E-GOVERNMENT POLICY PROCESSES FROM A GROUNDED THEORY PERSPECTIVE

The concept of e-government can be broadly defined as the provision of government information and services by the help of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This study explains the dynamics behind the agenda-setting (coming up with the idea of a project, placing the idea on decision agenda) and policy formation (making important operational decisions) processes of e-government projects by using Turkey as a case. The key finding is that e-government projects are launched as means of controlling the flow of people, money and government transactions in a more efficient manner. It is also found that e-government policy-making is a highly political process. Finally, the findings show that while agenda-setting stage follows garbage can decision-making models, policy-making stage follows incremental models of decision-making. Knowing more about the nature and participants of the decision-making and planning processes in e-government might be useful to e-government researchers and policy-makers all over the world, as well as students of numerous social and technical sciences such as political science, public administration, computer science and information systems.

Autorentext

Mete Yildiz is an associate professor of public administration in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Hacettepe University. Among his research topics are government reform, e-government, public policy, comparative public administration and governance issues.