The Politics of E-government in Spain: Between Recent Innovations and Old Inertias

Abstract

This chapter describes the case of adoption and evolution of Electronic Government (e-government) in Spain during the democratic period, showing how an adolescent public administration has shaped (and been shaped by) the diffusion of the latest generation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This study describes the initial stages of the adoption of computing in Spanish government from the beginning of democracy in 1978, also draws upon the attributes of the Spanish process of e-government adoption, and additionally emphasizes the signif- icance of citizens’ perceptions, use of, and barriers to e-government to understand its adoption. In consequence, this chapter supports the idea of prioritizing institu- tional variables to understand e-government, together with the need to discern the role of social demand or of external users on it. Besides, the results of this study support the conclusion that Spain has placed more importance on, for example, institutional and social aspects, rather than technological issues, in its implemen- tation of e-government. In sum, Internet and web-based technologies and services have been of growing importance in national (central) Spanish government, open- ing a window of opportunity for administrative innovation. At the same time, old inertias, in bureaucratic terms, shape both the design and results of e-government utilization in this case.