Report R4.11 E-Government and Decentralisation (Research Proposal) Seminar Leader: T. Kumar, Research Scholar, Institute of Rural Management, Anand, India f032[at]irma.ac.in The seminar was a proposal by the seminar leader for his doctoral research. The proposed research aims to study the effect of e-government on the process of decentralisation. Previous research on e-government mostly focused on efficiency, productivity, transparency, and so forth. The effect of e-government on decentralisation is not explored much. When information and communication technologies (ICTs) are employed for various processes and functions of the government, the government is referred to as e-government. E-government facilitates the integration of different government departments, citizens, and business enterprises into a singular framework of governance. Many studies affirm that a high level of participation of all the stake-holders in the process of governance is likely to result in good governance. Governance in the context of governing a country involves government, market and society. Good governance of a country is thus likely to involve active participation of the citizens, civil society, and the private sector in the governance process. Sometimes, usage of ICTs may result in information overload which may hinder good governance. In order to effectively deal with information overload, decentralisation becomes an essential process for good governance. On the other hand, with the use of ICTs, there might be an increase in transparency of the processes. In such a case, more functional information is available at the upper levels of the government units. This information in turn, may enable them to control the intermediary levels more than before. In this case, ICTs may not facilitate decentralisation. The proposed study intends to explore various factors that have led to the above dilemma and ascertain whether e-government facilitates decentralisation or not. The kind and extent of decentralisation that is facilitated by the e-government is also within the scope of the study. Some key conceptual definitions adopted for the study were sourced from reports published by a well-known consultancy firm. It was pointed out that doctoral scholars need to give adequate justification for the choice of a particular framework and associated concepts. Concepts as defined by business firms might be challenged in academic discussions as these companies might have commercial interests in promoting certain frameworks and associated concepts. The researcher proposes to use case methodology for this study. This was necessitated by the researcher’s preference for an in-depth, intensive form of research. However, in the first phase of the study the researcher intends to explore a number of e-government projects in India. This would enable him to approach the chosen case with a certain amount of familiarity with practices in the field. Studying fast-evolving phenomena can be challenging for researchers. In India e-government initiatives are still evolving and researchers might need to adopt innovative ways of data gathering and analysis. However, such studies can have a profound influence on the development of this evolving area. Reference Kumar, T. (2007). E-government and decentralisation: A research proposal. Unpublished manuscript.
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