Question

Does the rise of “e-government” portend a degree of greater democratic participation in administrative decision making? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Yes, the rise of e-governance portend a degree of greater democratic participation in administrative decision making.

Before going to the actual answer, let me tell what e- governance really means. E-governance means electronic government, wherein dome of the functions of the government are carried out by utilizing the information and communication technology. There are certain goals and objectives of e-governance. The main objectives of e-governance is to deliver better services to people, citizens’ empowerment through information, ensuring transparency and accountability in government services. Through e-governance, the efficiency of the government increases. In e-governance, the role of internet is very crucial.

Some of the advantages of e-governance are: Through e-governance, maximum governance can be done with minimum government, that means with less number of bureaucrats or officials, maximum work can be done. Citizens need not go to government offices every now and then. The amount of corruption will decrease drastically. The amount of red-tapism will come down, because of which the work will be finished in lesser time frames. There will be better communication and exchange of information among different departments of the government. Real time governance will be much more helpful, where the citizen can track the status of his/ her requests to the government.

Now coming to the administrative decision making, e- governance will be very helpful in optimal and timely decision making. It paves the path for greater democratic participation. The fabric of democracy can be strengthened by the e- governance mechanism, by ensuring active participation of all the citizens in each level of the government. The government can get more accurate and reliable feedback from its citizens regarding different schemes/policies or decisions taken by the government. Based on the feedback, the administration can make proper decisions. Since all the information is available, there will be a close watch on every department, which will ensure there is no delay in the process. Although, there are some failure stories in some countries regarding the e- governance, there is high probability that if the information and communication technology (ICT) is utilized efficiently, the government can create wonders. The best example in this contemporary world, can be India, where the “Digital India” scheme is very big success. India has been utilizing ICT for governance, through which the information has been disseminated to all levels of governments and citizens in the country. This e-governance reduces the burden on bureaucrats and other officials, which will help policy makers in better policy making. Because they can concentrate on single task of decision making fully. The authorities are responsible and accountable for all the decisions they make. So they will try to make sure that they will not get black mark on their work and service.

Since e- governance helps in greater participation of citizens, greater responsibility of public servants and peoples’ representatives, free flow of information, and less gap in communication and information exchange, the fabric of democracy will definitely strengthen in e- governance and it will ultimately help in better decision making.