“Open”: the changing relation between citizens, public administration, and political authority

Abstract

<jats:p>"Open" is not just a fancy synonym for transparent and accountable. The "Open" in Open Government, Open Data, Open Information, and Open Innovation stands for the changing relation between citizens and authorities. Many citizens no longer accept the passive stance representative democracy held for them. They take an active approach in setting up better means of collaboration by ICTs. They demand and gain access to their historically grown collective knowledge stored in government data. Not just on a local level, they actively shape the political agenda. Open Government is to be seen in the context of citizens‘ rights: the right to actively participate in the process of agenda-setting and decision-making. Research into open government needs to address the value of the changing relation between citizens, public administration, and political authority. The paper argues finally for the application of the Public Value concept to research into open government.</jats:p>

Social Media and Local Governments

“…At the heart of Gov 2.0 are notions of collective intelligence stemming from more open, fl exible, and collaborative forms of governance associated with the Internet as a platform for not only communicating but also generating content and engaging with one another (Shirky 2008 ;Maier-Rabler and Huber 2011 ;Roy 2013 ).…”

Digital government and service delivery: An examination of performance and prospects

“…For instance, while embracing NPM through private‐public comparisons and industry‐inspired technology solutions, the World Economic Forum (WEF) also seeks to supplement NPM with public value management ‐ further defining public value creation as four major and potentially measurable outcomes: first, quality public services are delivered; secondly, socially desirable outcomes are achieved; thirdly, citizens are satisfied with the services and outcomes; and fourthly, trust in government is created and/or increased (ibid.). The latter indicator, trust in government, enjoins PVM and Gov 2.0 within an open and participatory logic consistent emphasizing new forms of public engagement and more networked‐based governance systems (Maier‐Rabler and Huber ; Lee and Kwak ; Harrison et al ; Lips ; Clarke ; Roy 2013; 2014b; 2016; Mergel ; Gasco ; Al‐Hujran et al ).…”

Open Data and Open Governance in Canada: A Critical Examination of New Opportunities and Old Tensions

“…New participatory mechanisms, systemic openness, and virtualization are underpinning an emerging governance ethos that, for the public sector, is often termed as the emergence of Gov 2.0. At the heart of Gov 2.0 are drivers of collective intelligence and more collaborative forms of governance that are typically associated with a widening online universe and less hierarchical and control-minded forms of governance [5]. From both external vantage points on new societal formations (such as Wikipedia and a myriad of social media-driven movements) as well as internal to the public sector (what Lips characterizes as "public administration 2.0"), governments are increasingly challenged to move beyond a typology of hierarchies and markets and embrace usage of networks typically more open and collaborative in formation and execution [6].…”