A Descriptive Framework for Federal Electronic Government: A Necessary Step Prior to Field Research

摘要

To date, there are relatively few empirical studies of electronic government (e-government), especially among federal agencies. This lack of empirical analysis might be considered alarming in light of the attention and resources being funneled toward e-government at the federal level. Arguably, before researchers, public servants and the public can evaluate the investments and results of e-government, we must arrive at some agreement on what it is and what it looks like when it is good. Asa prelude to an empirical analysis of federal e-government in the United States, this paper sets out to bring some focus to the issues surrounding e-government, such as target audiences, characteristics, functions and goals, so it might be evaluated through fieldwork. The paper begins by examining the impact of electronic commerce on e-government to provide a historical context for how e-government evolved and came to be. A review of selected e-government definitions then follows. An analysis of the content and synthesis of these selected definitions are then used to develop a descriptive framework of e-government. The paper concludes by asserting that field research, using the descriptive framework presented in this paper, is necessary at the federal level to fill a gap in the e-government literature.