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The Politics of E-government in Spain: Between Recent Innovations and Old Inertias

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Book cover Comparative E-Government

Part of the book series: Integrated Series in Information Systems ((ISIS,volume 25))

Abstract

This chapter describes the case of adoption and evolution of Electronic Government (e-government) in Spain during the democratic period, showing how an adolescent public administration has shaped (and been shaped by) the diffusion of the latest generation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This study describes the initial stages of the adoption of computing in Spanish government from the beginning of democracy in 1978, also draws upon the attributes of the Spanish process of e-government adoption, and additionally emphasizes the significance of citizens’ perceptions, use of, and barriers to e-government to understand its adoption. In consequence, this chapter supports the idea of prioritizing institutional variables to understand e-government, together with the need to discern the role of social demand or of external users on it. Besides, the results of this study support the conclusion that Spain has placed more importance on, for example, institutional and social aspects, rather than technological issues, in its implementation of e-government. In sum, Internet and web-based technologies and services have been of growing importance in national (central) Spanish government, opening a window of opportunity for administrative innovation. At the same time, old inertias, in bureaucratic terms, shape both the design and results of e-government utilization in this case.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science and International Relations, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    J. Ignacio Criado

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  1. J. Ignacio Criado
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Correspondence to J. Ignacio Criado .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Public Administration, University of Texas, San Antonio, W. Durango Blvd. 501, San Antonio, 78207, USA

    Christopher G. Reddick

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Criado, J.I. (2010). The Politics of E-government in Spain: Between Recent Innovations and Old Inertias. In: Reddick, C. (eds) Comparative E-Government. Integrated Series in Information Systems, vol 25. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6536-3_14

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