E-government is touted by many as the next great American revolution. Beyond the hype, however, is a growing movement in the United States and other countries to experiment with government-by-Internet. More than 220 countries and territories have websites with links to more than 15,000 government institutions. In the United States, a growing number of federal agencies, states and localities have an Internet presence. There are currently more than 20,000 websites offering government information.

However, the current e-government mantra--focused on digital divides, killer applications and budget savings--misses the more compelling questions: Will e-government transform how government interacts with the populace or serve as a convenience for busy citizens and civil servants? Are we on the threshold of a digital democracy or merely heading toward constant policy-by-polling and 24/7 surveillance by law enforcement agencies?

It Is Not A Cure-All

High-priced technologies generally add unnecessary costs to otherwise poorly managed organizations. In other words, before you can get e-government right, you need to get e-governance right. Poor governance cannot be cured by e-elixirs. Computers and Internet access will not undo corrupt, bloated bureaucracies or ineffective public institutions. Indeed, e-government threatens the political status quo. Political elites and entrenched bureaucrats--particularly in places where government jobs have high profit margins--may resist.

Disturbing scenarios arise when we consider how nondemocratic governments will adopt, or co-opt, information technologies. Such regimes treat control of information as a political bedrock. Access to information is constrained or rationed by those in power. Ultimately, information access is less an issue of too few telephones and computers. Rather, education and a "culture of information" are the foundations for enriching the information-poor and building e-governments.

Consider recent events in China. While President Jiang Zemin lauds the power and promise of IT, new regulations on Internet companies prohibit any content that subverts state power or "harms the reputation" of China. Beijing has long blocked direct access to foreign news and politically-oriented websites. Its powerful Ministry of State Security closed websites for posting what it termed "counter-revolutionary content." At least 20 Chinese cities and provinces are creating special police units to monitor Internet activity. Chinese leaders are girding themselves for the mother of all battles--the control of information. In some respects, they are not far from the truth. China’s IT industry is growing 20 percent annually. That means more computers, more Internet entrepreneurs, more Chinese language websites, more chat rooms, more streamed radio and video broadcasts, more users clamoring for additional information. However, it is difficult to draw a line in the silicon and send troops into TiananmenSquare.com.