Fads and Facts of E-Government: A Review of Impacts of E-government (2003–2009)

This paper analyzes the impacts of e-government as reported in 55 first-hand empirical peer-reviewed journal publications during the period 2003–2009, using a conceptual framework to identify ICT (information and communication technology) impacts on four domains within the public sector: capabilities, interactions, orientations and value distribution. The analysis shows that research findings mostly report positive impacts in all four dimensions. In the empirical research, the majority of impacts from ICT are reported within the domain of capabilities, which is also the domain that features the most balanced mix of positive and negative findings. Findings show that although e-government has…

Opportunities and challenges of digitized discretionary practices: a public service worker perspective

Abstract Public service workers exercise discretionary power during policy implementation. Due to an immense diffusion of information and communications technology (ICT) in public service provision, they are increasingly exposed to reforms aiming at more efficient and fair decision-making. Whereas extant literature has found that ICT can both enable and constrain public service workers' ability to exercise discretion, we know less about underlying explanations for these inconclusive findings. This paper addresses this research gap by exploring how and why public service workers react to digitized discretionary practices. We draw upon institutional logics to show the underlying consideration…

Digital discretion: A systematic literature review of ICT and street-level discretion