E-government for all - Norm-critical perspectives and public values in digitalization

Abstract

There are hopes that e-government will bring many benefits, including efficiency, democratization, participation, and emancipation of citizens. However, despite some evidence that supports these claims there are also cases that digitalization can exclude citizens and build new barriers. This is a special challenge for already disadvantaged groups falling outside the norms. In this study we approach the notion of a norm-critical perspective in relation to e-government through a review of literature in combination with action research oriented workshops. From this we conclude that there is a need for more norm-critical perspectives in research on e-government, as most research today focuses on socio-economic digital-divide issues. We also show that it is difficult for involved actors to see beyond the norms and be norm-critical since the norms are embedded into the practices, which in this case, e-government has developed and used.