Issue title: Open government and public participation:
Issues and challenges in creating public value
Article type: Research Article
Authors: Harrison, Teresa M.a | Guerrero, Santiagob | Burke, G. Brianc; * | Cook, Meghanc | Cresswell, Anthonyc | Helbig, Nataliec | Hrdinova, Janac | Pardo, Theresac
Affiliations:
[a] Department of Communication & Center for
Technology in Government, University at Albany, Albany, NY, USA |
[b] Department of Public Administration, University at
Albany, Albany, NY, USA |
[c] Center for Technology in Government, University at
Albany, Albany, NY, USA | Fundacion Universidad de las Americas Puebla, Business
School, anta Catarina Martir, San Andres Cholula, Puebla, Mexico | City University of New York, Staten Island, NY,
USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Center for Technology in Government,
University at Albany, 17 Wolf Road, Suite 301, Albany, NY 12205, USA. Tel.: +1
518 442 3892; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: We argue that the Obama Administration's Open Government Initiative
blurs distinctions between e-democracy and e-government by incorporating
historically democratic practices, now enabled by emerging technology, within
administrative agencies. We consider the nature of transparency, participation,
and collaboration, suggesting that these processes should be viewed as means
toward desirable ends, rather than administrative ends in themselves, as they
appear to be currently treated. We propose alternatively that planning OG
initiatives be addressed within a "public value" framework. The creation of
public value is the goal of public organizations; through public value, public
organizations meet public goals with respect to substantive benefits as well as
the intrinsic value of better government. We extend this view to OG by using
the framework as a way to describe the value produced when interaction between
government and citizens becomes more transparent, participative, and
collaborative, i.e., more democratic.
Keywords: E-government, e-governance, e-democracy, open government, collaboration, participation, transparency, democracy, public value, social media
DOI: 10.3233/IP-2012-0269
Journal: Information Polity, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 83-97, 2012
