Ability to take part in government should not be determined by economic resources. The digital divide is far from the only problem with the e-government boom. While Gore asserts that it will bring remedies to an electorate that is too often alienated and often feels voiceless in a system corroded by special interests and powerless to make change, the whole idea of online government is a cyber-placebo. The notion that e-government gives power to the powerless is nice but delusional. No matter how dazzling, technology doesn t empower people.
People can empower themselves.
And they remain supplicants to centralized economic and political power if they rely on sitting in front of screens, downloading government documents and filling out forms on official websites. Jordan s rulers, led by King Abdullah, are moving to integrate the trappings of e-government into their authoritarian monarchy. According to the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists, the press laws in Egypt are draconian. Or consider Singapore, where the government is so arbitrary and repressive that it has maintained a ban on chewing gum since 1992. We have begun the process of transforming ourselves into an e-government.