E-Governance: The Governance Mode Beyond E-Government

E-governance is the public sector's use of information and communication technologies with the aim of improving information and service delivery, encouraging citizen participation in the decision-making process and making government more accountable, transparent and effective. E-governance is the combination of IT and traditional governance. E-governance is convenient and fast. It can provide services anytime anywhere. Besides, it also can provide interactive communication between government and its users. These strengths of e-governance are useful not only in improving the efficiency of the government, but also in building a transparent government.E-governance is beyond the scope of e-government. While e-government is defined as a mere delivery of government services and information to the public using electronic means, e-governance allows direct participation of constituents in government activities. E-governance doesn't only refer to government web site and e-mail, service delivery over the Internet or digital access to government information and electronic payments. It will change how citizens relate to governments as much as it changes how citizens relate to each other. It will bring forth new concepts of citizenship, both in terms of needs and responsibilities. E-governance will allow citizens to communicate with government, participate in the governments' policy-making and communicate with each other. In a word, the e-governance reflects citizens' true needs and welfare by utilizing e-government as a tool.The fields of implementation of e-governance are e-administration, e-services and e-democracy. The purpose of implementing e-governance is to enhance good governance. Good governance is generally characterized by participation , transparency and accountability. For the governments, the advantages mentioned above involve that the governments may provide better service in terms of time, making governance more efficient and more effective. In addition, the transaction costs can be lowered and government services become more accessible.E-governance must embrace and not be exclusive. Many e-governance projects across the globe have failed because they addressed exclusive needs of ministers, bureaucrats or industrialists. Such exclusiveness attracts so much criticism that they are doomed to fail.The whole thesis divides into five chapters altogether. After the foreword, it introduces the meaning, method and current research situation. Chapter One explains some concepts relevant to e-governance and multidimensional theories of e-governance. Chapter Two investigates thoroughly the route of e-government development. Chapter Three probes into the relation between e-government and governance mode. Chapter Four dissertates the ideas, content, characteristics, advantage of e-governance and the challenge it faces. Chapter Five discusses the countermeasures of structuring the electronic governance mode.