[AISWorld] [AJIS] New Article: Letting the public in: dialectic tensions when local governments move beyond e-government to e-democracy

[Ajis Editor]

Hi,

The *Australasian Journal of In*formation Systems has just published its
latest article.



*Letting the public in: dialectic tensions when local governments move
beyond e-government to e-democracyHasan &
Lingerhttps://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v24i0.1897
<https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v24i0.1897>*

*Abstract*
Among the raft of information systems (IS) applications developed for use
by local governments are those that attempt to introduce more open
community engagement (CE) and facilitate e-democracy. In this paper, we
report on a longitudinal study that reveals how the open nature of
e-democracy challenges the practices of government bureaucracies. In 2012,
we partnered with the Community Engagement Team of a Local Government
Council in Australia, to study their planning for, and use of, IS for CE.
Our study involved an action research intervention to gain a rich
understanding of the contradictory demands of the bureaucratic imperative
of the Council and the informal activities of the community. This was the
first step of a longitudinal qualitative study of the Council’s e-
democracy efforts over the ensuing seven years. Our analysis has been
conducted through a dialectic lens, informed by the Cynefin sense-making
framework. Our theoretical contribution is an e-Democracy Framework that
incorporates the dialectic between the ordered environment of government
and the community view that is ill-defined and unordered. As a practical
contribution, government organisations can use the Framework to assess the
current status of their CE and design a CE strategy to make interactions
with civil society more meaningful.

#OpenGovernment #CommunityEngagement #EDemocracy #ActionResearch

-=-=-=-

*Call for Papers*

AJIS publishes high quality contributions to the global Information Systems
(IS) discipline with an emphasis on theory and practice on the Australasian
context.

Topics cover core IS theory development and application (the nature of
data, information and knowledge; formal representations of the world, the
interaction of people, organisations and information technologies; the
analysis, design and deployment of information systems; the impacts of
information systems on individuals, organisations and society), IS domains
(e-business, e-government, e-learning, e-law, etc) and IS research
approaches.

Research and conceptual development based in a very wide range of
epistemological methods are welcomed.

All manuscripts undergo double blind reviewing by at least 2 well qualified
reviewers. Their task is to provide constructive, fair, and timely advice
to authors and editor.

AJIS welcomes research and conceptual development of the IS discipline
based
in a very wide range of epistemologies. Different types of research paper
need to be judged by different criteria. Here are some assessment criteria
that may be applied:

•       Relevance - topic or focus is part of the IS discipline.
•       Effectiveness - paper makes a significant contribution to the IS
body of knowledge.
•       Impact - paper will be used for further research and/or practice.
•       Uniqueness - paper is innovative, original & unique.
•       Conceptual soundness - theory, model or framework made explicit.
•       Argument - design of the research or investigation is sound;
methods appropriate.
•       Clarity - Topic is clearly stated; illustrations, charts & examples
support content.
•       Reliability - data available; replication possible.
•       References - sound, used appropriately, and sufficient –
appropriate AJIS articles referenced
•       Style - appropriate language, manuscript flows.

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle
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AJIS has been published since 1993 and appears in the Index of Information
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Professors and Heads of Information Systems and the Australian Business
Deans' Council.

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Thanks for the continuing interest in our work,

Cheers
Associate Professor John Lamp
Editor-in-Chief, Australasian Journal of Information Systems
http://journal.acs.org.au/index.php/ajis/