One of the most commonly cited goals of e-Government lies in promoting open processes that improve the transparency of government. There is anecdotal evidence that a number of e-Government projects have reduced the opportunities for corruption by opening government activities to broader scrutiny, for example. While paper-based systems that are accessible to only a few employees enable corruption in the delivery of government services by shielding transactions from observation, digital technology can provide a means of opening government processes to oversight from appropriate authorities and members of the public.

E-Government can generate a service mentality among public servants and an entitlement mentality among the citizenry. Finally, e-Government can increase citizen satisfaction with and trust in government.

Prof. Subhash Bhatnagar has written that e-Government, carefully planned and implemented, can reduce corruption in several ways: “It takes away discretion, thereby curbing opportunities for arbitrary action. It increases chances for exposure by maintaining detailed data on transactions, making it possible to track and link the corrupt with their wrongful acts. By making rules simple and more transparent, E-Government emboldens citizens and businesses to question unreasonable rules and procedures and their arbitrary application.” So far, however, there is little demonstrated correlation between e-Government investment and decreased perceptions of corruption.

By creating opportunities for online participation, e-Government can strengthen democracy. Even in developed countries, many citizens feel isolated from elected leaders and other government officials. By making information and interactive services available, and by linking people across geographic boundaries, e-Government can increase participation in the process of governance.

Example: Online Voter Lists
The manipulation of voter registers is a major problem in some developing countries: fraudulent activities include the disappearance of voter registers from polling stations, the deletion of voters from the lists, and the registration of deceased citizens. Such activities facilitate the rigging of elections and dampen the enthusiasm of the electorate for participating in the political process. Digital voter registers offer part of the solution, providing a means of data storage and management that is accessible beyond polling stations and paper registers. For example, the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), with donor support, upgraded its computer and communication network in 2002, so that the ECK could promptly verify through online voter lists the eligibility of voters who had lost their voting cards or whose names were missing from the manual voter registers in their respective polling stations.

Training Guide on e-Transparency
Materials for training workshops for e-Government practitioners in developing and transitional countries on using ICTs to improve government transparency and to fight corruption.

Resources on e-Government as a Tool to Fight Corruption:

• Using ICT to Improve Governance & Transparency – a compilation of articles and other resources.
• Bhatnagar, “Administrative Corruption: How Does E-Government Help?” (2003).
• UNDESA, “World Public Sector Report 2003: E-Government at the Crossroads” (October 2003), p. 62.
• USAID, “Information and Communications Technology To Control Corruption.”
• e-Government for Development, “Cases of eTransparency from Developing/Transitional Countries.”
• Ester Kaufmann, IDRC CRDI, “e-Citizenship, Good Governance and ICT” (2005) [Spanish] [English]
• International Journal of Information Ethics, “Corruption, Transparency and the Role for ICT?” Vol. 2, November 2004
• Asian Development Bank, “E-government to combat corruption in the Asia Pacific Region” (2003)
• Asian Development Bank, “E-Government: Enabling Asia-Pacific Governments and Citizens to do Public Business Differently?” (2002)
• Richard Heeks, University of Manchester. “Information Technology and Public Sector Accountability” (1998)
• Richard Heeks, University of Manchester. “Information Technology and Public Sector Corruption” (1998)

<<Previous: Improving Efficiency in the Delivery of Public Services

Next: Generating Broader Economic and Societal Effects>>

Back to Beginning of Chapter