The state and democracy after new public management: exploring alternative models of E-governance

This article considers the evolving role of information and communication technology within the modern liberal state. Most of the literature focuses on e-government projects, usually seen as opportunities to innovate the business processes of government in close alignment with ideas drawn from New Public Management (NPM). This article argues that the adoption of such a view of e-government overlooks the opportunity to pursue wider innovation in state governance to create more democratic forms of governance. It outlines alternative models for e-government and illustrates them with successful cases of projects based on such models.