e-Government and e-Democracy: In Relation with Participation Cost: Case study Central Java Provincial Government

摘要

The aim of this research is (1) what can be learned from the literature about e-government, e-democracy and how the cost has been problematized; (2) the status of e-government/e-democracy level in Central Java Provincial Government. And (3) how is the participation cost being discussed in Central Java Provincial Government. A case study is the main approach in this research, as well as in-depth interview and literature review. The result of this research area (1) E-government and e-democracy cannot be separated. Robust e-government as the foundation of e-democracy. E-government sees as an efficient way to accommodate participation concepts in development because it eliminates spatial distance, time and other direct costs. The discussion of e-government cost remains lack of literature. (2) Central Java Provincial Government considered as a fair developed system of e-government (not yet e-democracy) comparing to other provinces in Indonesia. The political will of the leader is strong to encourage the transformation of e-governance to e-democracy. Focus on the information source, and public services, and enable data gathering from the online platform. In term of building consensus, the e-government needs to be developed to achieve this objective of better democratization. (3) The expectation that the e-governance system will lead to efficient government is not always the case unless the ICT backed up with managerial preparedness to ensure participation. The cost of participation in e-government need to be borne by the government as investment and maintenance cost and borne by the participants, includes the connectivity gap.