A very hot topic in public administration research today is e-government. Due to continued technology growth, organizations now have new avenues to approach their missions through fresh and multifaceted methods. E-government may just be the cure for many of today’s ailing cities. E-government as defined by Denhardt and Denhardt (2009) is the “use of IT to provide information, deliver services, support organizational management systems, ad/or to offer opportunities for dialogue and citizen input” (p. 378). In order to truly understand e-government one must look at the benefits and opportunities as well as specific applications in which it can be used.
According to Denhardt and Denhardt (2009) e-government can have many benefits: these include but are not limited to; facilitating communication, aiding in information sharing between public officials and with the general public, increasing efficiency, making elections and voting more accurate, and in turn assisting public administrators to better serve citizens (p. 378-379). E-government also has opportunities, the two main gaps presented by Denhardt and Denhardt (2009) are novelty and cooperation (p. 379). Novelty causes obstacles because it can sometimes be difficult to choose between the many different choices public administrators have access to. Another issue with novelty is that these innovative and varied options often require substantial change which can be very costly and complicated to maneuver through. Cooperation is also a key opportunity; e-government calls for interaction and sharing between all levels of government and government agencies. (Denhardt and Denhardt, 2009) If cooperation is lacking, e-government initiatives cannot be successful.
In a particular case study of “Sun County”, the real location name was changed for confidentiality purposes; the implementation of a new GIS (Geographic Information System) was followed for several years in order to focus on the process of e-government rather than the outcome or outputs that other research has focused on (Tsai, Choi, & Perry, 2009). The goal of the new GIS database was for the Department's staff to have the ability to enter data into the GIS database, run reports, and generate maps in a real time manner from their own workstations; this would allow them to provide a high level of service without having to allocate a lot of resources. Another goal of the project was to ease the decision making process of management by giving them the ability to perform analyses to better understand County resources and circumstances (Tsai, Choi, & Perry, 2009).
Problems and Prospects. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, Volume 12(3). Retrieved from http://www.innovation.cc/scholarly-style/bradshaw5final.pdf
Kristin Gotts, et al (no date) Better Together Saguaro Seminar on Civic Engineering in America; John F. Kennedy School of Government, Caimbridge MA
Sirianni in his book “Investing in Democracy” has examined how government can serve as a civic enabler of productive engagement and collaborative problem solving among civic associations, ordinary citizens, and stakeholder groups. He also tried to find out how the public policy and administration can be designed to help the involvement of the government. Siriannni has argued on the view that in recent era the government’s role is becoming more important due to the increasing complexity of public problems, diversity among the stakeholders, and continued erosion of civic life by the deep cultural and institutional trends. Sirianni tried to reflect the image of the government, local, state, and federal as civic enabler whose work should be to design policy and invest strategically, systematically, and effectively in building civic capacity to enable the daily public life of the citizens. Sirianni has focused on many reasons to argue why government should be the civic enabler. Firstly, due to the long term changes in the civic organization and culture, the capacities for self-government will not simply bubble up from the wellsprings of civic society, and certainly they will not come out through the invisible hand of the market. “Civic changes have been propelled in many cases by profound and irreversible socioeconomics shift, such as the replacement of the highly civic-minded World War II generation, increased female participation in the labor force, and continual spread of technologies that encourage individualized leisure.” [Sirianni. C]. Secondly, it has been often found that government policies and administrative have often tried to disable effective and responsible civic action. So by involving the government the policies can be ...
One of the problems today is that America’s distrust for their leaders because they view them as ineffectual and removed. There is a need in America to democratize the public planning process and decision-making process. Many times projects, developments, and policy decisions are made without significant public input and participation. This often leads to m...
Geographers plan new communities, decide where new highways should be placed, and establish evacuation plans. Computerized mapping and data analysis is known as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a new frontier in geography. Spatial data is gathered on a variety of subjects and input onto a computer. GIS users can create an infinite number of maps by requesting portions of the data to plot.
Bélanger, F. (2009). The Impact of the Digital Divide On E-Government Use. Communications Of The ACM, 52(4), 132-135.
Hillier, A., & Culhane, D. (2013). GIS Applications and Administrative Data to Support Community Change. In M. Weil (Ed.), The Handbook of Community Practice (2nd ed., pp. 827-844). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Retrieved from
Building a GIS system from the ground up is a very time consuming and extremely expensive venture. This is why only large metropolitan areas have developed or are developing GIS systems.
The internet has been one of the most influential technological advancements of the twenty-first century. It is in millions of homes, schools, and workplaces. The internet offers not only a way of communicating with people around the world, but also a link to information, shopping, chatting, searching, and maps. This freedom to be anyone and to "go" anywhere right from the comfort of home has become a cherished item. However, there is always a down side to every up. Because of the freedom to post anything and access anything on the internet, the issue of regulation has arisen; for example, what should and should not be allowed on the internet? Who has the right to regulate this space that we cherish for its freedom?
Public Administration involves the development, implementation and management of policies for the attainment of set goals and objectives that will be to the benefit of the general public. Since Public Administration involves taking decisions that affect the use of public resources there is often the question of how to utilize public resources for maximum public good. The National Association of Public Administration has identified four pillars of public administration: economy, efficiency, effectiveness and social equity. These pillars are equally important in the practice of public administration and to its success. This paper seeks to explain the role of each of the pillars in the practice of public administration.
This essay discusses the radical transformation of the principles and foundations of public administration from traditional to New Public Management. Firstly the essay will attempt to define the key terms of traditional public administration and the doctrine of New Public Management. Rabin J. (2003) explains that New Public Management embodies “a process in public administration that uses information and experiences obtained in business management and other disciplines to improve efficiency, usefulness and general operation of public services in contemporary bureaucracies.“Traditional Public Administration progresses from governmental contributions, with services perceived by the bureaucracy.
Traditional public administration is traced back to the works of scholars like Max Weber, Woodrow Wilson and Fredrick Taylor. This form of administration was mostly influenced by Max Weber with his bureaucratic model and theory. Max Weber was a well-known sociologist born in Germany in the year 1864. He came up with his bureaucratic model as a way to trying of improve management in organizations.
The study of public administration only continued to grow over the course of the next two decades. As the study of public administration expanded, so did the development of s...
E-business is a wider concept that takes into account all the aspects of use of information technology in business. Apart from buying and selling, it also includes servicing customers, collaboration with business partners, and engages incorporation across business processes and communication within the organisation (Rowley, 2002)
What's e-business? It is the transformation of every business process through using the internet and associated technologies. In this transformation, each part of the business becomes a part of an intrinsic network, which enables employees, suppliers and customers of a given enterprise to conduct their tasks. People usually try to make a point in differing e-business from e-commence, but as I see, e-commerce is a part of the e-business category, and an important one.