Affiliations: [a] University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. E-mail:
jscholl@uw.edu | School of Governance, Utrecht University, The Netherlands | Department of Statistics, Trinity College, Ireland | Department of Public Administration, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Abstract: Democratic government of the 21st century is believed to head
towards more agility, leanness, responsiveness, accessibility, openness, and
participation than its predecessors in the 20th century. However, at the same
time democratic government has to cope with new challenges and trends, which
are unprecedented in their potential impacts (positive and negative) on society
at large. These challenges are intertwined and interact. The article discusses
the interacting challenges of market regulations and deregulations, the third
industrial revolution, sustainable levels of government spending and debt
financing, the evolution of smart government, and the emergence of new models
of participation. Information and communication technologies seemingly play a
pivotal role in enabling the emerging shape of 21st century democratic
government. They also appear to be instrumental in addressing and coping with
the new challenges and trends. Consequently, electronic government research
needs to fully engage in studying these complex phenomena and help both theory
and practice understand the choices and potential outcomes.
Keywords: Electronic government, smart government, smart regulation/deregulation, third industrial revolution, smart grids, sustainable spending levels, participatory government
