GOVERNANCE ON THE INTERNET. MEASURING THE PERFORMANCES OF E-GOVERNANCE IN BUCHAREST MUNICIPALITIES

Abstract

This paper analyzes the electronic governance and how it’s functioning in Romania. Being part of a larger institutional reform process, the electronic governance represents a new approach of the relation between Government and the citizen, with the purpose of increasing the participative dimension of the politic action, and as a way to provide more efficient services by the public agencies. E-governance uses information technologies (especially the Internet) in the public sector, in order to improve the activity of bureaucratic institutions and encourage citizen participation. This paper analyzes the concept of electronic governance and with a focus on the obvious differences between the ideal model and the way in which these policies are actually implemented in Romania. The analysis was made for the 6 town-halls in Bucharest, but can offer a good sample of how egovernance is made in Romania. The instrument used for measurements is the comprehensive Rutgers egovernance performance index, covered in detail in the article. The areas taken into consideration were the public services offered by the institutions, the usage degree by the citizens and the civic participation dimension, understood as a bi-directional communication between the institutions and the citizen. The final part of the paper is dedicated to explaining the results, with recommendations for the Romanian public institutions. The research has its limits, but the results can draw attention over an institutional process that can represent a huge positive change in the way that governance is usually understood to be made in Romania and a very important improvement in the relation between state and society.

Keywords

• e-governance
• risk
• security
• electronic services
• citizen participation