PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN AN INFORMATION AGE INFORMATIZATION DEVELOPMENTS AND THE PUBLIC SECTOR, 6 A series based on I.Th.M. Snellen, W.B.H.J. van de Donk and J.P. Baquiast (Eds.), Expert Systems in Public Administration. Evolving Practices and Norms Previously published in this series Vol. 1. P.H.A. Frissen and I.Th.M. Snellen (Eds.), Informatization Strategies in Public Administration Vol. 2. P.H.A. Frissen, V.J.J.M. Bekkers, B.K. Brussaard, I.Th.M. Snellen and M. Wolters (Eds.), European Public Administration and Informatization Vol. 3. W.B.H.J. van de Donk, I.Th.M. Snellen and P.W. Tops (Eds.), Orwell in Athens. A Perspective on Informatization and Democracy Vol. 4. K.V. Andersen (Ed.), Information Systems in the Political World Vol. 5. J.A. Taylor, I.Th.M. Snellen and A. Zuurmond (Eds.), Beyond BPR in Public Administration ISSN: 0928-9038 Public Administration in an Information Age A Handbook Edited by I.Th.M. Snellen Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands and W.B.H.J. van de Donk Tilburg University, The Netherlands /Os Press Ohmsha Amsterdam • Berlin • Oxford • Tokyo • Washington, DC © 1998, The authors mentioned in the Table of Contents. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission from the publisher. ISBN 90 5199 395 1 (IOS Press) ISBN 4 274 90220 X C3034 (Ohmsha) Publisher JOS Press Van Diemenstraat 94 1013 CN Amsterdam Netherlands fax: +31 20 620 3419 e-mail: order@,iospress.nl Distributor in the UK and Ireland IOS Press/Lavis Marketing 73 Lime Walk Headington Oxford OX3 7AD England fax: +44 1865 75 0079 Distributor in Germany IOS Press Spandauer Strasse 2 D-10178 Berlin Germany fax: +49 30 242 3113 Distributor in the USA and Canada IOS Press, Inc. 5795-G Burke Center Parkway Burke, VA 22015 USA fax: +1 703 323 3668 e-mail: iosbooks@iospress.com Distributor in Japan Ohmsha, Ltd. 3-1 Kanda Nishiki-cho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101 Japan fax: +81 3 3233 2426 LEGAL NOTICE The publisher is not responsible for the use which might be made of the following information. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS V Table of Contents Preface xvii PART I Faltering Foundations Chapter 1 Towards a Theory of Public Administration in an Information Age? W. B. H. J. van de Donk and I Th. M. Snellen 1 Introduction 3 2 The Importance of Theory 5 2.1 `Phases' of Theory 5 3 Public Administration in an Information Age: A New Paradigm? 11 4 A Theory of Public Administration in an Information Age? 14 5 Public Administration in an Information Age: Still Somewhat Ambiguous Answers 19 Chapter 2 Informatization as X-ray: What is Public Administration for the Information Age? J. Taylor 1 Introduction 21 2 Debating Contemporary Public Administration 22 3 Practical Public Administration in the Information Age 24 4 The information Polity and the Study of Public Administration 26 5 Information Relationships in the Polity 27 6 Mainstream Relationships in the Information Polity 28 7 Public Administration and Information Infrastructure 29 8 Reflexive Public Administration 30 9 Conclusions 31 Chapter 3 Public Administration in Cyberspace P. HA. Frissen 1 The Deafening Silence 33 2 ICT and Public Administration: Changes 35 3 ICT and Public Administration: Transformations 36 4 Public Administration and Theory: Digital Ambiguities 38 5 Public Administration and Politics in Cyberspace: Postmodernization 41 6 Telling Small Stories 44 vi Chapter 4 The Digital Revolution: From Trias to Tetras Politica R. V. de Mulder 1 Introduction 47 2 The Trias Politica and the Legitimacy Problem 48 3 Fourth Generation Law 50 4 The Balance of Power is Disturbed 53 5 The Trias Politica Analysed 54 6 Conclusion 55 Chapter 5 Wiring Public Organizations and Changing Organizational Jurisdictions V. J. J. M. Bekkers 1 Introduction 57 2 Organizational Jurisdictions and Legal Boundaries 58 3 Other Organizational Models and Other Organizational Boundaries 60 4 About the Nature of Organizational Boundaries 64 5 Interorganizational Information Processing 65 6 Re-defining Organizational Boundaries 67 7 The Management of Organizational Boundaries and Changing Organizational Jurisdictions: Challenges for Public Administration 73 Chapter 6 Changing Relationships Between Citizens and the State: The Case of Closed Circuit Television Surveillance Cameras C.W.R. Webster 1 Introduction 79 2 The Citizen-State Relationship 80 2.1 Citizenship and the Rights of Citizens 81 2.2 Wrongs with Rights 84 2.3 Two Conceptions of Liberty 85 2.4 The Evolution of Rights in the UK 87 3 Citizenship, CCTV and Surveillance 89 3.1 Enhancing Citizens Rights 91 3.2 Endangering Citizens Rights 92 3.3 Policy Processes and the Citizen-State Interface 94 4 Conclusions 95 vi i Chapter 7 Moral Responsibility, Public Office and Information Technology M.J. van den Hoven 1 Introduction 97 2 Some Cases 98 3 Thinking for Oneself 99 4 Artificial Epistemic Niches and Artificial Authority 100 5 Free to Believe? 103 6 Justification and Accountability 104 7 Moral Responsibility and Moral Empowerment 105 8 Varieties of Responsibilities 106 Chapter 8 Electronic Confidence: Trust, Information and Public Administration C.D. Raab 1 Introduction 113 2 The Trust Dimension within Government 114 3 Trust between the Citizen and the State 116 4 The Dynamics of Trust: A Closer Look 118 5 Trust in Technology and Risk-Management 120 6 Building Trust in Informatization: Two Examples 123 6.1 The European Union Ministerial Conference on Global Information Networks 123 6.2 The United Kingdom's `Government.Direct' Initiative 124 7 Two-Way Surveillance: Social Control and Government Transparency 125 8 Using Trust in Technological Innovations 127 9 Conclusion: Regulation, Self-Regulation, Technology and Trust 129 Part II Disjoining Democracy Chapter 9 Direct Democracy and Cyber-democracy in Switzerland C. Poupa 1 Introduction: The Foundations of Direct Democracy 137 2 (Semi-)Direct Democracy in Switzerland 138 2.1 The Rules and Institutions of Direct Democracy in Switzerland 138 2.1.1 Direct Democracy on a Federal Level 138 2.1.2 Direct Democracy on a Cantonal Level 140 2.1.3 Direct Democracy on a Communal Level 142 2.2 How Direct Democracy Actually Functions in Switzerland 143 2.2.1 The People's Capacity to Form a Well-founded Opinion 143 2.2.2 The Citizens' Competence 143 2.2.3 The Participation Rate and the Representativeness of Active Citizens 144 viii 2.2.4 Synthesis 145 3 The Political Class, Information Technology and the Internet 146 3.1 Information Technology in Switzerland 146 3.2 The Political Class and the Internet 146 3.3 The Internet and Direct Democracy 147 4 Conclusion 151 Chapter 10 Internet as a New Public Sphere for Democracy? C.A.T. Schalken 1 Introduction 159 2 Shifting Questions in the Debate on Technology and Democracy 160 3 The Metaphors of the Internet 161 4 The Public Sphere as a Leading Principle for Democracy on the Internet 165 5 Government and Politics on the Internet 168 6 Virtual Communities as New Public Spheres? 173 Chapter 11 Political Parties in the Information Age: From `Mass Party' to Leadership Organization? C. Smith 1 Introduction 175 2 The `Mass' Organization of Political Parties in Britain 176 3 Competition and Party Organization 177 4 The Dis-intermediation of Political Parties 178 5 Parties and New Technology: Mapping the Capabilities 181 6 ICTs and British Party Organizations 182 7 The World Wide Web - Limits to Effectiveness 184 8 `Leadership Parties': A New Organizational Form? 185 9 Conclusions: Does Party `Change' Equal Party `Decline'? 187 Chapter 12 Towards an Informed Citizenry? A.R. Edwards 1 Introduction 191 2 Starting-points 192 2.1 Voter Rationality: The Role of Information 192 2.2 Candidate versus Party Appraisal 193 2.3 Retrospective and Prospective Voting 194 2.4 Analytic Scheme and Cases 195 2.5 Further Outline 195 3 Assumptions in Democratic Theory about Voters' Level of Information 196 4 Empirical Findings about the Role of Information in Voting Decisions 198 5 Voting Records of Members of the U.S. Congress 200 6 A Decision Support System for Voting Decisions 7 Conclusion Chapter 13 Technological Bias in an Information Age: ICT Policy Making in Local Government L. Pratchett ix 202 205 1 Introduction 207 2 Local Government and Local Governance 208 2.1 The Role and Purpose of Local Government in the Modern Polity 209 2.2 ICTs and the Three Roles of Local Government 211 3 Explaining ICT Biases: A Policy Network Approach 213 4 Empirical Evidence: A Case Study of the ICT Network 217 5 Conclusions: The Implications for Public Administration in the Information Age 219 Part III Institutionalizing Integration Chapter 14 Reflections on Configuring Public Agencies in Cyberspace: A Conceptual Investigation Chr. C. Demchak, C. Friis, T.M. La Porte 1 Introduction: Technologies, Designs and Value Choices 225 2 Breadth and Depth of Web Diffusion 227 3 Openness and Effectiveness: Competing or Complimentary Values? 229 4 Summary of Findings to Date 232 5 Public Managerial Strategies 234 6 Possible Structural Outcomes 239 7 Conclusion 241 Chapter 15 Information Technology and the Organization Chart of Public Administration S. Zouridis 1 Introduction 245 2 Some Main Doctrines Offered by Public Administration Science 246 2.1 Three Main Doctrines 246 2.2 Information Technology 249 3 Two Opposites: `Manual' and Automated Program Implementation 250 3.1 `Manual' Program Implementation 250 3.2 Automated Program Implementation 252 3.3 Moving to Everyday Reality 253 4 Information Technology and the Doctrines for Organizing Public Bureaucracies 254 5 Concluding Remarks 257 X Chapter 16 From Bureaucracy to Infocracy: Are Democratic Institutions Lagging Behind? A. Zuurmond 1 Changes in Work Processes 259 2 Changes in Organisational Structure 264 3 The Coming of the Infocracy 266 4 Infocracy and Democracy 267 5 Conclusion 270 Chapter 17 Changes in Interorganizational Coordination and Cooperation W. Killian and M Wind 1 Introduction 273 2 Interorganizational Coordination in Public Administration 274 3 Computer Networks in Public Administration 277 4 Coordination in the Implementation of Interdepartmental Information Systems 281 5 ICT as an "Enabler" for New Forms of Interorganizational Cooperation and Coordination 285 6 Conclusion: Interorganizational Coordination in the Information Age 288 Chapter 18 ICTs and Governance: Beyond Policy Networks? The Case of the Criminal Justice System 293 C. Bellamy 1 Introduction 293 2 Networking in Government 294 3 ICTs, Information and Organizational Change 297 4 Networking the Criminal Justice System 300 5 Discussion: Analyzing the Politics of Information in the CJS 303 6 Conclusion 305 Chapter 19 Visions on ICT-Induced Dynamics in Intergovernmental Relations P. P. Hoetink 1 Introduction 307 2 Intergovernmental Relations 309 2.1 Structure, Tensions and Dynamics 309 2.2 Visions on Intergovernmental Relations 311 2.2.1 Functionalists 311 2.2.2 Anti-centralists 312 2.2.3 Pluralists 312 xi 3 Information and Communication Aspects 312 3.1 Relationships between Layers of Government 312 3.2 Visions on Information and Communication Aspects 314 3.2.1 Functionalists 314 3.2.2 Anti-centralists 314 3.2.3 Pluralists 315 4 Expectations about the Influence of ICT 315 4.1 The Impact of Information-infrastructures 315 4.2 Visions on the Influence of ICT 316 4.2.1 Functionalists 316 4.2.2 Anti-centralists 316 4.2.3 Pluralists 317 5 The Influence of ICT in Practice 317 5.1 Description of a Generic Case 317 5.2 Visions versus Practice 318 5.2.1 The Functionalists 318 5.2.2 The Anti-centralists 319 5.2.3 The Pluralists 320 6 Conclusions: Intergovernmental Relations and ICT 321 Chapter 20 Reorganizing Public Service Delivery in an Information Age A.M.B. Lips 1 Introduction 325 2 Characterizing Public Service Delivery 326 3 Organizing Public Service Delivery 327 4 Innovations in Public Service Delivery through ICT 329 5 Changes in Public Service Design, but also Changes in Practice? 332 6 Actual Changes in Public Service Delivery through ICT 336 7 Conclusion 337 Chapter 21 New Forms of Steering and the Ambivalency of Transparency V.J.J.M. Bekkers 1 Introduction 341 2 Traditional and New Forms of Steering 342 2.1 An Analytical Model of Steering 342 2.2 Traditional Conceptions of Steering 343 2.3 New Conceptions of Steering 344 3 Some Reflections on Information and Information Technology 346 3.1 The Social Construction of Information 346 3.2 The Social Construction of Technology 346 3.3 ICT as Technology to Control Complexity 347 3.4 Information and ICTs as Objects in the Struggle for Power 348 3.5 The Strategic Importance of Information and Infonnatization 349 xii 4 Steering and Informatization in the Sheltered Working Places and Higher Education 349 4.1 Steering of the Sheltered Working Places 349 4.1.1 The Steering Conception 349 4.1.2 The Information Conception 351 4.2 Steering of the University System 351 4.2.1 The Steering Conception 351 4.2.2 The Information Conception 352 5 Results and Interpretation 353 5.1 The Universities and the Ministry of Education 354 5.2 The Dominance of a Cybernetic View on Information 355 6 Outlook: Steering in Networks and the Communication Potential of ICTs 356 7 Conclusion 357 Chapter 22 Public Administration Organizations as Institutions and their Transformation due to Information Technology K Grimmer 1 Public Administration Organizations as Institutions 359 1.1 Organizations 359 1.2 Institutions 360 2 Political and Administrative Science Institutional Theory 360 3 The Formation of the Institutional Shape Out of Administrative Organizations 361 3.1 The Constitutive Importance of Information and Communication Processes 361 3.1.1 Intra-organizational Factors 361 3.1.2 Organizational Environment 363 3.1.3 The Institutional Shape: A Synthesis Bound by Communication 363 4 Political Function of Administrative Organizations as Institutions 364 4.1 Orientation — Integration - Efficiency 364 4.2 Institutional Profiling 365 4.3 Institutional Order 366 4.4 Institutional Modernization 367 5 Information and Communication Technology in Public Administrations: Providing Information to the Organization or the Institution? 368 5.1 Institutionally Relevant Dimensions of the Utilization of Information and Communication Technology 369 5.1.1 Alteration of the Content of Information in Terms of Significance 369 5.1.2 Alteration of the Organizational Surroundings 370 5.1.3 Alterations to the Qualification Profile 371 5.1.4 Regulations 371 5.2 Informational and Communicative Effects 372 5.2.1 Absorption Effect 372 5.2.2 Compression and Expansion 372 5.3 Institutionally Characterized Introduction and Utilization of Information and Communication Technology 373 6 Instrumental Rationality instead of Practical Rationality, or the Destruction of Political Life Contexts? 374 XI 1 1 Part IV Prompting Processes Chapter 23 Beyond Incrementalism? W.B.H.J. van de Donk 1 Introduction: Incrementalism as Empirical Critique and Democratic Norm 381 2 Incrementalism as Analysis and Incrementalism as Politics 382 3 Incrementalism: Information-aspects 389 4 Informatization and Incrementalism: An Empirical Investigation in the Field of (Re-)Distributive Policy Making 392 5 Informatization and Redistributive Policy Making: the Disappearance of (The Intelligence of) Democracy? 399 Chapter 24 Electronic Models in the Public Sector: Automating Democracy? K Viborg Andersen 1 Introduction 405 2 Electronic Models and the Public Administration: Usage and Usability 406 3 Measurement of Model Use 409 4 Who Are the Modelers and the Users? 412 5 Key Democratic Concerns: Control and Interests Served 415 6 Documented Impacts of Electronic Modeling 416 7 Do Models Belong to the Political World? 418 8 Coping with the Challenges Posed by the Use of Electronic Models 419 9 Conclusions 421 Chapter 25 Let's Digitize, Let's Make Things Better? 425 G. Wassink and P. Kordelaar 1 The Research in its Context 425 2 Intrinsic Validity: Steps to be Taken 428 3 Extrinsic Validity: Changing Relations at All Levels 436 4 Conclusions 439 Chapter 26 Computerising the Tools of Government? H. Margetts 1 The Tools of Government Policy: What does Government Do, Exactly? 441 2 The Policy Relevance of Information Technology 442 3 Effecting Tools: How Have They Changed? 443 4 Detecting Tools 454 5 The Shifting Relationship between Detecting and Effecting Tools 456 6 Conclusions: Information Technology and the Tools of Government Policy 457 xiv Chapter 27 Managing Public Administration Personnel in The Era of Information and Computer Technologies J.N. Danziger 1 Introduction: ICTs in Public Administration 461 2 Recruitment 463 3 Training 465 4 End User Support 467 5 Tailoring ICT to End Users 469 5.1 Ease of Use 469 5.2 Automating and Informating Task 469 5.3 Ergonomics 470 6 ICT and Employees' Information "Rights" 470 6.1 Performance Monitoring 470 6.2 Privacy 471 7 Concluding Observations 471 Chapter 28 Policy Execution in an Age of Telecooperation 473 K. Lenk 1 Introduction 473 2 Telecooperation as the Focal Point of Informatisation 474 3 Varieties of Telecooperation 476 4 Aspects of the Future Institutional Shape of Telecooperative Administration 479 5 Epilogue 481 Chapter 29 Policy Implementation and ICT: a Feed-forward Perspective A.W.A. Scheepers 1 Introduction 485 2 Changing Issues in the Context of Policy Implementation in the Social Security Sector 486 3 The Process of Informatisation in Dutch SSOs: Computing, Communicating and Advising 488 4 Interaction between Informatisation and Context in Dutch SSOs 492 5 A Feed-forwarding Perspective on Informatisation and Policy Implementation 494 6 In Conclusion 495 x v Chapter 30 Street Level Bureaucracy in an Information Age I. Th.M Snellen 1 Introduction 497 2 The Street-Level Bureaucrat 499 3 The Street-Level Bureaucrat and Information Streams between Government and Citizen 499 4 From Bureaucracy to Infocracy 500 5 Conclusions 504 Inertia & Institutions An Afterthought Chapter 31 Information Technology in the Establishment and Maintenance of Civil Society J.L. King and K.L. Kraemer 1 Introduction 509 2 The Sovereign State and Democratic Governance 511 3 The Rise of Accessible Technology 513 4 Example: Information Technology in the US Federal State 514 5 Production and Process 518 6 Conclusions 522 Bibliography 523 Editors and Authors 565 Index of Items 573 Preface This book is a joint effort of researchers who, for quite a substantial time, have been involved in research-projects and programmes for a considerable amount of time in trying to chart and reflect upon the implications of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Public Administration. One of the platforms for exchanging results and ideas on this subject was the Permanent Study Group on Informatization in Public Administration of the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA). During its Xth meeting in Budapest (September 1996) the Group decided to elaborate an ambitious plan to compile a book to present the main results of research in this field to practitioners, colleagues and students in the field of Public Administration. Those who attended this meeting in Budapest were impressed by the rapid changes in the Hungarian public administration and society after the fall of the communist regime. In the discussions about the way in which the Hungarians were coping with the enormous challenge to build an effective and democratic public administration in the midst of an upcoming market economy, several people were avidly hinting at the great potentialities ICTs would have to support that ambitious agenda. Informatization was recognized as an important new trend in public administration. Not only in the former East-European countries, but also in their West-European counterparts, informatization is linked with all sorts of political and organizational initiatives (e.g. service orientation, new public management, business process redesign and direct democracy), that were assumed by both public administration practitioners and academicians to support a further modernization of public administration. Since the fifties, computers had largely facilitated and the transformation of the minimal `Night-Watch-state' into the modem `Welfare-state', through their contribution to their effectivity, productivity and efficiency. In most Handbooks of Public Administration, computers are seen as neutral instruments and the role of computer technologies in the transformation of public administration is neglected. Both in practice and especially by academia, one is normally confronted with a typical combination of a blind spot, if not a certain disparagement, for operational processes in public administration and an `is this not just a new kind of typewriter for my secretary?' attitude towards information and communication technologies. In discussions and reflections regarding the importance of ICTs for public administration, one also observes that, although most governments were quite experienced users of the first generations of these technologies most of the information-systems that were introduced in public administration were built and implemented with methodologies that were simply derived from the domain of market organizations. xviii In the mid-eighties, however, the rapid developments in the field of information and communication technologies gave rise to the conviction that a) the use and implications of these technologies transcend the mere operational levels of public administration, and that b) the further introduction and use of these technologies need an distinct public administration perspective. Irvine and Kassel were the first research groups that became active in this domain, followed by groups in Tilburg/Rotterdam and Glasgow and Nottingham. In Europe, the permanent study-group we mentioned became a platform for exchange between these groups and for individual (European) colleagues who are doing research in this domain. The idea to write a book in which, on the basis of the work of both our American and European colleagues, an overview of the implications of ICTs could be presented was particularly fueled by some other discussions during the meeting in Budapest. In these discussions, some participants took the position that ICTs would not only give rise to important transformations in the practice of public administration. Informatization, they claimed, would also directly affect the body of knowledge of public administration itself. As we will try to demonstrate in this book, informatization developments in public administration do not only challenge the existing body of knowledge of the public administration discipline, but they are also opening up new perspectives and paradigms. After the meeting in Budapest, the editors of this book made plans for the book and invited authors to contribute towards it. A specimen chapter of the kind of contributions they expected was written by one of the editors and put on the Internet. In September 1997, during its meeting in Leuven (another old and beautiful European city that has been important for this endeavor), the first draft chapters were presented and discussed. In the months to follow revisions were made, and some of the Leuven discussions were continued by E - mail. Therefore, E-mail and Internet were instrumental in integrating the efforts and commitment of each of the contributing authors into this book. Acknowledgments From the very start of this project, the editors were convinced that the book we had in mind would fit perfectly in the IOS Press' series on `Informatization Developments in the Public Sector'. Dr. E. Fredriksson and W. Hermsen of IOS Press immediately supported the idea for the project and helped us both enthusiastically and professionally to realize it. Professor György Jenei, in Budapest, and, Professor Hugo van Hassel and Dr. Annie Hondeghem in Leuven have shown us the best traditions of hospitality of their countries while organizing the Annual Conferences of the European Group for Public Administration. Perhaps without realizing it, they have encouraged and helped us enormously. Catherine Cooninckx, assistant at the EGPA-bureaux in Brussels, efficiently assisted us in organizing our meetings, often in inspiring conference rooms. The nightclub in Budapest in which we held our `daylight' meetings was not only inspiring but also a surprising environment. Paul Frissen, Corien Prins and Pieter Tops, directors of the Tilburg University Center for Law, Public Administration and Informatization (Schoordijk Institute), have played a crucial role in the investments that were needed for making this project possible. We are most grateful for their cordial support. Jim Danziger, Charles Raab, Colin Smith and William Webster helped us by reading parts of the manuscript to which a lot of non-native English speakers have contributed. Their enthusiastic support confirmed the idea that this project was a project of a team, more than of individual authors or editors. xix Marijke Nobel has effectively supported us by making the innumerable reservations, arrangements and appointments that had to be made to proceed with this book. We are very grateful, also for the support of Kristel Lammers, Alexander van Holstein and Justin Broeders, student-assistants in the Center for Law, Public Administration and Informatization. Guus Donker helped us -again- a great deal by arranging the bibliography. Vivian Carter and Sarah Schalken ('we can't do wonders, but we can do miracles!') have assisted us fantastically in the busy and crucial weeks before the deadline. Professionally and cheerfully, they converted uncountable mail-messages, incompatible text-files and surprisingly jumping tables into a well-groomed manuscript. With a remarkable Anglo-American blend of zealousness and humour they have tremendously supported the authors and editors of this book. We are most grateful for their highly esteemed support. Ignace Snellen and Wim van de Donk March 15, 1998