E‐GOVERNANCE: STYLES OF POLITICAL JUDGMENT IN THE INFORMATION AGE POLITY ‐ Edited by Perri 6
| Published date | 01 August 2006 |
| Author | Andrew Chadwick |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2006.00612_2.x |
| Date | 01 August 2006 |
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© Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2006 Public Administration Vol. 84, No. 3, 2006 (783–810)
E-GOVERNANCE: STYLES OF POLITICAL JUDGMENT IN THE
INFORMATION AGE POLITY
Perri 6
Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, 238 pp., £45 (hb) ISBN: 1403912467
The rise of the idea of e-government has been spectacular, its implement-
ation less so. But how do we explain this uneven picture? Perri 6 provides an
intriguing take on a well-established approach to information technology
adoption in the public sector. The result is a curious book: the novelty lies
not in the conclusion reached – the importance of institutional contexts and
the tendency of technological tools to reinforce them – but in the theoretical
apparatus used to get there. The conclusion about institutions and comput-
ers dates from at least the 1970s, and has been bolstered by much research
since. However, to his credit, Perri 6 integrates an eclectic array of theory,
from Mary Douglas ’ s grid/group matrix to Durkheimian ruminations on
social regulation, and the occasional observation about the role and infl u-
ence of symbolic settings and rituals that bear the infl uence of Pierre
Bourdieu. Perri 6 also employs a quite unusual, very specifi c, understand-
ing of the concept of ‘ governance ’ as being about ‘ the analysis and under-
standing of problems by elected and appointed politicians and their senior
staff, the making of policy, the process of deliberation and cogitation, the
process of cultivating and exercising political judgment, the making of deci-
sions, and the oversight and scrutiny that other politicians and regulators
exercise ’ (page 2). Hence, he attaches a very specifi c meaning to the term
‘ e-governance’, which he defi nes as ‘ using digital technologies to support
political judgment ’ (page 2).
The book ’ s aim is to provide an explanation for the slow take-up of
‘ advanced ’ e-governance tools (which Perri 6 mainly defi nes as sophisticated
strategic modelling systems), but it would appear more accurate to describe
it as explaining how different organizational cultures (or what is termed
‘ institutional styles ’ ) develop elective affi nities with specifi c technological
tools. In short, your position in the organizational culture of a political or
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