Handbook of Public Information Systems Second Edition ppt

Handbook of
Public Information
Systems
Second Edition
DK3077_half 02/08/2005 10:36 AM Page i
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC POLICY
A Comprehensive Publication Program
Executive Editor
JACK RABIN
Professor of Public Administration and Public Policy
School of Public Affairs
The Capital College
The Pennsylvania State University—Harrisburg
Middletown, Pennsylvania
Assistant to the Executive Editor
T. Aaron Wachhaus, Jr.
1. Public Administration as a Developing Discipline, Robert T. Golembiewski
2. Comparative National Policies on Health Care, Milton I. Roemer, M.D.
3. Exclusionary Injustice: The Problem of Illegally Obtained Evidence,
Steven R. Schlesinger
5. Organization Development in Public Administration, edited by
Robert T. Golembiewski and William B. Eddy
7. Approaches to Planned Change, Robert T. Golembiewski
8. Program Evaluation at HEW, edited by James G. Abert
9. The States and the Metropolis, Patricia S. Florestano and Vincent L. Marando
11. Changing Bureaucracies: Understanding the Organization before Selecting
the Approach, William A. Medina
12. Handbook on Public Budgeting and Financial Management, edited by
Jack Rabin and Thomas D. Lynch
15. Handbook on Public Personnel Administration and Labor Relations,

edited by Jack Rabin, Thomas Vocino, W. Bartley Hildreth, and Gerald J. Miller
19. Handbook of Organization Management, edited by William B. Eddy
20. Organization Theory and Management, edited by Thomas D. Lynch
22. Politics and Administration: Woodrow Wilson and American Public
Administration, edited by Jack Rabin and James S. Bowman
23. Making and Managing Policy: Formulation, Analysis, Evaluation,
edited by G. Ronald Gilbert
25. Decision Making in the Public Sector, edited by Lloyd G. Nigro
26. Managing Administration, edited by Jack Rabin, Samuel Humes,
and Brian S. Morgan
27. Public Personnel Update, edited by Michael Cohen and Robert T. Golembiewski
28. State and Local Government Administration, edited by Jack Rabin
and Don Dodd
29. Public Administration: A Bibliographic Guide to the Literature,
Howard E. McCurdy
31. Handbook of Information Resource Management, edited by Jack Rabin
and Edward M. Jackowski
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edited by Donald C. Rowat
33. The Politics of Terrorism: Third Edition, edited by Michael Stohl
34. Handbook on Human Services Administration, edited by Jack Rabin
and Marcia B. Steinhauer
36. Ethics for Bureaucrats: An Essay on Law and Values, Second Edition,
John A. Rohr
37. The Guide to the Foundations of Public Administration, Daniel W. Martin
39. Terrorism and Emergency Management: Policy and Administration,
William L. Waugh, Jr.
40. Organizational Behavior and Public Management: Second Edition,
Michael L. Vasu, Debra W. Stewart, and G. David Garson

43. Government Financial Management Theory, Gerald J. Miller
46. Handbook of Public Budgeting, edited by Jack Rabin
49. Handbook of Court Administration and Management,
edited by Steven W. Hays and Cole Blease Graham, Jr.
50. Handbook of Comparative Public Budgeting and Financial Management,
edited by Thomas D. Lynch and Lawrence L. Martin
53. Encyclopedia of Policy Studies: Second Edition, edited by Stuart S. Nagel
54. Handbook of Regulation and Administrative Law,
edited by David H. Rosenbloom and Richard D. Schwartz
55. Handbook of Bureaucracy, edited by Ali Farazmand
56. Handbook of Public Sector Labor Relations, edited by Jack Rabin,
Thomas Vocino, W. Bartley Hildreth, and Gerald J. Miller
57. Practical Public Management, Robert T. Golembiewski
58. Handbook of Public Personnel Administration, edited by Jack Rabin,
Thomas Vocino, W. Bartley Hildreth, and Gerald J. Miller
60. Handbook of Debt Management, edited by Gerald J. Miller
61. Public Administration and Law: Second Edition, David H. Rosenbloom
and Rosemary O’Leary
62. Handbook of Local Government Administration, edited by John J. Gargan
63. Handbook of Administrative Communication, edited by James L. Garnett
and Alexander Kouzmin
64. Public Budgeting and Finance: Fourth Edition, edited by
Robert T. Golembiewski and Jack Rabin
65. Handbook of Public Administration: Second Edition, edited by
Jack Rabin, W. Bartley Hildreth, and Gerald J. Miller
66. Handbook of Organization Theory and Management: The Philosophical
Approach, edited by Thomas D. Lynch and Todd J. Dicker
67. Handbook of Public Finance, edited by Fred Thompson and Mark T. Green
68. Organizational Behavior and Public Management: Third Edition,
Michael L. Vasu, Debra W. Stewart, and G. David Garson

69. Handbook of Economic Development, edited by Kuotsai Tom Liou
70. Handbook of Health Administration and Policy, edited by
Anne Osborne Kilpatrick and James A. Johnson
71. Handbook of Research Methods in Public Administration,
edited by Gerald J. Miller and Marcia L. Whicker
72. Handbook on Taxation, edited by W. Bartley Hildreth and James A. Richardson
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73. Handbook of Comparative Public Administration in the Asia-Pacific Basin,
edited by Hoi-kwok Wong and Hon S. Chan
74. Handbook of Global Environmental Policy and Administration,
edited by Dennis L. Soden and Brent S. Steel
75. Handbook of State Government Administration, edited by John J. Gargan
76. Handbook of Global Legal Policy, edited by Stuart S. Nagel
78. Handbook of Global Economic Policy, edited by Stuart S. Nagel
79. Handbook of Strategic Management: Second Edition,
edited by Jack Rabin, Gerald J. Miller, and W. Bartley Hildreth
80. Handbook of Global International Policy, edited by Stuart S. Nagel
81. Handbook of Organizational Consultation: Second Edition,
edited by Robert T. Golembiewski
82. Handbook of Global Political Policy, edited by Stuart S. Nagel
83. Handbook of Global Technology Policy, edited by Stuart S. Nagel
84. Handbook of Criminal Justice Administration, edited by M. A. DuPont-Morales,
Michael K. Hooper, and Judy H. Schmidt
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86. Handbook of Administrative Ethics: Second Edition, edited by Terry L. Cooper
87. Handbook of Organizational Behavior: Second Edition, edited by
Robert T. Golembiewski
88. Handbook of Global Social Policy, edited by Stuart S. Nagel and Amy Robb
89. Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective, Sixth Edition, Ferrel Heady
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Peter M. Leitner
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93. Handbook of Crisis and Emergency Management, edited by Ali Farazmand
94. Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration: Second
Edition, edited by Ali Farazmand
95. Financial Planning and Management in Public Organizations,
Alan Walter Steiss and Emeka O. Cyprian Nwagwu
96. Handbook of International Health Care Systems, edited by
Khi V. Thai, Edward T. Wimberley, and Sharon M. McManus
97. Handbook of Monetary Policy, edited by Jack Rabin and Glenn L. Stevens
98. Handbook of Fiscal Policy, edited by Jack Rabin and Glenn L. Stevens
99. Public Administration: An Interdisciplinary Critical Analysis, edited by
Eran Vigoda
100. Ironies in Organizational Development: Second Edition, Revised and
Expanded, edited by Robert T. Golembiewski
101. Science and Technology of Terrorism and Counterterrorism,
edited by Tushar K. Ghosh, Mark A. Prelas, Dabir S. Viswanath,
and Sudarshan K. Loyalka
102. Strategic Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations, Alan Walter Steiss
103. Case Studies in Public Budgeting and Financial Management:
Second Edition, edited by Aman Khan and W. Bartley Hildreth
104. Handbook of Conflict Management, edited by William J. Pammer, Jr.
and Jerri Killian
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105. Chaos Organization and Disaster Management, Alan Kirschenbaum
106. Handbook of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Administration and
Policy, edited by Wallace Swan

107. Public Productivity Handbook: Second Edition, edited by Marc Holzer
108. Handbook of Developmental Policy Studies, edited by
Gedeon M. Mudacumura, Desta Mebratu and M. Shamsul Haque
109. Bioterrorism in Medical and Healthcare Administration, Laure Paquette
110 . International Public Policy and Management: Policy Learning Beyond
Regional, Cultural, and Political Boundaries, edited by David Levi-Faur
and Eran Vigoda-Gadot
111. Handbook of Public Information Systems, Second Edition, edited by
G. David Garson
11 2. Handbook of Public Sector Economics, edited by Donijo Robbins
11 3. Handbook of Public Administration and Policy in the European Union,
edited by M. Peter van der Hoek
114 . Nonproliferation Issues for Weapons of Mass Destruction, Mark A. Prelas
and Michael S. Peck
Available Electronically
Principles and Practices of Public Administration, edited by Jack Rabin,
Robert F. Munzenrider, and Sherrie M. Bartell
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edited by
G. David Garson
North Carolina State University
Handbook of
Public Information
Systems
Second Edition
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Published in 2005 by
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group

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ß 2005 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Handbook of public information systems / edited by G. David Garson.–2nd ed.
p. cm. – (Public administration and public policy; 111)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8247-2233-7 (alk. paper)
1. Public administration–Information technology. I. Garson, G. David. II. Series.

JF1525.A8H36 2005
352.7’4–dc22 2004059361
Taylor & Francis Group
is the Academic Division of T&F Informa plc.
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at

and the CRC Press Web site at

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CONTENTS
Preface xiii
Editor xv
Contributors xvii
Part I: Introduction
Chapter 1 Public Information Systems in the 21st Century 3
G. David Garson
Chapter 2 Bridging the Gap between Information Technology Needs in
the Public Sector and in Public Administration Graduate Education 11
Mary Maureen Brown, Jeffrey L. Brudney, and William L. Waugh, Jr.
Chapter 3 Public Information Technology and e-Government:
A Historical Timeline 27
G. David Garson
Part II: Organizational Research
Chapter 4 Using Strategic Information Systems to Improve Contracted Services
and Assess Privatization Options 43
Steven Cohen and William B. Eimicke
Chapter 5 Interorganizational and Interdepartmental Information Systems:
Sharing among Governments 59
Bruce Rocheleau
Chapter 6 Implementing e-Government Projects: Organizational Impact and

Resilience to Change 83
Mila Gasco
´
Chapter 7 Understanding Large-Scale IT Project Failure: Escalating
and De-escalating Commitment 93
Mark R. Nelson
Chapter 8 Revisiting Virtual Locals and Cosmopolitans ‘‘In and As’’ Electronic
Governance: A Comparative Analysis of the Social Production of an Academic
Community 107
Lynn M. Mulkey, William L. Dougan, and Lala Carr Steelman
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Chapter 9 Information Technology Investment and Organizational
Performance in the Public Sector 127
Pamela Hammers Specht and Gregory Hoff
Chapter 10 Electronic Data Sharing in Public-Sector Agencies 143
Irvin B. Vann
Chapter 11 Governance in the Era of the World Wide Web: An Assessment
of Organizational Openness and Government Effectiveness, 1997 to 2001 155
Todd M. La Porte, Chris C. Demchak, and Christopher Weare
Part III: Policy Issues
Chapter 12 Social Stratification and the Digital Divide 173
Kenneth R. Wilson, Jennifer S. Wallin, and Christa Reiser
Chapter 13 Intellectual Property for Public Managers 185
Roland J. Cole and Eric F. Broucek
Chapter 14 Cybersecurity Considerations for Information Systems 203
Cynthia E. Irvine
Chapter 15 Information and Terrorism Age Militaries 219
Chris C. Demchak
Chapter 16 e-Rulemaking 237
Stuart W. Shulman, Lisa E. Thrane, and Mark C. Shelley

Chapter 17 Citizen Participation and Direct Democracy through Computer
Networking: Possibilities and Experience 255
Carmine Scavo
Chapter 18 Internet Tax Policy: An International Perspective 281
Dale Nesbary and Luis Garcia
Chapter 19 Taking Advantage of the Information Age: Which Countries
Benefit? 299
Shelly Arsneault, Alana Northrop, and Kenneth L. Kraemer
Part IV: Case Studies
Chapter 20 The Role of Information Technology and the
New York State Legislature 321
Antoinette J. Pole
Chapter 21 Managing e-Government in Florida: Further Lessons from
Transition and Maturity 335
David H. Coursey and Jennifer Killingsworth
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Contents
Chapter 22 Exploring Internet Options: The Case of Georgia’s
Consumer Services 353
Gregory Streib and Katherine G. Willoughby
Chapter 23 The Virtual Value Chain and e-Government Partnership:
Nonmonetary Agreements in the IRS e-File Program 369
Stephen H. Holden and Patricia D. Fletcher
Part V: Applications
Chapter 24 Computer-Based Training in the Public Sector 391
Genie N. L. Stowers
Chapter 25 Issues in Contracting and Outsourcing Information Technology 407
Jay D. White and Ronnie L. Korosec

Chapter 26 Management Information Systems and an Interdisciplinary Budget
Model 427
George B. K. de Graan
Chapter 27 Analysis and Communication for Public Budgeting 463
Carl Grafton and Anne Permaloff
Chapter 28 Public Finance Management Information Systems 489
John W. Swain and Jay D. White
Chapter 29 Statistical Analysis Software in Public Management 505
T. R. Carr
Part VI: E-Government
Chapter 30 Enacting Virtual Forms of Work and Community: Multiwave Research
Findings across Individual, Organizational, and Local Community Settings 521
Thomas Horan and Kimberly J. Wells
Chapter 31 E-Government: The URBIS Cities Revisited 545
Alana Northrop
Chapter 32 Agency Internets and the Changing Dynamics of Congressional
Oversight 559
Julianne G. Mahler and Priscilla M. Regan
Chapter 33 Privacy Considerations in Electronic Judicial Records:
When Constitutional Rights Collide 569
Charles N. Davis
Chapter 34 Information Technology and Political Participation:
A Comparative Institutional Approach 581
Juliet Ann Musso and Christopher Weare
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Contents
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xi
Chapter 35 E-Government Performance-Reporting Requirements 599
Patrick R. Mullen

Chapter 36 Assessing e-Government Innovation 615
Jonathan D. Parks and Shannon H. Schelin
Chapter 37 E-Democracy and the U.K. Parliament 631
Stephen Coleman
Chapter 38 Emerging Electronic Infrastructures: Exploring Democratic
Components 643
A
˚
ke Gro
¨
nlund
Part VII: Conclusion
Chapter 39 Information Systems, Politics, and Government:
Leading Theoretical Perspectives 665
G. David Garson
Index 689
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xii
&
Contents
PREFACE
Because of the fast-evolving nature of technology and the issues and opportunities faced
by public-sector managers as they wrestle with the information age, it is perhaps not
surprising that this second edition of the Handbook of Public Information Systems
contains approximately two thirds new material, including a whole new section on
e-government. I wish to thank all those in government service, schools of public admin-
istration, and elsewhere who contributed to this volume, either directly or as reviewers.
Without their generous contribution of time and energy, this volume would not be
possible.
It is appropriate that the study of information technology (IT) is assuming a central

place in public administration curricula and, perhaps more important, that the inad-
equacy of narrowly technocratic approaches to IT management is increasingly recog-
nized in government. There is good reason to study and better understand the
implementation of IT projects. More often than not, IT projects are late, over budget,
do not achieve their functional objectives, or are even simply canceled, as has been
reported by organizations such as the Gartner Group, Meta Group, and the Standish
Group.
There are several theories about IT failure, each emphasizing different themes found
in this volume. Some have noted that the greater the number of stakeholders (and the
public sector tends to proliferate stakeholders), the more complex the requirements and
the higher the risk of project failure. IT projects fail because of lack of commitment from
the organization’s stakeholders; consequently, the project manager must spend much
time mobilizing stakeholders, leaving IT technology issues largely to the tech team. Time
is spent, for instance, getting agency leadership to figure out what they really want and to
realize that they didn’t have the time or resources to do it. The organization’s executive
leadership is the prime stakeholder, whose active support is critical to implementation
success.
Others have stressed that senior management lacks understanding not only of the
technology, but also of the general systemic nature of their organizations, and particularly
lacks an understanding that technological change means change of the organizational
culture. Lack of a participative approach is commonly cited as a cause of IT failure.
Without participation, IT initiatives often fail to capture important social relationships,
which may undermine the technical logic of the IT system.
Then, too, technology projects often fail because of poor business plans. To be
sustainable, the technology project must make economic sense to the principle stake-
holders. Thus there must be an economic model that accompanies the technology model.
Project managers must focus on business needs first, technology second. When the
solution is selected solely on technological grounds, ignoring business requirements,
failure often ensues. The Gartner Group finds that as many as three quarters of all IT
projects fail because of old-fashioned, poor planning. Failure to invest in planning the

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project within the organization, and buying a prepackaged outside ‘‘solution’’ instead,
has been cited as one of the leading reasons for IT failure.
IT projects fail because the underlying assumptions about a program are unrealistic.
IT projects fail because conventional and inappropriate methods traditional to the organ-
ization are forcibly used in new IT project implementation initiatives. IT projects fail
because of unrealistically short time horizons, sometimes encouraged by IT consultants
who seek/need to close and go on to new projects. In the public sector, expending an
agency’s entire budget before the end of the fiscal year is a common pattern, designed to
demonstrate need so as to assure the following year’s budget will be at least as large. This
strategy, however, can result in undue acceleration of IT projects. This is compounded
when the strategy is implemented at the end of the year, under an even more compressed
time schedule.
In general, the more rapid the rate of change in the environment, the more disordered
and uncoordinated the implementation of technology initiations, the more likely the
system failure. Under these circumstances, IT projects fail because of inadequate support,
training, and incentives for end users. Lack of user input may lead to an inappropriate
technology design. An important part of IT implementation is mobilization at the work-
group level. This may involve participative planning, training, and individual or group
rewards for IT success. Lack of communication and understanding between top man-
agement, the technology team, and end users is a major factor in the failure of IT projects.
IT training must be about more than technology. IT training must take a holistic approach
to organization development in the context of constant performance pressure associated
with implementing new technology.
The prevalence of failure to deliver IT projects on time and within budget, and to do
so while also providing for such values as privacy, security, and accountability, is as
important a public management challenge as any in our time. The chapters in this book
address different aspects of a systemic whole but the unifying theme is that technology is
too important to leave to the technocrats. To do so is not only to leave democratic values
in peril, but also to fail to apply to IT what students of public administration have found

to be wise management practice in its more traditional domains of strategic planning,
policy development, and the mobilization of human capital.
G. David Garson
Raleigh, NC
March 2005
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xiv
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Preface
EDITOR
G. David Garson is full professor of public administration at North Carolina State
University, where he teaches courses on geographic information systems, information
technology, e-government, research methodology, and American government. In 1995
he was recipient of the Donald Campbell Award from the Policy Studies Organization,
American Political Science Association, for outstanding contributions to policy research
methodology, and in 1997 of the Aaron Wildavsky Book Award from the same organiza-
tion. In 1999 he won the Okidata Instructional Web Award from the Computers and
Multimedia Section of the American Political Science Association, in 2002 he received an
NCSU Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching and Learning with Technology, and
in 2003 he received an award ‘‘For Outstanding Teaching in Political Science’’ from the
American Political Science Association and the National Political Science Honor Society,
Pi Sigma Alpha.
He is editor of Public Information Systems: Policy and Management Issues (2003);
coeditor of Digital Government: Principles and Practices (2003); coauthor of Crime
Mapping (2003); author of Guide to Writing Quantitative Papers, Theses, and Disserta-
tions (Dekker, 2001); editor of Social Dimensions of Information Technology (2000),
Information Technology and Computer Applications in Public Administration: Issues
and Trends (1999), and Handbook of Public Information Systems (1999, 2004); author
of Neural Network Analysis for Social Scientists (1998), Computer Technology and Social
Issues (1995), and Geographic Databases and Analytic Mapping (1992); and is author,

coauthor, editor, or coeditor of 17 other books and author or coauthor of over 50 articles.
He has also created award-winning American government computer simulations,
CD-ROMs, and six websites for Prentice-Hall and Simon & Schuster (1995–1999). For
the last 20 years he has also served as editor of the Social Science Computer Review and is
on the editorial board of four additional journals. He is currently principal investigator for
the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission on ‘‘Using Neural Network Analysis
and GIS to Model Crime Data’’ (2001–2004) and two other crime-related grants. Professor
Garson received his undergraduate degree in political science from Princeton University
(1965) and his doctoral degree in government from Harvard University (1969).
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CONTRIBUTORS
Shelly Arsneault, California State University, Fullerton, CA

Eric F. Broucek, DHL Express
Mary Maureen Brown, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Jeffrey L. Brudney, University of Georgia, Athens, GA

T.R. Carr, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL

Steven Cohen, Columbia University, New York, NY

Roland J. Cole, Barnes & Thornburg, Indianapolis, IN

Stephen Coleman, Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford, UK

David H. Coursey, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

Charles N. Davis, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO

Chris C. Demchak, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

William L. Dougan, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, WI

William B. Eimicke, Columbia University, New York, NY

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Patricia D. Fletcher, University of Maryland–Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD

Luis Garcia, Suffolk University, Boston MA

Mila Gasco
´
, International Institute on Governance of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain

George B.K. de Graan, Road and Hydraulic Engineering Institute, Den Haag, Holland
;
Carl Grafton, Auburn University, Montgomery, AL

A
˚
ke Gro
¨
nlund, O
¨
rebro University, O
¨
rebro, Sweden

Gregory Hoff, University of Nebraska at Omaha, NE

Stephen H. Holden, University of Maryland–Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD

Thomas Horan, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA

Cynthia E. Irvine, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA

Jennifer Killingsworth, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

Ronnie L. Korosec, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL

Kenneth L. Kraemer, University of California, Irvine, CA

Todd M. La Porte, George Mason University, Washington, DC

Julianne G. Mahler, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Lynn M. Mulkey, University of South Carolina, Hilton Head, SC

Patrick R. Mullen, U.S. Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC

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xviii
&
Contributors
Juliet A. Musso, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Mark R. Nelson, Lally School of Management and Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, Troy, NJ

Dale Nesbary, Oakland University, Rochester, MI

Alana Northrop, California State University, Fullerton, CA

Jonathan D. Parks, Raleigh, NC

Anne Permaloff, Auburn University, Montgomery, AL

Antoinette J. Pole, The City University of New York, NY

Priscilla M. Regan, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Christa Reiser, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

Bruce Rocheleau, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL

Carmine Scavo, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

Shannon H. Schelin, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Mark C. Shelley, Iowa State University, Ames, IA

Stuart W. Shulman, Drake University, Des Moines, IA

Pamela Hammers Specht, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE

Lala Carr Steelman, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

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Contributors
&
xix
Genie N.L. Stowers, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

Gregory Streib, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

John W. Swain, Governors State University, University Park, IL

Lisa E. Thrane, Iowa State University, Ames, IA

Irvin B. Vann, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Jennifer S. Wallin, RTI International, Raleigh, NC

William L. Waugh, Jr., Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

Christopher Weare, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Kimberly J. Wells, Claremont Graduate University, Alexandria, VA

Jay D. White, University of Nebraska–Omaha, Lincoln, NE

Katherine G. Willoughby, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

Kenneth R. Wilson, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

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Contributors
PART I
INTRODUCTION
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1
PUBLIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN
THE 21ST CENTURY
G. David Garson
North Carolina State University
CONTENTS
I. Organizational research 4
II. Policy issues 5
III. Case studies 6
IV. Applications 7
V. E-government 8
VI. Conclusion 10
Public-sector information systems have become a pervasive part of the life of agencies at
all levels of government. As indicated by Mary Maureen Brown and coauthors in Chapter
2, textbooks and graduate instruction in the field of public administration are struggling
to keep up with the rapid pace of change and to prepare students and practitioners alike
for public service in the ‘‘information age.’’ It is hoped that the present volume will make
some modest contribution to the preparation and career readiness of public administra-
tion students and practitioners new to information and communication technology (ICT).
This collection of original essays presents the historical, institutional, legal, organiza-
tional, functional, policy, and theoretical background that we believe constitutes ICT
literacy for the public service.
The chapters that follow are divided into several broad categories. In Part I, historical
background is presented, in the form of a timeline of technological, legislative, and
judicial events pertaining to ICT. Part II on organizational research lays out the implica-

tions of information technology (IT) for the ways organizations may adapt to change in a
wide variety of organizational dimensions, ranging from the details of implementation to
the strategies involved in political considerations. Part III synopsizes a variety of policy
issues, including issues of equity, intellectual property, public participation, and inter-
national issues. This is followed in Part IV by a small number of case studies, after which
Part V describes federal-level applications of IT to training, contracting, budgeting, public
finance, and other areas. Part VI is a new section, focusing on e-government examples
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and issues from several perspectives. Part VII contains an essay by the editor, discussing
the theoretical context of public information systems.
I. ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH
Steven Cohen and William Eimicke, in ‘‘Using Strategic Information Systems to Improve
Contracted Services and Assess Privatization Options’’ (Chapter 4), trace how govern-
ment officials look to contracting out and privatization as means to a more effective
public sector. They explore the theory and practice of performance measurement and IT
in the context of outsourcing public service delivery and discuss the use of government
strategic planning and information-based performance management to plan and manage
private contractors performing public tasks. While information systems are critical to the
management of in-house organizational units, the authors believe they are even more
important in managing the work of contractors.
Bruce Rocheleau, in ‘‘Interorganizational and Interdepartmental Information Systems:
Sharing among Governments’’ (Chapter 5), examines the types of sharing of IT resources
that take place among governmental organizations. He studies sharing relationships
among local governments, between state and local governments, between the federal
and state governments, and other complex relationships that include private organiza-
tions. A wide variety of examples of sharing are drawn from available resources in order
to identify the types of sharing that exist and the key factors that influence its success.
In ‘‘Implementing e-Government Projects: Organizational Impact and Resilience to
Change’’ (Chapter 6), Mila Gasco

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discusses technological innovations in the public sector
that have led to digital administration and government programs that have not always
been successful. To understand why requires analyzing the organizational and institu-
tional setting where the transformations that are related to ICT adoption in the public
sector occur. The adoption of new technologies has given rise to important organiza-
tional change processes but it has not necessarily been accompanied by needed cultural
alterations or institutional changes. Those factors that produce resilience to technological
change are not different from those related to other public administration transform-
ations, the author argues.
Mark R. Nelson, in ‘‘Understanding Large-Scale IT Project Failure: Escalating and De-
escalating Commitment’’ (Chapter 7), notes that large-scale IT projects are particularly
prone to failure. Moreover, in the public sector, IT failure may be cumulative and even
have a domino effect. Increasing commitment to success yields subsequent project
iterations that are both increasingly costly and increasingly less likely to succeed. Nelson
looks at how commitment to large-scale IT projects in the public sector escalates and de-
escalates repeatedly over time. The consequences of such cycles are discussed, including
specific concerns and recommendations that are made for public-sector managers of
large-scale IT projects.
In ‘‘Revisiting Virtual Locals and Cosmopolitans ‘In and As’ Electronic Governance:
A Comparative Analysis of the Social Production of Academic Community’’ (Chapter 8),
Lynn M. Mulkey, William L. Dougan, and Lala Carr Steelman shift the focus to academia.
Building on Robert Merton’s theory of ‘‘locals’’ and ‘‘cosmopolitans’’ for understanding
the governance of virtual academic organizations, the authors address whether virtual
communities have the same essential characteristics as those typically observed in face-
to-face communities to which the local–cosmopolitan dichotomy was originally applied.
The authors explore how norm construction in public access data obtained for previous
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