Neoinstitutionalism and E-Government Beyond

This article addresses the evolution and implementation of e-government with a neoinstitutional per-spective. It starts with a critique on Jane Fountain’s technology enactment framework in that the frame-work fails to show how elected officials, public administrators, and citizens can facilitate e-govern-ment toward better democratic governance. This problem reflects the immaturity and ambiguity of neo-institutionalism in accounting for institutional change. The author argues that a balance between agent and institution, between strategic choice and institutional constraint should bemaintained in ana-lyzing the evolution of e-government as a long-term institutional change. This balanced approach would give public administration a more optimistic future of e-government