Grassroots

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A grassroots movement is one which uses the people in a given district, region, or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at the local, regional, national, or international level. Grassroots movements are associated with bottom-up, rather than top-down decision making, and are sometimes considered more natural or spontaneous than more traditional power structures.^{[citation needed]} Grassroots movements, using self-organization, encourage community members to contribute by taking responsibility and action for their community. Grassroots movements utilize a variety of strategies from fundraising and registering voters, to simply encouraging political conversation. Goals of specific movements vary and change, but the movements are consistent in their focus on increasing mass participation in politics. These political movements may begin as small and at the local level, but grassroots politics as Cornel West contends are necessary in shaping progressive politics as they bring public attention to regional political concerns.

 

The idea of grassroots is often conflated with participatory democracy. The Port Huron Statement, a manifesto seeking a more democratic society, says that to create a more equitable society, "the grass roots of American Society" need to be the basis of civil rights and economic reform movements. The terms can be distinguished in that grassroots often refers to a specific movement or organization, whereas participatory democracy refers to the larger system of governance.

History

The earliest origins of the use of "grass roots" as a political metaphor are obscure. In the United States, an early use of the phrase "grassroots and boots" was thought to have been coined by Senator Albert Jeremiah Beveridge of Indiana, who said of the Progressive Party in 1912, "This party has come from the grass roots. It has grown from the soil of people's hard necessities".

In a 1907 newspaper article about Ed Perry, vice-chairman of the Oklahoma state committee, the phrase was used as follows: "In regard to his political views Mr. Perry has issued the following terse platform: 'I am for a square deal, grass root representation, for keeping close to the people, against ring rule and for fair treatment.'" A 1904 news article on a campaign for possible Theodore Roosevelt running mate Eli Torrance quotes a Kansas political organizer as saying: "Roosevelt and Torrance clubs will be organized in every locality. We will begin at the grass roots".

Since the early 1900s, grassroots movements have been widespread both in the United States and in other countries. Major examples include parts of the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Brazil's land equity movement of the 1970s and beyond, the Chinese rural democracy movement of the 1980s, and the German peace movement of the 1980s.

A particular instantiation of grassroots politics in the American Civil Rights Movement was the 1951 case of William Van Til working on the integration of the Nashville Public Schools. Van Til worked to create a grassroots movement focused on discussing race relations at the local level. To that end, he founded the Nashville Community Relations Conference, which brought together leaders from various communities in Nashville to discuss the possibility of integration. In response to his attempts to network with leadership in the black community, residents of Nashville responded with violence and scare tactics. However, Van Til was still able to bring blacks and whites together to discuss the potential for changing race relations, and he was ultimately instrumental in integrating the Peabody College of Education in Nashville. Furthermore, the desegregation plan proposed by Van Til's Conference was implemented by Nashville schools in 1957. This movement is characterized as grassroots because it focused on changing a norm at the local level using local power. Van Til worked with local organizations to foster political dialogue and was ultimately successful. 

The Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) was founded in the 1970s and has grown into an international organization. The MST focused on organizing young farmers and their children in fighting for a variety of rights, most notably the right to access land. The movement sought organic leaders and used strategies of direct action such as land occupations. It largely maintained autonomy from the Brazilian government. The MST traces its roots to discontent arising from large land inequalities in Brazil in the 1960s. Such discontent gained traction, particularly after Brazil became a democracy in 1985. The movement focused especially on occupying land that was considered unproductive, thus showing that it was seeking overall social benefit. In the 1990s the influence of the MST grew tremendously following two mass killings of protestors. Successful protests were those in which the families of those occupying properties receiving plots of land. It is worth noting that although the grassroots efforts of the MST were successful in Brazil when they were tried by the South African Landless People's Movement (LPM) in 2001 they were not nearly as successful. Land occupations in South Africa were politically contentious and did not achieve the positive results seen by the MST.

The National People's Congress was a grassroots democratic reform movement that came out of the existing Chinese government in 1987. It encouraged grassroots elections in villages all around China with the express purpose of bringing democracy to the local level of government. Reforms took the form of self-governing village committees that were elected in a competitive, democratic process. Xu Wang from Princeton University called the Congress mutually empowering for the state and the peasantry in that the state was given a renewed level of legitimacy by the democratic reforms, and the peasantry was given far more political power. This manifested itself in increased voting rate, particularly for the poor, and increased levels of political awareness according to Wang's research. One example of the increased accountability from the new institutions was a province in which villagers gave 99,000 suggestions to the local government. Ultimately, 78,000 of these were adopted indicating a high rate of governmental responsiveness. This movement is considered grassroots because it focuses on systematically empowering the people. This focus manifested itself in the democratic institutions that focused on engaging the poor and in reform efforts that sought to make the government more responsive to the will of the people.

Another instance of a historical grassroots movement was the 1980s German peace movement. The movement traces its roots to the 1950s movement opposing nuclear armament, or the "Ban the Bomb" Movement. In the 1980s, the movement became far bigger. In 1981, 800 organizations pushed the government to reduce the military size. The push culminated in a protest by 300,000 people in the German capital Bonn. The movement was successful in producing a grassroots organization, the Coordination Committee, which directed the efforts of the peace movements in the following years. The committee ultimately failed to decrease the size of the German military, but it laid the groundwork for protests of the Iraq war in the 2000s. Further, the movement started public dialogue about policy directed at peace and security. Like the Civil Rights Movement, the German Peace movement is considered grassroots because it focused on political change starting at the local level. 

A further example of grassroots in the 1980s was the Citizens Clearinghouse for Natural Waste, an organization that united communities and various grassroots groups in America in support of more environmentally friendly methods of dealing with natural waste. The movement focused especially on African American communities and other minorities. It sought to bring awareness to those communities, and alter the focus from moving problematic waste to changing the system that produced such waste. The movement is considered grassroots because it utilized strategies that derived their power from the affected communities. For example, in North Carolina, African American communities lay down in front of dump trucks to protest their environmental impact. The success of these movements largely remains to be seen.

Strategies of grassroots movements

Grassroots movements use tactics that build power from local and community movements. Grassroots Campaigns, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating and supporting grassroots movements in America says that grassroots movements aim to raise money, build organizations, raise awareness, build name recognition, to win campaigns, and to deepen political participation. Grassroots movements work toward these and other goals via strategies focusing on local participation in either local or national politics.

Grassroots organizations derive their power from the people, thus their strategies seek to engage ordinary people in political discourse to the greatest extent possible. Below is a list of strategies considered to be grassroots because of their focus on engaging the populace:

• Hosting house meetings or parties
• Having larger meetings—AGMs
• Putting up posters
• Talking with pedestrians on the street or walking door-to-door (often involving informational clipboards)
• Gathering signatures for petitions
• Mobilizing letter-writing, phone-calling, and emailing campaigns
• Setting up information tables
• Raising money from many small donors for political advertising or campaigns
• Organizing large demonstrations
• Asking individuals to submit opinions to media outlets and government officials
• Holding get out the vote activities, which include the practices of reminding people to vote and transporting them to polling places.

Use of online social networks

Social media's prominence in political and social activism has skyrocketed in the last decade. Influencers on apps like Vine, Instagram, and Twitter have all becoming hot spots for growing grassroots movements as platforms to inform, excite, and organize.

Hashtags

Another influential way media is used to organize is through the use of hashtags to group together postings from across the network under a unifying message. Some hashtags that stirred up larger media coverage include the #MeToo movement, started in 2017 in response to sexual assault allegations against prominent figures in the American entertainment industry. Grassroots movements also use hashtags to organize on a large scale on social media. Some examples include:

• 1. BlackLivesMatter, this hashtag demonstrates how what starts as a media campaign can take footing to be a form of embodying an entire movement. 
  2. LoveWins. After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, supporters used the hashtag #LoveWins.
  3. Resist: This hashtag, used in cities throughout America, is the another example of the power of organization through media platforms. It was used by event planning sites like Meetup.com to bring together members of a community who wanted to get involved politically. It was used in the case of #Resist:Dallas for such purposes.

Grassroots activism partnered with social media may be shaping the way in which citizens organize, engage, and protest in a intensely digital age.

• 1. EnoughIsEnough: originating from survivors of the Parkland school shooting in Florida, U.S., this hashtag calls for political action to prevent shootings.

Notable examples

Barry Goldwater 1964 presidential campaign

The junior senator from Arizona, and standard-bearer of conservative Republicans; Barry Goldwater announced his candidacy on January 3, 1964. Goldwater focused on goals such as reducing the size of the federal government, lowering taxes, promoting free enterprise, and a strong commitment to U.S. global leadership and fighting communism; which appealed strongly to conservatives in the Republican Party. 

Despite vehement opposition from the leaders of his party’s dominant moderate-liberal wing, such as New York governor Nelson Rockefeller and Michigan governor George Romney; Goldwater secured the Republican nomination. He sparked a grassroots movement among young conservatives by presenting himself as honest, committed, and a genuine politician. The majority of his campaign donations were made by individual supporters; and only one-third of donations were greater than $500.

Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, 2016

The junior United States Senator and former Representative from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, formally announced his 2016 presidential campaign on May 26, 2015 on the foundation of reversing "obscene levels" of income and wealth inequality. Sanders stated that he would run an issue-oriented and positive campaign, focusing his efforts on getting corporate money out of politics, raising taxes on the wealthy, guaranteeing tuition-free higher education, incorporating a single-payer healthcare system, fighting against climate change, and other key issues.

Senator Sanders sparked a grassroots movement by presenting himself as honest, committed, and a genuine politician. Sanders didn't have the resources to run a massive presidential campaign across the United States, so he utilized passionate volunteer organizers across the nation to build the movement. Millions inspired by Sanders were able to elevate the campaign to challenge the Democratic front-runner, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, before ultimately losing. Sanders used his grassroots campaign to receive more than 7 million individual contributions averaging $27, effectively breaking Barack Obama's previous individual contribution record in 2008.

UK grassroots aid movement

In 2015 the refugee crisis became front-page news across the world. Affected by images of the plight of refugees arriving and travelling across Europe, the grassroots aid movement (otherwise known as the people-to-people, or people solidarity movement), consisting of thousands of private individuals with no prior NGO experience, began in earnest to self-organise and form groups taking aid to areas of displaced persons. The first wave of early responders reached camps in Calais and Dunkirk in August 2015 and joined forces with existing local charities supporting the inhabitants there. Other volunteers journeyed to support refugees across the Balkans, Macedonia, and the Greek islands. Grassroots aid filled voids and saved lives by plugging gaps in the system between governments and existing charities.

The Axis of Justice

The Axis of Justice (AofJ) is a not-for-profit group co-founded by Tom Morello and Serj Tankian.  It's intended purpose it to promote social justice by connecting musicians and music enthusiasts to progressive grass roots ideals. The group appears at music festivals; the most prominent being Lollapalooza in 2003. The Axis of Justice most regularly appears whenever the bands System of a Down or Audioslave are performing. The group also has a podcast on XM Satellite radio and KPFK (90.7 FM), a Pacifica Radio station in Los Angeles, California. The AofJ's mission is to connect local music fans to organization, local and global, aimed at effectively working on issues like peace, human rights, and economic justice within communities.

Criticism

Issues with horizontal movements

Grassroots movements are usually criticized because the recent rise in social media has resulted in leaderless and horizontal movements. Some argue that social movements without a clear hierarchy are far less effective and are more likely to die off.

Astroturfing

Astroturfing refers to political action that is meant to appear to be grassroots, that is spontaneous and local, but in fact comes from an outside organization, such as a corporation or think tank.  It is named after AstroTurf, a brand of artificial grass. Astroturfing means pretending to be a grassroots movement, when in reality the agenda and strategy are controlled by a hidden, non-grassroots organization. In this manner, a faux show is presented, consisting of robotic individuals pretending to be voicing their own opinions. An example of astroturfing was the ExxonMobil Corporation's push to disseminate false information about climate change. ExxonMobil was largely successful both in disseminating the information through think tanks and in disguising the true nature of the think tanks.

More controversial examples of astroturfing often exhibit some characteristics of a real grassroots organization, but also characteristics of astroturf. Many of President Obama's efforts, for example, have been deemed grassroots because of their focus on involving the electorate at large. Critics of Obama have argued that some of these methods are in fact astroturfing because they believe that Obama faked the grassroots support. For example, the Reason Foundation has accused Obama of planting astroturf supporters in town hall meetings. Many movements and organizations must be placed on a continuum between grassroots and astroturf instead of labeled entirely as one or the other. For example, Australia's Convoy of No Confidence, a movement seeking to force an early election in 2011, incorporated elements of grassroots infrastructure in its reliance on the anger and discontentment of the participants. It also had elements of astroturf, namely the large extent to which it relied on support from political elites in the opposition party.

The Tea Party, a conservative force in American politics that began in 2009, is also a controversial example of astroturfing. Critics, notably including Democrats President Barack Obama and Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, dismissed the Tea Party as Astroturf. They say that the movement purports to represent large swaths of America when in reality it comes from a select few billionaires seeking policies favorable to themselves. The Tea Party has defended itself, arguing that it comes out of broad popular support and widespread anger at the Democratic Party and disenchantment with the GOP. Defenders of the Tea Party cite polls that find substantial support, indicating that the movement has some basis in grassroots politics. Critics point to the corporate influence on the Tea Party, which they believe indicates that the movement is more top-down than the grassroots rhetoric would suggest. The Tea Party can be considered grassroots to the extent that it comes from the people, but it is considered astroturfing to the extent that it is shaped by corporations and particularly wealthy individuals.

Current examples

• Abahlali baseMjondolo in South Africa
• Axis of Justice in the U.S.
• Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee in India
• CitizenGo — international
• Earth Hour International - Often recognized as the world's largest grass roots movement
• EZLN in Mexico
• Fanmi Lavalas in Haiti
• GlobalGiving — international
• Homeless Workers' Movement in Brazil
• Landless Peoples Movement in South Africa
• Landless Workers' Movement in Brazil
• Movement for Justice en el Barrio in the U.S.
• Narmada Bachao Andolan in India
• Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign in South Africa
• Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, 2016: this has been deemed by some as a grassroots campaign because of its focus on small donations, massive rallies, and other grassroots style politicking methods.
• GPUS (Green Party of the United States)
• March for Our Lives in U.S.
• Piposh, a franchise that was revived solely due to its fans.

E-government

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

E-government (short for electronic government) is the use of electronic communications devices, such as computers and the Internet to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. According to Jeong, 2007 the term consists of the digital interactions between a citizen and their government (C2G), between governments and other government agencies (G2G), between government and citizens (G2C), between government and employees (G2E), and between government and businesses/commerces (G2B). E-government delivery models can be broken down into the following categories: This interaction consists of citizens communicating with all levels of government (city, state/province, national, and international), facilitating citizen involvement in governance using information and communication technology (ICT) (such as computers and websites) and business process re-engineering (BPR). Brabham and Guth (2017) interviewed the third party designers of e-government tools in North America about the ideals of user interaction that they build into their technologies, which include progressive values, ubiquitous participation, geolocation, and education of the public.

 

Other definitions are more away from technology as an object, to see them simply as facilitators or instruments and focus on specific changes in Public Administration issues, and in the internal transformation of a Government, is the case of the definition that established the specialist technologist Mauro D. Ríos in the paper "In search of a definition of Electronic Government", he says: "Digital Government is a new way of organization and management of public affairs, introducing positive transformational processes in management and the structure itself of the organization chart, adding value to the procedures and services provided, all through the introduction and continued appropriation of information and communication technologies as a facilitator of these transformations."

Terminology

E-government is also known as e-gov, electronic government, Internet governance, digital government, online government, connected government. As of 2014 the OECD still uses the term digital government, and distinguishes it from e-government in the recommendation produced there for the Network on E-Government of the Public Governance Committee. Several governments have started to use the term digital government to a wide range of services involving contemporary technology, such as big data, automation or predictive analytics.

Definition

E-gov strategies (or digital government) is defined as "The employment of the Internet and the world-wide-web for delivering government information and services to the citizens." (United Nations, 2006; AOEMA, 2005). Electronic government (or e-government) essentially refers to "utilization of Information Technology (IT), Information and Communication Technologies (ICT s), and other web-based telecommunication technologies to improve and/or enhance on the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery in the public sector.". E-government promotes and improves broad stakeholders contribution to national and community development, as well as deepen the governance process.

In electronic government systems, government operations are supported by web-based services. It involves the use of information technology, specifically the Internet, to facilitate the communication between the government and its citizens.

UN e-Government Development Index

The Division of a Public Administration and Development Management (DPAPM) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) conducts a bi-annual e-government survey which includes a section titled e-Government Development Index (EGDI). It is a comparative ranking of 193 countries of the world according to three primary indicators: i) the OSI - Online Service Index that measures the online presence of the government in terms of service delivery; ii) the TII - Telecommunication Infrastructure Index iii) HCI -Human Capital Index . Constructing a model for the measurement of digitized services, the Survey assesses the 193 member states of the UN according to a quantitative composite index of e-government readiness based on website assessment; telecommunication infrastructure and human resource endowment.

A diverse group of 100 researchers online volunteers from across the globe engaged with the United Nations Department of Economic Affairs (UN DESA) to process 386 research surveys carried out across 193 UN Member States for the 2016 UN E-Government Survey. The diversity of nationalities and languages of the online volunteers—more than 65 languages, 15 nationalities, of which half are from developing countries—mirrors perfectly the mission of the survey.

Comparison with e-governance

E-government should enable anyone visiting a city website to communicate and interact with city employees via the Internet with graphical user interfaces (GUI), instant-messaging (IM), learn about government issues through audio/video presentations, and in any way more sophisticated than a simple email letter to the address provided at the site”

The essence of e-governance is "The enhanced value for stakeholders through transformation" and “the use of technology to enhance the access to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens, business partners and employees”. The focus should be on:

• The use of information and communication technologies, and particularly the Internet, as a tool to achieve better government.
• The use of information and communication technologies in all facets of the operations of a government organization.
• The continuous optimization of service delivery, constituency participation, and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through technology, the Internet and new media.

Whilst e-government has traditionally been understood as being centered around the operations of government, e-governance is understood to extend the scope by including citizen engagement and participation in governance. As such, following in line with the OECD definition of e-government, e-governance can be defined as the use of ICTs as a tool to achieve better governance.

Delivery models and activities of e-government

The primary delivery models of e-government can be divided into:

• Government-to-citizen or government-to-consumer (G2C) approaches such as setting up websites where citizens can download forms, government information, etc.
  • In this model, the G2C model applies the strategy of customer relationship management (CRM) with business concept.
  • By managing their "customer" (citizen) relationship, the business (government) can provide the needed products and services fulfill the needs of the customer (citizen).
  • In United States, the NPR (National Partnership for Reinventing Government) has been implemented from 1993.
• Government-to-business (G2B)
• Government-to-government (G2G)
• Government-to-employees (G2E)

Within each of these interaction domains, four kinds of activities take place:

• pushing information over the Internet, e.g.: regulatory services, general holidays, public hearing schedules, issue briefs, notifications, etc.
• two-way communications between the agency and the citizen, a business, or another government agency. In this model, users can engage in dialogue with agencies and post problems, comments, or requests to the agency.
• conducting transactions, e.g.: lodging tax returns, applying for services and grants.
• governance, e.g.: To enable the citizen transition from passive information access to active citizen participation by:

1. Informing the citizen
2. Representing the citizen
3. Encouraging the citizen to vote
4. Consulting the citizen
5. Involving the citizen

Non-internet e-government

While e-government is often thought of as "online government" or "Internet-based government," many non-Internet "electronic government" technologies can be used in this context. Some non-Internet forms include telephone, fax, PDA, SMS text messaging, MMS, wireless networks and services, Bluetooth, CCTV, tracking systems, RFID, biometric identification, road traffic management and regulatory enforcement, identity cards, smart cards and other near field communication applications; polling station technology (where non-online e-voting is being considered), TV and radio-based delivery of government services (e.g., CSMW), email, online community facilities, newsgroups and electronic mailing lists, online chat, and instant messaging technologies.

Controversies

Disadvantages

The main disadvantages concerning e-government are the lack of equality in public access to computers and the internet (the "digital divide", a reference to the fact that people who have low incomes, who are homeless and/or who live in remote regions may have little or no access to the Internet), reliability of information on the web, and issues that could influence and bias public opinions. There are many considerations and potential implications of implementing and designing e-government, including disintermediation of the government and its citizens, impacts on economic, social, and political factors, vulnerability to cyber attacks, and disturbances to the status quo in these areas.

The political nature of public sector forms are also cited as disadvantages to e-government systems.

Trust

Trust in e-governance is very highly dependent on its performance and execution, which can be measured through the effectiveness of current actions. This is much riskier and prone to fluctuation than a system of trust that is based on reputation because performance does not consider past actions.

Development

Because E-government is in the early stages of development in many countries and jurisdictions, it is hard to be applied to forms of government that have been institutionalized. Age-old bureaucratic practices being delivered in new mediums or using new technologies can lead to problems of miscommunication.

Hyper-surveillance

Increased electronic contact and data exchange between government and its citizens goes both ways. Once e-government technologies become more sophisticated, citizens will be likely be encouraged to interact electronically with the government for more transactions, as e-services are much less costly than bricks and mortar service offices (physical buildings) staffed by civil servants. This could potentially lead to a decrease in privacy for civilians as the government obtains more and more information about their activities. Without safeguards, government agencies might share information on citizens. In a worst-case scenario, with so much information being passed electronically between government and civilians, a totalitarian-like system could develop. When the government has easy access to countless information on its citizens, personal privacy is lost.

Cost

Although "a prodigious amount of money has been spent" on the development and implementation of e-government, some say it has yielded only a mediocre result. The outcomes and effects of trial Internet-based government services are often difficult to gauge or users seem them unsatisfactory. According to Gartner, Worldwide IT spending is estimated to total $3.6 trillion in 2011 which is 5.1% increase from the year 2010 ($3.4 trillion).

Inaccessibility

An e-government website that provides government services often does not offer the "potential to reach many users including those who live in remote areas [without Internet access], are homebound, have low literacy levels, exist on poverty line incomes." Homeless people, people in poverty and elderly people may not have access.

False sense of transparency and accountability

Opponents of e-government argue that online governmental transparency is dubious because it is maintained by the governments themselves. Information can be added or removed from the public eye. To this day, very few organizations monitor and provide accountability for these modifications. Those that do so, like the United States’ OMBWatch and Government Accountability Project, are often nonprofit volunteers. Even the governments themselves do not always keep track of the information they insert and delete.

Advantages

The ultimate goal of the e-government is to be able to offer an increased portfolio of public services to citizens in an efficient and cost effective manner. E-government allows for government transparency. Government transparency is important because it allows the public to be informed about what the government is working on as well as the policies they are trying to implement. Simple tasks may be easier to perform through electronic government access. Many changes, such as marital status or address changes can be a long process and take a lot of paper work for citizens. E-government allows these tasks to be performed efficiently with more convenience to individuals. E-government is an easy way for the public to be more involved in political campaigns. It could increase voter awareness, which could lead to an increase in citizen participation in elections. It is convenient and cost-effective for businesses, and the public benefits by getting easy access to the most current information available without having to spend time, energy and money to get it.

E-government helps simplify processes and makes government information more easily accessible for public sector agencies and citizens. For example, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles simplified the process of certifying driver records to be admitted in county court proceedings. Indiana became the first state to allow government records to be digitally signed, legally certified and delivered electronically by using Electronic Postmark technology. In addition to its simplicity, e-democracy services can reduce costs. Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, Wal-Mart and NIC developed an online hunting and fishing license service utilizing an existing computer to automate the licensing process. More than 140,000 licenses were purchased at Wal-Mart stores during the first hunting season and the agency estimates it will save $200,000 annually from service.

The anticipated benefits of e-government include efficiency, improved services, better accessibility of public services, sustainable community development and more transparency and accountability.

Democratization

One goal of some e-government initiatives is greater citizen participation. Through the Internet's Web 2.0 interactive features, people from all over the country can provide input to politicians or public servants and make their voices heard. Blogging and interactive surveys allow politicians or public servants to see the views of the people on any issue. Chat rooms can place citizens in real-time contact with elected officials or their office staff or provide them with the means to interact directly with public servants, allowing voters to have a direct impact and influence in their government. These technologies can create a more transparent government, allowing voters to immediately see how and why their representatives in the capital are voting the way they are. This helps voters decide whom to vote for in the future or how to help the public servants become more productive.

A government could theoretically move more towards a true democracy with the proper application of e-government. Government transparency will give insight to the public on how decisions are made and hold elected officials or public servants accountable for their actions. The public could become a direct and prominent influence in government legislature to some degree.

Environmental bonuses

Proponents of e-government argue that online government services would lessen the need for hard copy paper forms. Due to recent pressures from environmentalist groups, the media, and the public, some governments and organizations have turned to the Internet to reduce paper use. The United States government utilizes the website http://www.forms.gov to provide “internal government forms for federal employees” and thus “produce significant savings in paper. As well, if citizens can apply for government services or permits online, they may not need to drive into a government office, which could lead to less air pollution from gas and diesel-fuelled vehicles.

Speed, efficiency, and convenience

E-government allows citizens to interact with computers to achieve objectives at any time and any location and eliminates the necessity for physical travel to government agents sitting behind desks and windows. Many e-government services are available to citizens with computers and Internet access 24 hours a day and seven days a week, in contrast to bricks and mortar government offices, which tend to be only open during business hours (notable exceptions are police stations and hospitals, which are usually open 24 hours a day so that staff can deal with emergencies).

Improved accounting and record keeping can be noted through computerization, and information and forms can be easily accessed by citizens with computers and Internet access, which may enable quicker processing time for applications and find information. On the administrative side, access to help find or retrieve files and linked information can now be stored in electronic databases versus hard copies (paper copies) stored in various locations. Individuals with disabilities or conditions that affect their mobility no longer have to be mobile to be active in government and can access public services in the comfort of their own homes (as long as they have a computer and Internet and any accessibility equipment they may need).

Public approval

Recent trials of e-government have been met with acceptance and eagerness from the public. Citizens participate in online discussions of political issues with increasing frequency, and young people, who traditionally display minimal interest in government affairs, are drawn to electronic voting procedures. 

Although Internet-based governmental programs have been criticized for lack of reliable privacy policies, studies have shown that people value prosecution of offenders over personal confidentiality. Ninety percent of United States adults approve of Internet tracking systems of criminals, and 57% are willing to forgo some of their personal internet privacy if it leads to the prosecution of criminals or terrorists.

Technology-specific e-government

There are also some technology-specific sub-categories of e-government, such as m-government (mobile government), ubiquitous government), and g-government (GIS/GPS applications for e-government). 

The previous concern about developments in E-government concerning technology are due to the limited use of online platforms for political reasons by citizens in local political participations.

The primary delivery models of e-government are classified depending on who benefits. In the development of public sector or private sector portals and platforms, a system is created that benefits all constituents. Citizens needing to renew their vehicle registration have a convenient way to accomplish it while already engaged in meeting the regulatory inspection requirement. On behalf of a government partner, the business provides what has traditionally, and solely, managed by government and can use this service to generate profit or attract new customers. Government agencies are relieved of the cost and complexity of having to process the transactions.

To develop these public sector portals or platforms, governments have the choice to internally develop and manage, outsource, or sign a self-funding contract. The self-funding model creates portals that pay for themselves through convenience fees for certain e-government transactions, known as self-funding portals.

Social networking services and websites are an emerging area for e-democracy. The social networking entry point is within the citizens’ environment and the engagement is on the citizens’ terms. Proponents of e-government perceive government use of social networking as a medium to help government act more like the public it serves. Examples can be found at almost every state government portal through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube widgets.

Government and its agents also have the opportunity to follow citizens to monitor satisfaction with services they receive. Through ListServs, RSS feeds, mobile messaging, micro-blogging services and blogs, government and its agencies can share information to citizens who share common interests and concerns. Government is also beginning to Twitter. In the state of Rhode Island, Treasurer Frank T. Caprio is offering daily tweets of the state's cash flow. For a full list of state agencies with Twitter feeds, visit NIC. For more information, visit transparent-gov.com.

Government 2.0

Government 2.0 or Gov 2.0 refers to government policies that aim to harness collaborative technologies and interactive Internet tools to create an open-source computing platform in which government, citizens, and innovative companies can improve transparency and efficiency. Put simply, Gov 2.0 is about "putting government in the hands of citizens". Gov 2.0 combines interactive Web 2.0 fundamentals with e-government and increases citizen participation by using open-source platforms, which allow development of innovative apps, websites, and widgets. The government's role is to provide open data, web services, and platforms as an infrastructure.

By country

Africa

Kenya

Following the transition from the longstanding Kenya African National Union government to the National Rainbow Coalition government in December 2002, in January 2004 a Directorate of e-government was established after an executive (cabinet) session. The newly created department had the duty to draw the plan of action for future ICT implementations.

Like many other African nations, Kenya has embraced the high mobile penetration rate within its population. Even people living in remote areas that did not have access to traditional telecommunications' networks can now communicate with ease. The fact of the same has, and continues to have, a great impact on the governments' strategies in reaching out to its citizens. Given that about 70% of the population owns mobile phones, leading mobile network operators like Safaricom have taken a great step in offering services that meet citizens' demands. Such services include Kipokezi (which allows subscribers to do online chatting and also exchange electronic mails via standard mobile phones), and M-Pesa (which allows the subscribers to send and receive electronic cash). Such services have even appealed to the majority of Kenyans, as they support the branchless members of the society too, in undertaking normal and secure businesses via M-Pesa. The recent IMF report reveals that MPESA transactions in Kenya exceeded those carried out by the Western Union worldwide.

Website: Open Kenya | Transparent Africa

Asia

Bangladesh

The eGovernment web portal has been developed to provide more convenient access to various government service and information through one window. Services can now be delivered to people at their own convenience, and more importantly now have a lot more weight on transparency and accountability of public services.

India

The E-Governance initiatives and programs in India are undertaken by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY www.meity.gov.in ). The current umbrella program for e-governance of Government of India is known by the title "DIGITAL INDIA" (www.digitalindia.gov.in).

Indian government has launched many e-governance initiatives, including a portal for public grievance, MCA21 Mission Mode Project, e-Filing of income tax, e-gazette, Project Nemmadi, and their overall digital India policy.

Indonesia

E-government in Indonesia is developing, especially in central and regional/local government offices. E-government was officially introduced to public administration by Presidential Directive No 6/2001 on Telematics, which states that the government of Indonesia has to use telematics technology to support good governance. Furthermore, e-government should have been introduced for different purposes in government offices. As one of ISO member countries, Indonesia gives more attention to facilitate the activities of standardization. Among of the facilities provided are building the National information system of standardization (SISTANAS) and Indonesia Standardization Information Network (INSTANET). As of 2017, ministries, institutions and local governments of Indonesia used to run separate e-government systems, which is now integrated into a central based system. In 2017, the government has also undertaken programs for digitization of SMEs and the informal sector. Many of the cities across Indonesia including Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya,and Makassar are implementing the concept of Smart City, consisting of e-government, e-health, e-education, e-logistics and e-procurement as priority areas.

Iran

In 2002, Iran published a detailed report named TAKFA (Barnameye Tose-e va Karborde Fanavaie Etela’at) in which it was predicted that most of the government bodies would try to virtualize their services as soon as possible. However, based on the reports by UN bodies, Iran has failed in the recent years to meet the average standards of e-government. In 2008, the Supreme Council of Information released a report which criticized the government for its poor advancement in employing new communication technologies for administration purposes.

In 2016, Iran launched the National Information Network and improved the quality and speed of internet access. In 2017 Iran introduced phase one of e-government including E-Tax, E-Customs, E-Visa, E-Government Portal, and a mobile application to modernize Iran's government services.

The Iranian government plans to introduce other phases of E-gov in the near future.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the e-government efforts are undertaken by the Malaysian government, under the umbrella of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) and e-government flagships, which was launched in mid-1996, by Dr Mahathir Mohamad (1981-2003), by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia (Jeong & Nor Fadzlina, 2007).

Electronic government is an initiative aimed at reinventing how the government works. It seeks to improve both how the government operates, as well as how it deliver services to the people (Ibrahim Ariff & Goh Chen Chuan, 2000).

Myanmar

Yangon

The Yangon City Development Committee (Burmese- ရန်ကုန်မြို့တော်စည်ပင်သာယာရေးကော်မတီ) (YCDC) is the administrative body of Yangon, and Yangon is the largest city and former capital of Myanmar (Burma). The Yangon City Development Committee consists of 20 departments. Its headquarters was on the Yangon City Hall. The committee's chairman is also the city's mayor.

In 2003, YCDC was organized to provide e-Government for Yangon City. The main purposes of the city's e-Government program are to provide easy access between the government and the city's citizens via the Internet, to reduce paper usage, to reduce the city budget, to build the city's fiber ring, to provide timely public information, to store public data and to develop and expand G2G, G2C, G2B, and G2E programs.

In January 2013 responsibility for e-Government was divided between the e-Government Administration Committee and the e-Government Processing Committee. The e-Government Administration Committee includes the Mayor of Yangon City as Chief, the General Secretary of Yangon City as Sub-Chief, and the other 20 head of department officers as chairmen. The e-Government Processing Committee includes the Head of Public Relation and Information Department as Chief and the other 20 deputy head of department officers as chairmen.

The official web-portal is www.ycdc.gov.mm.

Mandalay

Mandalay is the second largest city and the last royal capital of Myanmar (Burma). In 2014, Mandalay Region Government developed www.mdyregion.gov.mm to know about regional government and their activities to people. 

Mandalay Region Government organized e-Government Steering Committee in 23 June 2016. That committee chairman was U Sai Kyaw Zaw, Minister, Ministry of Ethnic Affairs. 

At 21st, July 2017 www.emandalay.gov.mm web portal was opened by Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, Prime Minister of Mandalay Region Government. That portal include 2 e-services, 199 topics from 70 agencies. Committee develop a Regional Data Center too. That Data center will be opened in 2018.

Nepal

The e-Government planning and conceptual framework has been presented to Nepal in an extensive support from the Government of Korea (KIPA). E-government Vision is ‘The Value Networking Nepal’ through:

• Citizen-centered service
• Transparent service
• Networked government
• Knowledge-based society

Nepal's E-government mission statement is "Improve the quality of people’s lives without any discrimination, transcending regional and racial differences, and realize socio-economic development by building a transparent government and providing value added quality services through ICT."

The e-Government practice has been slow both in adoption and practice in Nepal. However, local government bodies now have dedicated team of ICT Volunteers working towards implementing e-Government in the country through an extensive ICT for Local Bodies initiatives.

Pakistan

In 2014, the Government of Pakistan created the National Information Technology Board (NITB) under the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom to enable a digital eco-system for Government services to the citizens of Pakistan. NITB was formed as a result of a merger between Pakistan Computer Bureau (PCB) and Electronic Government Directorate (EGD).

The key functions identified by the NITB are:

• Provide technical guidance for the introduction of e-Governance in the Federal Govt.
• Suggest efficient and cost-effective implementation of e-government programs in the Federal Ministries/Divisions.
• To carry out training need assessment and design and implement the identified IT capacity building programs for the employees of Federal Ministries/Divisions.
• Review the status of e-government readiness on a regular basis to ensure sustainable, accelerated digitization and relevant human resource development.
• Identify the areas where IT interventions can be helpful and to suggest measures for the automation of these areas through Business Process Re-engineering (BPR).

NITB rolled out an e-Office Suite across various ministries in the Government of Pakistan. While it clearly pursued efficiency gains and improved transparency, it also hoped to deliver "efficient and cost-effective public services to citizens of Pakistan." The suite primarily included five modules or applications across all the ministries. Description of each module listed are:

• Internal Communication Module
• HR Management Module
• Inventory & Procurement Management Module
• Project Management Module
• Finance Budget Module

NITB released a high-level diagram that describes the process of transforming Federal Government agencies and ministries to e-Office environments.

Criticism: NITB's roll out of the e-Office suite across almost all federal agencies is not only overly ambitious but also likely to fail. It seems to put together a lot of lofty organizational efficiency goals with a set of delivery or citizen-facing targets. In fact, most of the services NITB has provided have been largely conceptual and not sufficient concrete. The process outlines in the adoption process diagram seems devoid of any user-centric design or value proposition formulation. Instead of creating lots of MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) and taking advantage of an iterative and validated learning the process, the e-Office Suite seems to incorporate all the features and functions that various ministries and divisions may need or use. It seems to focus more on the needs of the bureaucrats and government agencies rather than the needs of the end user (citizens of Pakistan) and what services would they need that a ministry or division can provide.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka have taken some initiative actions to provide the benefits of e-government to the citizens.

Thailand

To implement the principles of e-government, the Ministry of Information and Telecommunication Technologies of Thailand developed a plan for creating a modern e-services system during 2009-2014.

The next stage was the five-year project of digital government, which began in 2016 and will be completed in 2021. This project assumes that within five years, more than 80% of Thai government agencies will use electronic documents for identification.

There is the Unified State Portal of e-Government of Thailand, developed by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications Technology in 2008. 

In 2018, Thailand ranks 73rd in the UN e-government ranking.

Jordan

Jordan has established its e-government program since 2002. many governmental services are provisioned online.

Saudi Arabia

The e-Government was also established in Saudi Arabia, and it offers online government services and transactions.

United Arab Emirates

In the United Arab Emirates, the Emirates eGovernment is designed for e-government operations.

Europe

e-government shows significant advancement in Europe.

Armenia

Armenian e-government was established in 2004. E-government brings together all tools and databases created by Armenian state agencies and provides a user-friendly online environment for users. It includes more than twenty services and tools. Under this initiative, “Interactive Budget” and “State Non-Commercial Organisations' Financing” sections are available for the first time. There are also twenty other tools, including search engines, allowing to find the Government's and the Prime Minister's decisions, the agenda of the next cabinet sitting, information on the state purchases, the electronic tax reporting system, the online application system of the Intellectual Property Agency, the information search system of the Intellectual Property Agency, as well as the Electronic Signature and Electronic Visa (e-visa) sections. It is worth mentioning that the Electronic Signature is used in several other services when a user wants to submit an application or receive information. The Electronic Signature is universal system and is used both by the state officials and by citizens, legal entities.

E-Government encompasses more than twenty tools and databases providing public services.

E-License

This system allows companies to submit an application for obtaining or terminating licenses regarding various activities (pharmaceuticals, banking, construction, transport etc.) It also provides other services in respect of already obtained license.

System of reports on licensed activities

The Report Acceptance System for licensed persons enables to submit any report (annually, monthly or quarterly) on licensed activities.

E-Payments

Electronic Payment System effectively processes online payments. This application is designed specifically for charging the state fees, local fees, the administrative penalties or services provided by state and local governmental bodies. Payments can be made by Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and local Arca or Mobidram systems.

E-Cadastre

The system enables to submit application to the property cadastre and receive information on land owners, surface of a plot of land, legal status of any property. State electronic payment system is integrated within this tool. Online applications for registration of rights and restrictions and related documents may be submitted by users who have a digital signature.

E-Draft

In 2016 the Ministry of Justice of Armenia developed Legal Drafts' Database. It is designed particularly for publication any draft initiated by the Government or Member of Parliaments. Database can be accessed through website which provides the possibility of presenting the legal acts’ drafts to the public, organizing online discussions, and as a consequence - the active participation of representatives of civil society in law-making process. The website enables to search legal drafts, follow their further progress, and become familiar with the presented suggestions. The registered users are able to present suggestions, get informed with the "summary paper" of the suggestions to the draft, the adopted suggestions or the reasoning concerning the not adopted ones.

E-Register

The system enables registration of legal entities, such as limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, foundations and self-employed entrepreneurs. On average it takes twenty minutes to register a company depending the entity's type. State fee can be paid through E-Payments system. The system also allows users to track the submitted applications and search existing companies as well as purchase full information about any company, including information about shareholders.

Datalex

This system allows users to find cases, search for laws of Armenia, as well as to follow the schedule of court hearings.

E-Announcement

The system is designed for public announcements.The state authorities are obliged to make public announcements under certain circumstances stipulated by law.

E-Tax

This tool simplifies tax declaration process for both tax payers and tax authorities. Any natural person or legal entity can submit tax declaration verifying it by electronic signature.

E-IP

Online submission of patent and trademark applications using electronic signature.

E-Visa

This application enables the process of obtaining visa through electronic application. Visas are issued within two days.

E-Signature

The system allows users to verify identity of the user and protect submitted application. Any resident of Armenia, either natural person or legal entity, can obtain electronic signature and use it while submitting application through E-Government systems.

Estonia

Estonia has established its e-government program with the support of the European Union since 1996 with the introduction of e-Banking. In 2017, Estonia described its digital inclusiveness under the name of e-government with a wide array of e-services in government affairs, political participation, education, justice, health, accommodation, police, taxes, and business.

Estonia conducts legally binding i-Voting at national and local elections and offers e-Residency to foreigners.

Estonia shares its knowledge of developing its e-society with other countries through its e-Governance Academy (e-Riigi Akadeemia). The academy has trained over 4,500 officials from more than 60 countries and led or participated in more than 60 international ICT projects on the national, local and organizational levels.

Estonia is widely recognized as e-Estonia, as a reference to its tech-savvy government and society. e-Estonia is recognized as the leader in implementing blockchain technology into its e-government infrastructure.

Azerbaijan

The “E-Government” framework was established in accordance with the “National Strategy on Information-Communication Technologies in the Development of the Republic of Azerbaijan (2003-2012)” and implemented in the framework of the “E-Azerbaijan” Program. The project is aimed to increase the convenience and efficiency of the activity of state agencies, simplify interactions between population, businesses and government agencies, contribute to creating new citizen-official relations framework and ensure transparency and free flow of information.

The main components of the e-government infrastructure are integrated network infrastructure for state bodies, E-government portal, E-government gateway, State register of information resources and systems, e-signature, e-document circulation and e-government data center (under preparation).

State portal www.e-gov.az was established to facilitate citizens in benefiting from e-services provided by government agencies on a ‘single window’ principle with the combination of services. Through e-government portal citizens can use more than 140 e-services of 27 state agencies. In addition, a gateway between government agencies was established in order to ensure mutual exchange of information, and most of state agencies are connected to this infrastructure. The gateway allows users to efficiently use the existing government information systems and a safe contact between them, issuing requests and rendering e-services, liberates citizens from providing same information or documents which are already available in information databases.

Kazakhstan

The e-government portal egov.kz was launched in 2012 as part of Kazakhstan's effort to modernize how citizens access government services and information. The egov.kz mobile app was recognized as best app in the GovTechioneers competition at the 2017 World Government Summit in Dubai.

Russia

On the Federal Law "On providing state and municipal services" (2010), the strategy on development of Information Society in the Russian Federation, approved by the President (2008), the Federal target programme "Electronic Russia" (2002 – 2010 years), approved by the Government (2002), the State Programme "Information Society" (2010), the Procedure on development and approval of administrative regulations execution of public functions (public services), approved by the Government (2005), the concept of administrative reform in the Russian Federation in 2006 - 2010 respectively, approved by the Government (2005), on other orders, resolutions and acts in the Russian Federation was created electronic government (or e-government).

The main target on creating of e-government lies in the field of providing the equal opportunities for all the Russians in spite of their living place and their incomes and make more effective system of public administration. So e-government are created for reaching the useful system of public management accommodating the individual interests of every citizen by participation through ICTs in public policy-making.

Nowadays Russian e-government includes such systems as:

• The United interagency Interacting system using for providing of state and municipal services, exchange of information and data between participants of interagency interacting, quick approval of state and municipal decisions, etc.
• The United system for authentication and authorization providing evidence of the rights of all participants of e-government.
• United portal of state and municipal services and functions which are the "single window" for all information and services assured by government and municipals.

The portal of public services is one of the key elements of the project to create "electronic government" in the country. The portal provides a single point of access to all references on state and municipal services through the Internet and provides citizens and organizations the opportunity to receive these services electronically. Monthly visits by users of the public services portal range between 200,000 and 700,000. For example, citizens are now able to get or exchange a driver license through this portal.

• Head system providing utilization of electronic signature.

Other systems are located on cloud services. 

Today Russian e-government elements are demanded in the spheres of e-governance, e-services (e-health, e-education, e-library, etc.), e-commerce, e-democracy (web-election, Russian public initiative). By the United Nations E-Government Survey 2012: E-Government for the People Russia became one of the 7 emerging leaders in e-government development, took 9th place in rating of e-government development in largest population countries, took 8th rank in Top e-participation leaders, after Norway, Sweden and Chile, Advancing 32 positions in the world rankings, the Russian Federation became the leader of e-government in Eastern Europe. Evolution of ICT in the Russian Federation provided the raising of Russia in e-government development index to the 27 place.

Ukraine

The main coordinating government body in matters of e-government is State e-Government Agency, which was established on June 4, 2014.

The beginning of the state policy of the development of the information society was the adoption in 1998-2006 of the Laws of Ukraine "On electronic documents and electronic document circulation", "On the national program of informatization", "On the electronic digital signature" and a number of state acts related to informatization. Later, the Law of Ukraine “On the Basic Principles of the Information Society in Ukraine for 2007-2015”, “On Information Protection in Information and Telecommunication Systems” and a number of other legislative acts aimed at concretization and specification of these laws were adopted. This law emphasized the use of information and telecommunication technologies to improve public administration, relations between the state and citizens. The next stage of e-government development began in 2015 after the adoption of the Agreement of parliamentary factions of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (in 2014) and the adoption of the Development Strategy "Ukraine - 2020", which was approved by Decree of the President of Ukraine dated January 12, 2015 (No. 5/2015). 

In 2018, Ukraine ranks 82nd in the UN e-government ranking.

North America

Canada

The current Clerk of the Privy Council – the head of the federal public service has made workplace renewal a pillar of overall public service renewal. The key to workplace renewal is the adoption of collaborative networked tools. An example of such a tool is GCPEDIA – a wiki platform for federal public servants. Other tools include GCconnex, a social networking tool, and GCforums, a discussion board system.

United States

The election of Barack Obama as President of the United States became associated with the effective use of Internet technologies during his campaign and in the implementation of his new administration in 2009. On January 21, 2009, the President signed one of his first memorandums – the Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies on Transparency and Open Government. The memo called for an unprecedented level of openness in Government, asking agencies to "ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration." The memo further "directs the Chief Technology Officer, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Administrator of General Services (GSA), to coordinate the development by appropriate executive departments and agencies [and] to take specific actions implementing the principles set forth in the memorandum."

President Obama's memorandum centered around the idea of increasing transparency throughout various different federal departments and agencies. By enabling public websites like recovery.gov and data.gov to distribute more information to the American population, the administration believes that it will gain greater citizen participation.

In 2009 the U.S. federal government launched Data.gov in order to make more government data available to the public. With data from Data.Gov, the public can build apps, websites, and mashups. Although "Gov 2.0", as a concept and as a term, had been in existence since the mid-2000s, it was the launch of Data.gov that made it "go viral".

In August 2009 the City of San Francisco launched DataSF.org with more than a hundred datasets. Just weeks after the DataSF.org launch, new apps and websites were developed. Using data feeds available on DataSF.org, civic-minded developers built programs to display public transportation arrival and departure times, where to recycle hazardous materials, and crime patterns. Since the launch of DataSF.org there have been more than seventy apps created with San Francisco's data.

In March 2009, former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was at Twitter headquarters for a conversation about technology in government. During the town hall, Newsom received a tweet about a pothole. He turned to Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams and said let's find a way for people to tweet their service requests directly to San Francisco's 311 customer service center. Three months later, San Francisco launched the first Twitter 311 service, called @SF311, allowing residents to tweet, text, and send photos of potholes and other requests directly to the city. Working with Twitter and using the open-source platform, CoTweet turned @SF311 into reality. The software procurement process for something like this would normally have taken months, but in this case, it took less than three months. The @SF311 is saving the city money in call center costs.