Examining the 'e' in government and governance: A case study in alternatives from Bangalore City, India

Abstract

Many studies of electronic government employ stages of e-government models and use government and governance as interchangeable terms. This is problematic since they make technology central to the analysis and do not examine whether deploying information technologies resulted in effective governance and community empowerment.
This study examines these issues through a study of e-government initiatives in Bangalore City, India. First, it employs the stages of e-government model to evaluate the city’s initiatives and then examines alternative ways of employing information technology to increase civic empowerment and governance. It makes a case for new models of analysis that are specific to developing countries.