Assessing alignment of an e-government project in the context of a developing country: a Heideggerian perspective

Abstract

E-Government has increasingly become an alternative for enabling public governance at various. The situation is especially poignant in developing countries where there are increasing calls to improve governance for improved national development. This study sought to investigate managerial processes in the alignment of e-government within Local Authorities in Kenya. A case study research design underpinned by critical realism assumptions was used. The analysis was grounded on empirical results of the study, and employed theoretical thematic analysis. Under the alienating conditions of social exclusion, the alignment of the e-government artifact espoused strong managerialist orientations of augmenting and reinforcing central governments control over its polity. A consequence of this alignment is a tendency towards technocratic evolution of the public service delivery system in local authorities in Kenya. However, it was also recognised that the form of e-government projects are constantly in flux, and that relying on a single case was therefore a limitation of the study. Categories and Subject Descriptors