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A Descriptive Framework for Federal Electronic Government: A Necessary Step Prior to Field Research
Abstract
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. As a 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 egovernment, 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 egovernment 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.
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