This is an important new handbook for public managers who are pursuing the prom-
ises of e-government and e-governance. It will necessarily find a permanent niche on
the desks of many public managers, empowering them to deliver public services as
promised—efficiently, effectively, and within the budgets that citizens have entrusted to
their municipalities.
Marc Holzer
Editor-in-Chief, Public Solutions Handbook Series
Dean and Board of Governors Distinguished Professor
of Public Affairs and Administration
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey–Campus at Newark