The Open Society and Its Enemies

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

Dust jacket of volume I of the first edition with the variant "The Age of Plato" instead of "The Spell of Plato"
Author	Karl Popper
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Subject	Historicism
Publisher	Routledge
Publication date	1945
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	361 (1995 Routledge ed., vol. 1) 420 (1995 Routledge ed., vol. 2) 755 (1 volume 2013 Princeton ed.)
ISBN	978-0-691-15813-6 (1 volume 2013 Princeton ed.)

The Open Society and Its Enemies is a work on political philosophy by the philosopher Karl Popper, in which the author presents a "defence of the open society against its enemies", and offers a critique of theories of teleological historicism, according to which history unfolds inexorably according to universal laws. Popper indicts Plato, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and Karl Marx as totalitarian for relying on historicism to underpin their political philosophies.

Written during World War II, The Open Society and Its Enemies was published in 1945 in London by Routledge in two volumes: "The Spell of Plato" and "The High Tide of Prophecy: Hegel, Marx, and the Aftermath". A one-volume edition with a new introduction by Alan Ryan and an essay by E. H. Gombrich was published by Princeton University Press in 2013. The work was listed as one of the Modern Library Board's 100 Best Nonfiction books of the 20th century.

Summary

Popper develops a critique of historicism and a defense of the open society and liberal democracy. The subtitle of his first volume, "The Spell of Plato", makes clear Popper's view—namely, that most Plato interpreters through the ages have been seduced by Plato's greatness and inimitable style. In so doing, Popper argues, they have taken Plato's political philosophy as a benign idyll, without taking into account its dangerous tendencies toward totalitarian ideology.

Contrary to major Plato scholars of his day, Popper divorced Plato's ideas from those of Socrates, claiming that the former in his later years expressed none of the humanitarian and democratic tendencies of his teacher. In particular, Popper accuses Plato of betraying Socrates in the Republic, wherein Plato portrays Socrates sympathizing with totalitarianism.

Popper extols Plato's analysis of social change and discontent, naming him as a great sociologist, yet rejects his solutions. Popper reads the emerging humanitarian ideals of Athenian democracy as the birth pangs of his coveted "open society". Plato's hatred of democracy led him, says Popper, "to defend lying, political miracles, tabooistic superstition, the suppression of truth, and ultimately, brutal violence." Popper feels that Plato's historicist ideas are driven by a fear of the change that liberal democracies bring about. Also, as an aristocrat and a relative of one-time Athenian dictator Critias, Plato according to Popper was sympathetic to the oligarchs of his own day and contemptuous of the common man. Popper also suspects that Plato was the victim of his own vanity, and had wished to become the supreme philosopher king of his vision.

The last chapter of the first volume bears the same title as the book, and conveys Popper's own philosophical explorations on the necessity of direct liberal democracy as the only form of government allowing institutional improvements without violence and bloodshed.

In volume two, "The High Tide of Prophecy: Hegel, Marx, and the Aftermath", Popper criticises Hegel and Marx, tracing their ideas to Aristotle, and arguing that they were at the root of 20th century totalitarianism.

Insofar as Hegel is concerned, Popper favorably cites the views of Hegel's compatriot and personal acquaintance, the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer,

Hegel, installed from above, by the powers that be, as the certified Great Philosopher, was a flat-headed, insipid, nauseating, illiterate charlatan, who reached the pinnacle of audacity in scribbling together and dishing up the craziest mystifying nonsense. This nonsense has been noisily proclaimed as immortal wisdom by mercenary followers and readily accepted as such by all fools, who thus joined into as perfect a chorus of admiration as had ever been heard before. The extensive field of spiritual influence with which Hegel was furnished by those in power has enabled him to achieve the intellectual corruption of a whole generation.

In the fifth section of his chapter on Hegel he deals with Hegel's influence on 20th century fascism, explicitly focusing on its historicist elements rather than its totalitarianism.

The next principal enemy of the open society, according to Popper, is Karl Marx. Popper concedes that, unlike Hegel, Marx deeply cared about the plight of ordinary people and the injustices that prevailed in his own day in capitalist societies. As well, Marx's writings offer keen economic, sociological, and historical insights. However, even where Popper considers Marx's views to have value, Popper considers Marx's historicism to have led him into overstating his case - for instance the importance of class struggle. Popper rejects outright Marx's perceived historicist, anti-rational, and totalitarian outlook.

Publication history

As Popper wrote in academic obscurity in New Zealand during World War II, several colleagues in philosophy and the social sciences assisted with the book's path to publication. Gombrich was entrusted with the task of finding a publisher, Friedrich Hayek wanted to recruit Popper to the London School of Economics and was enthused by his turn to social philosophy, and Lionel Robbins and Harold Laski reviewed the manuscript. J.N. Findlay suggested the book's title after three others had been discarded. ('A Social Philosophy for Everyman' was the original title of the manuscript; 'Three False Prophets: Plato-Hegel-Marx' and 'A Critique of Political Philosophy' were also considered and rejected.)

The book was not published in Russia until 1992.

In 2019, the book was released in audiobook format for the first time, narrated by Liam Gerrard. The audiobook was produced by arrangement with the University of Klagenfurt/Karl Popper Library, by Tantor Media, a division of Recorded Books

Reception and influence

Popper's book remains one of the most popular defenses of Western liberal values in the post-World War II era. Gilbert Ryle, reviewing Popper's book just two years after its publication and agreeing with him, wrote that Plato "was Socrates' Judas." The Open Society and Its Enemies was praised by the philosophers Bertrand Russell, who called it "a work of first-class importance" and "a vigorous and profound defence of democracy", and Sidney Hook who called it a "subtly argued and passionately written" critique of the "historicist ideas that threaten the love of freedom [and] the existence of an open society". Hook calls Popper's critique of the cardinal beliefs of historicism "undoubtedly sound", noting that historicism "overlooks the presence of genuine alternatives in history, the operation of plural causal processes in the historical pattern, and the role of human ideals in redetermining the future". Nevertheless, Hook argues that Popper "reads Plato too literally when it serves his purposes and is too cocksure about what Plato's 'real' meaning is when the texts are ambiguous", and calls Popper's treatment of Hegel "downright abusive" and "demonstrably false", noting that "there is not a single reference to Hegel in Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf".

Some other philosophers were critical. Walter Kaufmann believed that Popper's work has many virtues, including its attack against totalitarianism, and many suggestive ideas. However, he also found it to have serious flaws, writing that Popper's interpretations of Plato were flawed and that Popper had provided a "comprehensive statement" of older myths about Hegel. Kaufmann commented that despite Popper's hatred of totalitarianism, Popper's method was "unfortunately similar to that of totalitarian 'scholars'".

In his The Open Philosophy and the Open Society: A Reply to Dr. Karl Popper's Refutations of Marxism (1968), the Marxist author Maurice Cornforth defended Marxism against Popper's criticisms. Though disagreeing with Popper, Cornforth nevertheless called him "perhaps the most eminent" critic of Marxism. The philosopher Robert C. Solomon writes that Popper directs an "almost wholly unjustified polemic" against Hegel, one which has helped to give Hegel a reputation as a "moral and political reactionary". The Marxist economist Ernest Mandel identifies The Open Society and Its Enemies as part of a literature, beginning with German social democrat Eduard Bernstein, that criticizes the dialectical method Marx borrowed from Hegel as "useless", "metaphysical", or "mystifying." He faults Popper and the other critics for their "positivist narrowness".

The political theorist Rajeev Bhargava argues that Popper "notoriously misreads Hegel and Marx", and that the formulation Popper deployed to defend liberal political values is "motivated by partisan ideological considerations grounded curiously in the most abstract metaphysical premises". In Jon Stewart's anthology The Hegel Myths and Legends (1996), The Open Society and Its Enemies is listed as a work that has propagated "myths" about Hegel. Stephen Houlgate writes that while Popper's accusation that Hegel sought to deceive others by use of dialectic is famous, it is also ignorant, as is Popper's charge that Hegel's account of sound and heat in the Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences is "gibberish" although he does not elaborate further what specifically Hegel meant.

The Open Society Foundations, created by investor George Soros, were inspired in name and purpose by Popper's book.

The philosopher Joseph Agassi credits Popper with showing that historicism is a factor common to both fascism and Bolshevism.

e-participation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-participation

Electronic participation (e-participation) is the term referring to ICT-supported participation in processes involving government and citizens. Processes may concern administration, service delivery, decision making and policy making. E-participation is hence closely related to e-government and e-governance participation. The need for the term has emerged as citizen interests and interaction with political service providers have increasingly become digitized due to the rise of e-government.

A more detailed definition sees e-participation as a process that enhances and deepens political participation and allows citizens to interact with one another as well as their elected representative through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).  This definition includes all stakeholders in a democratic decision-making processes and not only citizen related top-down government initiatives. E-participation is largely a part of e-democracy, and heavily involves the use of ICT by governments, media, political parties and interest groups, civil society organizations, international governmental organizations, or citizens and voters within any of the political processes of regions, nations, and local and global communities.

The complexity of e-participation processes results from the large number of different participation areas, involved stakeholders, levels of engagement, and stages in policy making.

History

The term "e-participation" originated in the early 2000s and stems from the concept of enhancing civic participation in public policies through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). E-participation generally draws on three developments: development of ICTs, increase in e-democracy, and growth of e-government. 

The development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is the greatest element that propelled the growth of e-participation by enabling and easing better collaboration between the public and the government. Development of CSCW (Computer Supported Cooperative Work) and groupware directed towards collaborative environments better supports human ICT-mediated interaction, both in work and social environments. Through enhanced ICT support, e-participation has evolved as a social activity involving the collaboration between politicians, administrative figures, and the public.

Developments in e-democracy since the late 1990s has also contributed to the origination of e-participation. Interest rapidly evolved from e-voting to several forms of ICT-supported and ICT-enabled interaction between governments and citizens, including not only direct ones (such as consultations, lobbying, petitioning and polling) but also ones pursued outside of government itself, including electioneering, campaigning, and community informatics. To a large extent, the institutional framework conditions of the chosen democratic model define at which part of the democratic processes participation is permitted (such as direct or representative democracy, or any intermediate forms).

The development in e-government towards increasingly complex service-delivery is another factor that contributed to the growth of e-participation. Complex services require considerable interaction including searching, selecting options based on multiple criteria, calculating outcomes, notifications, inquiries, complaints, and many other activities. There are several ICT tools for such tasks, ranging from FAQs to call centers, but there is a need to coordinate all these into user-friendly but powerful toolsets for client-organization encounters. Because interaction in such contexts is complex, and because goals have to be reached, the arenas where it takes places become social arenas for ICT-supported participation

On the Definition

Participation is a goal-oriented process that involves decision making and control. E-participation, which encompasses participation in political science and theory of management, refers to direct public participation in political, economical, or management decisions. When participation becomes complicated, decision making becomes necessary and any participatory process is potentially important for the rule system governing the activities. In this sense, when service processes become complex, the implementation of them will not be in all details based on political decisions but also on what is found to be practical.

Instead of taking in and accepting knowledge as is disseminated by the media and government, by participating, one becomes an active citizen and further contributes to a democratic society. When such practical doings become implemented in government e-service systems, they will affect decision making, as later changes will be difficult to make after existing procedures have been implemented in ICT systems and government agencies’ procedures. There are many theories dealing with institutionalization, for example structuration theory, institutional theory, and actor-network theory. These different theories all deal with how methods of operation becomes established or rejected, and how those that become established increasingly affect the ways society habitually accomplish tasks. Alternatively, when viewed from the citizen's perspective, the capability approach is being applied to understand the behaviors of individuals. This approach allows institutions to identify normative capabilities that can improve citizen's opportunities to participate in the governance process.

E-participation Index

The e-participation index (EPI) was designed by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs as "a supplementary index to the UN E-Government Survey". The EPI is used to evaluate the effectiveness of online services that propels the interaction and exchange of information between government and individuals, as well as the engagement of citizens in policy and decision-making. It is evaluated on the bases of how well a government relays information to its constituents, how engaged citizens are in the designing of policies, and how empowered citizens feel in the decision-making process, together these factors make up the framework of "e-information", "e-consultation", and "e-decision making". Specifically, the index is calculated by subtracting the lowest e-participation score from the e-participation score of the country, then divided by the range of scores for all countries. The resulting index score is a foundation measure that captures how inclusive a government is.

Models and tools

A number of tools and models have emerged as part of Web 2.0 that can be used or inspire the design of architecture for e-participation. In particular, "the emergence of online communities oriented toward the creation of useful products suggests that it may be possible to design socially mediating technology that support public-government collaborations".

Participation tools

• Social networking services, such as popular media platforms and blogs, have built online platforms that makes it possible for people to connect with others and participate in interactive activities. Social activities such as the engagement between citizens and government agencies have been facilitated by online platforms and social networking has been increasingly used by the government to keep up with public trends and identify political issues people are most passionate about. Popular platforms such as Twitter and Facebook has allowed users to actively engage in politics online by expressing their political stand points and opinions as well as organize movements to bring attention to issues of importance. The instantaneous sharing and response mechanisms social networking platforms generate has become an important tool of e-participation that enables citizens to engage in decision-making and government agencies to take initiative in addressing public concerns.
• Wikis are another way people can participate collaboratively online with others, although not directly with politicians and government administrators. The evolving and collaborative nature of wikis allows citizens to contribute to topics they are knowledgeable about and share that knowledge with others who want to learn about it. At the same time, it allows for debate about the topic and interaction between different contributors. The ease of updating articles allows each topic to be up to date and present viewers with the most recent and comprehensive understanding of each topic. Wikis can be tools to facilitate and inspire e-participation by allowing people to bring attention to certain movements and issues and informing others of the impact of potential issues.

Mechanisms

• Electronic voting generally comes in two different forms: e-voting physically such as electronic voting machines at polling stations, or remote e-voting through the Internet. Remote e-voting is a powerful tool that contributes to e-participation by offering the ability to vote from anywhere at anytime, which reduces the time and cost of voting. This can lead to an increase in voter turnout and civic engagement as it increases citizen's accessibility to offer their support for different policies and political figures. Especially with the rise of blockchain technology, the security and transparency of electronic voting has been drastically improved and the decentralized nature of blockchain technologies can transform the model of electronic voting in the future. However, there are obvious drawbacks with e-voting, most clearly seen in the digital inequality of the country. Electronic voting can emphasize and enhance the digital divide between people of different socioeconomic backgrounds and age groups, and the technology may not be accessible to all. In this sense, e-voting can alienate those without access to technology and stable internet access, and in fact hinder citizen engagement rather than facilitate it.
• Internet petitions have become a popular platform for citizens to engage in policy reviewing and issue petitioning. Internet petitions allow for flexibility and ease to achieve political impact and to voice concerns about urging issues both socially and politically. It increases citizen engagement while also allowing administration to be more responsive to the opinions and needs of the population. Petitioning platforms created by the government such as We The People is directly linked to administration officials who can provide response and propel important movements. Internet petitions contributes a greater citizen participation and in return, a more inclusive relationship between government and society.
• Quadratic voting is another emerging technology that uses blockchain technology to facilitate e-participation. Quadratic voting allows citizens to express how strongly they feel about a policy by assigning individuals with a set amount of tokens, then allowing them to vote multiple times with the tokens to express urgency or passion for the policy they feel most strongly about. Quadratic voting enables more flexibility and interactivity in the voting process. The idea of expressing the "strength" of voter's voices and opinions more clearly in the voting process increases the engagement of citizens and shows more feedback about certain issues and policies than a traditional voting system can.
• Reputation systems
• Transparency tools (social translucence mechanisms)

Tracking and analysis

• Digital traces
• Data mining
• Data visualization
• Simulations such as agent-based social simulation

Crowdsourcing

To demonstrate e-participation at work, one can turn to one of its types - crowdsourcing. This is generally defined as the enlisting of a group of humans to solve problems via the World Wide Web. The idea is that this platform is able to collect human resources from the most unlikely and remotest places, contributing to the general store of intellectual capital. Crowdsourcing can be applied in different stages of the policy-making process and these could transpire on the information, consultation, and active participation levels. At the information level, there is a one-way relationship, wherein the participants receive information from the government. The consultation process entails a two-way interaction where citizens already provide their inputs, feedback, and reactions. Finally, active participation can refer to the deeper participatory involvement where citizens directly contribute in the formulation of policy content. This level of e-participation is increasingly being practiced through tools such as online petition, e-referendum, e-panels, citizen e-juries, and participatory GIS, among others.

Challenges of e-participation

One of the biggest challenges to e-participation is the existence of a digital divide, as e-participation highly relies on access to new technologies as well as access to stable Internet connections. Oftentimes, e-participation also requires a higher digital literacy such as skills to digitally analyze policy proposals and provide input in a digital sphere. In addition, Internet safety and collaboration are also abilities and knowledge needed to better navigate tools for e-participation. These, along with physical access to technology, exist as barriers to people of different socioeconomic levels and those who lack or can not afford access to these technologies. The digital divide hinders and limits the ability for certain groups to voice their opinions, which in return excludes them from participation, backfiring the initial goal of e-participation.

European eParticipation actions

European eParticipation Preparatory Action

eParticipation is the Preparatory Action lasts for three years (2006–2008). The EU is taking the lead in using online tools to improve the legislative process for its citizens. eParticipation which launched on January 1, 2007 will run as a series of linked projects which each contribute to a greater awareness and involvement by citizens in the legislation process from initial drafting to implementation at a regional and local level.

The individual projects will concentrate on ensuring that the legislative language and process is more transparent, understandable and accessible to citizens. In addition the projects emphasis on the communication of legislation will be used to enhance and grow citizens' involvement and contribution in the process of creating and implementing the legislation.

So far, 21 projects have been funded. The European Parliament, national parliaments and local and regional authorities are actively involved. State-of-the-art ICT tools are being tested to facilitate the writing of legal texts, including translation into different languages, and the drafting of amendments as well as making the texts easier for non-specialists to find and understand. New digital technologies are also being used to give citizens easier access to information and more opportunity to influence decisions that affect their lives. A report (Charalabidis, Koussouris & Kipenis 2009), which was published as a MOMENTUM white paper, highlights the major facts and figures of those projects while providing some initial policy recommendations for future use.

European eParticipation Actions

The European Commission has now launched a number of actions aiming at further advancing the work of supporting eParticipation.

Examples:

• FP7 : ICT Challenge 7 : Objective ICT-2009.7.3 ICT for Governance and Policy Modelling. The European Commission has launched some call in this area to finance researches. Currently the Integrated Program Future Policy Modelling (FUPOL) is the largest project in this domain. FUPOL
• CIP ICT Policy Support Programme (or ICT PSP). The European project has open a call in the programme CIP (Competitiveness and Innovation Framework) on the Theme 3: ICT for government and governance

Open government

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_government

Open government is the governing doctrine which sustain that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight. In its broadest construction, it opposes reason of state and other considerations which have tended to legitimize extensive state secrecy. The origins of open-government arguments can be dated to the time of the European Age of Enlightenment, when philosophers debated the proper construction of a then nascent democratic society. It is also increasingly being associated with the concept of democratic reform. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 for example advocates for public access to information as a criterion for ensuring accountable and inclusive institutions.

Components

The concept of open government is broad in scope but is most often connected to ideas of government transparency and accountability. One definition, published by The Quality of Government Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, limits government openness to information released by the government, or the extent to which citizens can request and receive information that is not already published. Harlan Yu and David G. Robinson specify the distinction between open data and open government in their paper "The New Ambiguity of "Open Government". They define open government in terms of service delivery and public accountability. They argue that technology can be used to facilitate disclosure of information, but that the use of open data technologies does not necessarily equate accountability.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) approaches open government through the following categories: whole of government coordination, civic engagement and access to information, budget transparency, integrity and the fight against corruption, use of technology, and local development.

History

The term 'open government' originated in the United States after World War II. Wallace Parks, who served on a subcommittee on Government Information created by the U.S. Congress, introduce the term in his 1957 article "The Open Government Principle: Applying the Right to Know under the Constitution". After this and after the passing of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1966, federal courts began using the term as a synonym for government transparency.

Although this was the first time that 'open government' was introduced the concept of transparency and accountability in government can be traced back to Ancient Greece in fifth century B.C.E. Athens where different legal institutions regulated the behavior of officials and offered a path for citizens to express their grievances towards them. One such institution, the euthyna, held officials to a standard of "straightness" and enforced that they give an account in front of an Assembly of citizens about everything that they did that year.

In more recent history, the idea that government should be open to public scrutiny and susceptible to public opinion dates back to the time of the Enlightenment, when many philosophes made an attack on absolutist doctrines of state secrecy. The passage of formal legislature can also be traced to this time with Sweden, (which then included Finland as a Swedish-governed territory) where free press legislation was enacted as part of its constitution (Freedom of the Press Act, 1766).

Influenced by Enlightenment thought, the revolutions in United States (1776) and France (1789), enshrined provisions and requirements for public budgetary accounting and freedom of the press in constitutional articles. In the nineteenth century, attempts by Metternichean statesmen to row back on these measures were vigorously opposed by a number of eminent liberal politicians and writers, including Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton.

Open government is widely seen to be a key hallmark of contemporary democratic practice and is often linked to the passing of freedom of information legislation. Scandinavian countries claim to have adopted the first freedom of information legislation, dating the origins of its modern provisions to the eighteenth century and Finland continuing the presumption of openness after gaining independence in 1917, passing its Act on Publicity of Official Documents in 1951 (superseded by new legislation in 1999).

An emergent development also involves the increasing integration of software and mechanisms that allow citizens to become more directly involved in governance, particularly in the area of legislation. Some refer to this phenomenon as e-participation, which has been described as "the use of information and communication technologies to broaden and deepen political participation by enabling citizens to connect with one another and with their elected representatives".

Current policies

Africa

Morocco's new constitution of 2011, outlined several goals the government wishes to achieve in order to guarantee the citizens right to information. The world has been offering support to the government in order to enact these reforms through the Transparency and Accountability Development Policy Loan (DPL). This loan is part of a joint larger program between the European Union and the African Development Bank to offer financial and technical support to governments attempting to implement reforms.

As of 2010, section 35 of Kenya's constitution ensures citizens' rights to government information. The article states "35.(1) Every citizen has the right of access to — (a) information held by the State; and (b) information held by another person and required for the exercise or protection of any right or fundamental freedom ... (3) The State shall publish and publicize any important information affecting the nation." Important government data is now freely available through the Kenya Open Data Initiative.

Asia

Taiwan started its e-government program in 1998 and since then has had a series of laws and executive orders to enforce open government policies. The Freedom of Government Information Law of 2005, stated that all government information must be made public. Such information includes budgets, administrative plans, communication of government agencies, subsidies. Since then it released its open data platform, data.gov.tw. The Sunflower Movement of 2014, emphasized the value that Taiwanese citizens place on openness and transparency. A white paper published by the National Development Council with policy goals for 2020 explores ways to increase citizen participation and use open data for further government transparency.

The Philippines passed the Freedom of Information Order in 2016, outlining guidelines to practice government transparency and full public disclosure. In accordance to its General Appropriations Act of 2012, the Philippine government requires government agencies to display a "transparency seal" on their websites, which contains information about the agency's functions, annual reports, officials, budgets, and projects.

The Right to Information (RTI) movement in India, created the RTI law in 2005 after environmental movements demanded the release of information regarding environmental deterioration due to industrialization. Another catalyst for the RTI law and other similar laws in southeast Asia, may have been due to multilateral agencies offering aid and loans in exchange for more transparency or "democratic" policies.

Europe

Play media

Welsh Government Health Minister, Vaughan Gething representing the government in February 2021 at a COVID-19 press conferences. All government videos are uploaded on open licences (CC-BY-SA and OGL).

In the Netherlands, large social unrest and the growing influence of televisions in the 1960s led to a push for more government openness. Access to information legislation was passed in 1980 and since then further emphasis has been placed on measuring the performance of government agencies. Particularly, the government of the Netherlands adopted the Open Government in Action (Open overheid in actie) Plan for 2016–2017, which outlines nine concrete commitments to the open government standards set by the OECD.

Since 2018, in Wales, the Welsh Government has funded the training of Wikipedia skills in secondary schools, as part of the Welsh Baccalaureate and has uses an open licence on all published videos and other content.

North America

In 2009, President Obama released a memorandum on transparency and open government and started the Open Government Initiative. In his memorandum put forward his administration's goal to strengthen democracy through a transparent, participatory and collaborative government. The initiative has goals of a transparent and collaborative government, in which to end secrecy in Washington, while improving effectiveness through increased communication between citizens and government officials. Movements for government transparency in recent United States history started in the 1950s after World War II because federal departments and agencies had started limiting information availability as a reaction to global hostilities during the war and due to fear of Cold War spies. Agencies were given the right to deny access to information "for good cause found" or "in the public interest". These policies made it difficult for congressional committees to get access to records and documents, which then led to explorations of possible legislative solutions.

South America

Since the early 2000s, transparency has been an important part of Chile's Anti-Corruption and Probity Agenda and State Modernization Agenda. In 2008, Chile passed the Transparency Law has led to further open government reforms. Chile published its open government action plan for 2016-18 as part of its membership of the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

Arguments for and against

For transparency

Transparency in government is often credited with generating government accountability, which supporters argue leads to reduction in government corruption, bribery and other malfeasance. Some commentators contend that an open, transparent government allows for the dissemination of information, which in turn helps produce greater knowledge and societal progress. Organizations supporting transparency policies such as the OECD and the Open Government Partnership claim that open government reforms can also lead to increased trust in government, although there is mixed evidence to support these claims, with increased transparency sometimes leading to reduced trust in government.

Public opinion can also be shifted when people have access to see the result of a certain policy. The United States government has at times forbid journalists to publish photographs of soldiers' coffins, an apparent attempt to manage emotional reactions that might heighten public criticism of ongoing wars; nonetheless, many believe that emotionally charged images can be valuable information. Similarly, some opponents of the death penalty have argued that executions should be televised so the public can "see what is being done in their name and with their tax dollars."

Government transparency is beneficial for efficient democracy, as information helps citizens form meaningful conclusions about upcoming legislation and vote for them in the next election. According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, greater citizen participation in government is linked to government transparency.

Advocates of open government often argue that civil society, rather than government legislation, offers the best route to more transparent administration. They point to the role of whistleblowers reporting from inside the government bureaucracy (individuals like Daniel Ellsberg or Paul van Buitenen). They argue that an independent and inquiring press, printed or electronic, is often a stronger guarantor of transparency than legislative checks and balances.

The contemporary doctrine of open government finds its strongest advocates in non-governmental organizations keen to counter what they see as the inherent tendency of government to lapse, whenever possible, into secrecy. Prominent among these NGOs are bodies like Transparency International or the Open Society Institute. They argue that standards of openness are vital to the ongoing prosperity and development of democratic societies.

Against transparency

Government indecision, poor performance and gridlock are among the risks of government transparency, according to some critics. Political commentator David Frum wrote in 2014 that, "instead of yielding more accountability, however, these reforms [transparency reforms] have yielded more lobbying, more expense, more delay, and more indecision." Jason Grumet argues that government officials cannot properly deliberate, collaborate and compromise when everything they are doing is being watched. A randomized controlled trial conducted with 463 delegates of the National Assembly of Vietnam showed that increased transparency of the legislative proceedings, such as debates and query transcripts, curtailed delegates activity in the query sessions, avoiding taking part in activities that could embarrass leaders of the Vietnamese regime.

Privacy is another concern. Citizens may incur "adverse consequences, retribution or negative repercussions" from information provided by governments. Teresa Scassa, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, outlined three main possible privacy challenges in a 2014 article. First is the difficulty of balancing further transparency of government, while also protecting the privacy of personal information, or information about identifiable individuals that is in the hands of the government. Second is dealing with distinctions between data protection regulations between private and public sector actors because governments may access information collected by private companies which are not controlled by as stringent laws. Third is the release of "Big data", which may appear anonymized can be reconnected to specific individuals using sophisticated algorithms.

Intelligence gathering, especially to identify violent threats (whether domestic or foreign), must often be done clandestinely. Frum wrote in 2014 that "the very same imperatives that drive states to collect information also require them to deny doing so. These denials matter even when they are not believed."

Moral certitude undergirds much transparency advocacy, but a number of scholars question whether it is possible for us to have that certitude. They have also highlighted how transparency can support certain neoliberal imperatives.

Technology and open government

Governments and organizations are using new technologies as a tool for increased transparency. Examples include use of open data platforms to publish information online and the theory of open source governance.

Open government data (OGD), a term which refers specifically to the public publishing of government datasets, is often made available through online platforms such as data.gov.uk or www.data.gov. Proponents of OGD argue that easily accessible data pertaining to governmental institutions allows for further citizen engagement within political institutions. OGD principles require that data is complete, primary, timely, accessible, machine processable, non-discriminatory, non-proprietary, and license free.

Public and private sector platforms provide an avenue for citizens to engage while offering access to transparent information that citizens have come to expect. Numerous organizations have worked to consolidate resources for citizens to access government (local, state and federal) budget spending, stimulus spending, lobbyist spending, legislative tracking, and more.

Organizations

• Open Government Partnership (OGP) was an organization launched in 2011 to allow domestic reformers to make their own governments across the world more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens. Since 2011, OGP has grown to 75 participating countries today whose government and civil societies work together to develop and implement open government reforms.
• Code for All is a non-partisan, non-profit international network of organizations who believe technology leads to new opportunities for citizens to lead a more prominent role in the political sphere and have a positive impact on their communities. The organizations relies on technology to improve government transparency and engage citizens.
• The Sunlight Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 2006 that uses civic tech, open data, and policy analysis to make information from government and politics more transparent to everyone. Their ultimate vision is to increase democratic participation and achieve changes on political money flow and who can influence government. While their work began with an intent to focus only on the US Congress, their work now influences the local, state, federal, and international levels.
• Open Government Pioneers UK is an example of a civil society led initiative using open source approaches to support citizens and civil society organisations use open government as a way to secure progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. It uses an Open Wiki to plan the development of an open government civil society movement across the UK's home nations.
• OpenSpending aims to build and use open source tools and datasets to gather and analyse the financial transactions of governments around the world.

E-government

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-government 

E-government (short for electronic government) is the use of technological communications devices, such as computers and the Internet, to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offers new opportunities for more direct and convenient citizen access to government, and for government provision of services directly to citizens.

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 stray from the idea that technology is an object and defines e-government simply as facilitators or instruments and focus on specific changes in Public Administration issues. The internal transformation of a government is the definition that established the specialist technologist Mauro D. Ríos. In his 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.

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.

Transformational government

Transformational government or also transformational e-government is the use of computer-based information and communications technologies (ICT) to change the way governments work. The term is commonly used to describe a government reform strategy which attempts to radically change the way people understand government, especially those working within government. For example, it is often associated with a whole-of-government viewpoint, which tries to foster cross-department collaboration and provide one-stop-shop convenience in the delivery of services to citizens.

The term transformational government is usually used aspirationally, as denoting the highest level of what e-government can achieve:

1. presence, where ICT, and usually websites, are used to provide information;
2. interaction, where government interacts with citizens, and departments interact with each other, online especially by email;
3. transaction, where such things as paying taxes or licenses are carried out online;
4. transformation, which involves a reinvention of government functions and how they operate. In relation to developing countries, it is often associated with hopes of reducing corruption, and in relation to developed countries, with attempts to increase the involvement of the private and voluntary sectors in government activity.

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.

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.

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.

History

During the last two decades, governments around the world have invested in ICT with the aim of increasing the quality and decreasing the cost of public services. But over that time, as even the least developed countries have moved to websites, e-services and e-government strategies, it has become increasingly clear that e-government has not delivered all the benefits that were hoped for it. One study found that 35% of e-government projects in developing countries resulted in total failures; and that 50% were partial failures.

In reaction to these poor outcomes, there has been a shift of perspective to transformational government, aiming beyond purely technical aspects of better enabling e-government processes towards addressing the cultural and organisational barriers which have hindered public service benefits realisation. Researchers have defined the rationale for transformational government as "the exploitation of e-government such that benefits can be realized".

In 2010 the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) published a report which identified a wide range of common pitfalls which have hampered many governments in achieving significant impacts through their technology investments. However, OASIS also noted that:

"… an increasing number [of governments] are now getting to grips with the much broader and complex set of cultural and organizational changes which are needed for ICT to deliver significant benefits to the public sector. This new approach is generally referred to as Transformational Government."

OASIS cites the UK and Australia as two of the leaders in this area:

"Transformational Government…. encompasses a new "virtual" business layer within government which allows an integrated, government-wide, citizen-focused service to be presented to citizens across all channels, but at no extra cost and without having to restructure government to do so. Two very good examples of this new approach are South Australia’s "Ask Just Once" portal and the UK Government’s DirectGov portal, and the approach is explained in very good detail in the CS Transform’s white paper entitled "Citizen Service Transformation – a manifesto for change in the delivery of public services".

UN e-Government Development Index

EGDI levels by country in 2020

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.

The survey has been criticized not including an index of digital inclusion levels.

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 products and services required to 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

Examples of online transactional services, employed in e-governments include:

• Applying for a birth certificate
• Applying for a building permit
• Applying for a business license
• Applying for a death certificate
• Applying for a driver's license
• Applying for environmental permits
• Applying for government vacancies online
• Applying for land title registration
• Applying for a marriage certificate
• Applying for a personal identity card
• Applying for social protection programs
• Applying for a visa
• Declaring to police
• Paying fines
• Paying for utilities (water, gas electricity)
• Registering a business
• Registering a motor vehicle
• Looking up land registration info
• Looking up address and telephone number info in online telephone directory
• Submitting a change of address
• Submitting income taxes
• Submitting Value Added Tax

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 brick 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 paperwork 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 brick 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 the 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 the 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 Media Usage

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 the government's use of social networking as a medium to help the 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.

E-Signature

Several local governments in the United States have allowed online e-signatures for candidate nominating petitions and signature requirements for ballot initiatives. In 2012 Arizona launched a prototype system called E-qual, which allowed statewide candidates running for office to collect signatures online and share the link on other forms on social media. E-qual was expanded in 2016 to cover candidates in local elections within the state, but it was not used at the local level before the 2020 state election. The city of Boulder, Colorado has implemented a similar system in 2020 to collect signatures for city ballot questions.