Affiliations: [a] School of Information Sciences, College of
Communication and Information, University of Tennessee, 425 Communications
Building, 1345 Circle Park Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996-0341, USA. Tel.: +1 865
974 7919; Fax: +1 865 974 4967; E-mail: kdougla2@utk.edu
| Faculty of Business Administration, Information
Systems Department, Université Laval, PQ, Canada | Fundacion Universidad de las Americas Puebla, Business
School, Santa Catarina Martir, San Andres Cholula, Puebla, Mexico | Graduate School of Management, Clark University,
Worcester, MA, USA
Abstract: This research borrows materials from analytical models, such as
Government Information Valuation (GIV) models, to construct new methodological
tools to study e-governance. The new tools developed here will help scholars
better represent the spectrum of e-governance stakeholders and their
information (and data) needs. The particular information needs that
contextualize this research are those of marginalized communities who are
confronted with quality of life issues, such as environmental injustice. First,
however, this research critically analyzes the assumptions that shape the
scholarship. Current methodological approaches reflect e-governance scholars'
unacknowledged use of procedural rights of democracy as conceptual guides.
Since these approaches limit attention to social welfare and quality of life
goals, the e-governance literature largely homogenizes stakeholders, their
political interests, and their disparate information needs.
Keywords: E-governance, e-government, environmental justice, stakeholders, social justice, information needs
