Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

On The Effects Of E-Government On Political Institutions, Jane E. Fountain

Jane E. Fountain

Research on e-government typically focuses on disruptive technologies and their presumed transformational effects on government. Yet the Internet and associated technologies are more than two decades old, and even cursory observation demonstrates that institutional change in government is often painstakingly slow. To theorize longer term developments in e-government, an institutional perspective on e-government is sketched and illustrated in this chapter. An institutional approach invites one to examine interactions among people, technologies and structures over time and in political environments characterized in part by conflict over ideas, rights and resources to uncover mechanisms that contribute to stability and change.

To extend …

Enhancing Information Services Through Public-Private Partnerships: Information Technology Knowledge Transfer Underlying Structures To Develop Shared Services In The U.S. And Korea, Jane E. Fountain, Seok-Jin Eom

Jane E. Fountain

What are e-government success factors for using public-private partnerships to enhance learning and capacity development? To examine this question, the authors developed a comparative case analysis of the development of the Business Reference Model (BRM), a national-level e-government initiative to promote shared information services, in the U.S. federal government and the Korean central government. The results indicate institutional arrangements deeply affect the outcomes of knowledge transfer. The study shows that private sector partners in both countries played various roles as “brokers” of information technology (IT) knowledge between government and the private sector by: raising awareness of the necessity of the …

Disjointed Innovation: The Political Economy Of Digitally Mediated Institutional Reform, Jane E. Fountain

Jane E. Fountain

Current attention to social media and governance has focused on the enactment of networked communication and information use by and for governance with particular attention to the role of civil society. This paper argues that such a focus, while illuminating a possibly utopian perspective on political participation, often obscures even recent government reforms, existing institutional arrangements, and the myriad processes by which knowledge is translated to action in political settings. Drawing from and extending core perspectives within historical institutionalism, the paper examines three streams of theory and research: temporal models, coordination models, and the political effects of public policies where …

Bureaucratic Reform And E-Government In The United States: An Institutional Perspective, Jane E. Fountain

Jane E. Fountain

Technology enactment, an analytical framework that focuses on the processes by which new information and communication technologies come to be used by organizational actors, is distinctly institutional in orientation. An institutional perspective provides a challenge to researchers to integrate attention to structure, politics, and policy into studies of e-government. It also invites attention to the roles and relationships of formal and informal institutions. Formal institutions—laws, reg- ulations, budget processes, and other governmental procedures—are central to legitimation and shaping incentives for the use of ICT as an integral and inseparable set of elements in the administrative state. Informal institutions—networks, norms, and …

The Network Society From Knowledge To Policy

Jane E. Fountain

No abstract provided.

Notes On The Impact Of Research On The Development Of Egovernment, Jane E. Fountain

Jane E. Fountain

In this article, the author sketches three dimensions of a research program that would have significant impact on European politics, economy and society. First, the design and political development of institutions is central to a mature research program, given the role played by these structures and systems in the capacity and behaviour of governments. Second, civil servants are the human actors within institutions who are the agents of change, the designers of the particularised elements of policy design and implementation, and the “nodes” of networked governance. Third, inequality reduction is one of the central tasks of a democratic society.

These …

Towards A Common Egovernment Research Agenda In Europe - European Review Of Political Technologies

Jane E. Fountain

No abstract provided.

Information, Institutions And Governance: Advancing A Basic Social Science Research Program For Digital Government, Jane E. Fountain

Jane E. Fountain

Throughout the globe, the sweep of information and communication technologies offers unprecedented opportunities for the advancement of governance and society. But information and communication technologies alone are inadequate to foster such benefits. An important, time-sensitive opportunity exists to make a major difference in the development of digital governance and society globally. An applied, rigorous research agenda would clarify for policymakers and the research community the costs and benefits of alternative future visions and paths. A solid research agenda, built through a global network of researchers, possesses the potential to forecast likely positive results and negative outcomes before government actions are …

Toward A Theory Of Federal Bureaucracy For The Twenty-First Century, Jane E. Fountain

Jane E. Fountain

The Internet promises vast changes in American government that range from Internet voting to interactive online services for the public to virtual diplomacy. As a vehicle for disjunctive change in communication, coordination, and control, the Internet and related information technologies make possible new and exciting developments in operations, regulation, and enforcement. In spite of its revolutionary power, the potential benefits of the Internet, and its potential perils, will be strongly influenced by the current organizations and institutions of government, for it is within the constraints posed by these structural arrangements that government actors make decisions and information networks that connect …

Public Sector: Early Stage Of A Deep Transformation, Jane E. Fountain, Carlos A. Osorio-Urzua

Jane E. Fountain

American government is in the early stages of deep transformation as a result of the Internet and a host of related developments in information and communications technologies. Rapid growth of web-based applications in the government sector promises significant cost savings through structural changes in the production and delivery of government information and services. Deeper organizational and institutional restructuring in government is likely to generate further efficiency gains. But cost savings that result from institutional and organizational transformation are more difficult to calculate because savings due to technology cannot be disaggregated from those due to structural modification. Furthermore, it is in …

Social Capital: Its Relationship To Innovation In Science And Technology, Jane E. Fountain

Jane E. Fountain

This paper argues that social capital is a necessary, although not sufficient, enabler of effective public-private partnerships and of a new, more collaborative style of innovation policy, although its significance for science and technology policy, has yet to be assimilated by most policy-makers. The network structure of the biotechnology industry in the United States and the regional-based industrial system in Silicon Valley, California are used to show how social capital affects innovation in science and technology. Two US national policy programs - the Advanced Technology Program and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership - make evident the growing importance of network development. …