Abstract

The article aims to clarify the ideological origins of the concept of e-government, and thus warn against excessive expectations and ill-considered actions associated with the «uninformed transfer. » The analysis of e-government implementation in the U. S. and Eastern Europe shows that the concept of e-government is part of the ideology of «new public management», which is naturalized, i. e. perceived as self-evident. The most common approach to e-government is characterized by «naive optimism», which is based on technological determinism. It is assumed implicitly that the information technology is the only subject of change and authorities must somehow come into compliance with their requirements. Similarly, it is assumed that the citizens, having the opportunity to interact with the government electronically, easily abandon traditional methods of interaction and move to electronic services. Organizational resistance to innovation in public administration structure and the chronic lack of demand for electronic services are perceived as random deviations, which are easily remedied by active propaganda of e-government benefits and by a greater political will. Also e-government champions are characterized by uncritical acceptance of a number of normative, the main of which is the concept of «state service». This concept is an element of the ideology of «market state», developed in the framework of the new public management. Faith in the omnipotent political will of senior managers who are capable to impose new management culture to the ordinary employees comes from the same source. Explicit crisis of NPM led not to the abandoning of the the model of «market state» in favor of neo-Weberian state but to the development of new concepts about the use of information technology in public administration, such as the «open government» and «lean government. » These concepts provides the rational legitimacy of the government, acting as institutional myths and ensuring sustainability of the organization by bringing it in line with the external criteria of rationality. Therefore e-government implementation does not lead to a radical reform of public admisitration, although provides a number of partial improvements. E-government ideology exists, interpreting chronic failures as random errors which are due to the lack of motivation among ordinary implementers.