E-Government

E-Government
Name:
Institution:
Date:
E-Government
Discussion 1
According to Haller, Li & Mossberger (2011), “e-government” refers to the process of utilizing electronic data to enhance performance, create new ties between authorities, citizens, and the business community. The scholars believe that e-government has indeed led to an increased democratic participation of the citizens in government affairs and decisions. This is so because e-government offers a new source of information thereby increasing the citizens’ awareness of government guidelines, programs, procedures, and service delivery. Once the citizens acquire this information, they can utilize it to engage with the government and other citizens both online and offline. The information obtained online is also crucial in encouraging citizens to engage in active discussions regarding community programs.
The researchers go on to say that those who utilize e-government services are expected to be more active in policy matters than those not utilizing e-government services. They note that even though the link between e-government and civil engagement is not strong, there is enough reason to believe that continued utilization of e-government will enhance democratic participation in government decisions. This is possible because e-government has created numerous ways through which members of the public can interact with government officials. Scholars say that government officials can be contacted through email, social sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and government websites.

In the US, open discussions in government websites are common allowing prompt feedback as opposed to traditional methods that allowed for only one-way communication (Carlo, Jaeger & Grimes, 2012).
Another scholar notes that the recent technological revolution which started in the early 1990s has shown the capability of empowering people with the knowledge required for decision making in national affairs. He says that government websites display information regarding government agencies, lawmaking process, elected leaders and government revenues. Consequently, e-government has led to increased transparency in all levels of the federal government across the country. Local authorities are equally embracing the e-government policy by publishing city census, plans, crime data, and much more on their websites. Research also shows that e-government is likely to foster democratic participation since the cost of obtaining information online is much cheaper than other channels. Equally, unlike traditional media, e-government allows citizens to retrieve information anytime at no extra cost. Other features that make online information cheaper include a hyperlink to other sites, round-the-clock availability, search engines, and aggregation in portals. Other studies have also established that the use of the internet is correlated to active political contribution like voting or participating in campaigns. However, the extent to which e-government enhances democracy is complimented by the desire or willingness by the people to be involved in government decisions (Edwards, 2013).
Discussion 2
According to Mcdonough (2002), initiative and referendum give power to the people to determine what laws are good or bad for them. These two processes are part of the four methods entrenched in Article 48 of the constitution which give citizens the power to pass or reject laws. According to Legislatures (2012), initiative refers to a process that allows people to overturn their state government by subjecting proposed laws, and in other states, constitutional changes on the ballot. The initiative takes two forms; direct or indirect. On the other hand, a referendum can be defined as the process of presenting legislation that has been previously ratified to the citizens for endorsement or abolishment. Equally, there are two forms of referenda which include the popular referendum and the legislative referendum. The former is almost similar to the initiative process since they are both as a result of petitions. The latter refers to a process in which the government proposes a law to the citizens for approval.
Let us assume that the state of Massachusetts passes a bill that increases the tax burden on the middle-income earners, and most voters are not pleased with this law. The voters can make use of the initiative process to reverse this law. First, the voters will petition the government by submitting a petition measure signed by at least ten voters to the Attorney General. The Attorney General will scrutinize the petition to ensure that it meets the conditions of Article 48. If the petition is approved, the Attorney General will forward the petition to the Secretary of State for filing. Meanwhile, voters will be collecting thousands of additional signatures which must be at least three percent of total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. The signatures will be filed with the secretary of state and election officials. Once these requirements are met, the petition measure will be forwarded to the legislature for approval or dismissal and perhaps suggest an alternative law. If the legislature does not act on the petition as stipulated by the constitution, the petition measure will be subject to voters at the following biennial state election thus reversing the law if the majority votes against it. A popular referendum may take a similar course however with a few differences. According to Gelt (1995), it is also a constitutional requirement for the legislature to submit some laws for approval by the public such as laws that seek to change the constitution and human rights.
References
Carlo Bertot, J., Jaeger, P. T., & Grimes, J. M. (2012). Promoting transparency and accountability through ICTs, social media, and collaborative e-government. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 6(1), 78-91.
Edwards, V. L. (2013). A Theory of Participation for 21st Century Governance. International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, 16(1), 1-28.
Gelt, J. (1995, December). Voters Influence Water Policy with Initiatives, Referenda | wrrc.arizona.edu. Retrieved from https://wrrc.arizona.edu/publications/arroyo-newsletter/voters-influence-water-policy-initiatives-referenda
Haller, M., Li, M. H., & Mossberger, K. (2011, July). Does E-Government Use Contribute to Citizen Engagement with Government and Community?. In APSA 2011 Annual Meeting Paper.
Legislatures. (2012, September 20). Initiative, Referendum and Recall. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/initiative-referendum-and-recall-overview.aspxMcdonough, J. E. (2002, November 15). Taking the laws into their own hands – CommonWealth Magazine. Retrieved from http://commonwealthmagazine.org/politics/taking-the-laws-into-their-own-hands/