Recent Trends in Public Sector Technological Innovations Michael J. Ahn is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, University of Mas- sachusetts Boston, where he teaches and conducts research in information technology in the public sector, e-government, public organization, performance management, and international comparative public administration. Dr. Ahn received his PhD in Public Administration from Syracuse University in 2007. E-mail: michael.ahn@umb.edu Stuart Bretschneider is associate dean and chair of the Department of Public Ad- ministration, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University. He also holds one of the University’s Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professorships for Teaching Excellence. His research focuses on how public organizations make use of information technology and the effects of those technologies on public organiza- tions; how public organizations employ forecasting technology and organize to carry out forecasting activities; and how sector differences affect administrative processes. He was managing editor of the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory from 1992 to 2000. Dr. Bretschneider received his PhD in Public Administration from the Ohio State University in 1980. E-mail: sibretsc@maxwell.syr.edu 414 Public Administration Review • May | June 2011 Michael J. Ahn University of Massachusetts Boston Stuart Bretschneider Syracuse University Politics of E-Government: E-Government and the Political Control of Bureaucracy his case study reports an innovative e-government experiment by a local government in Seoul, South Korea—Gangnam-gu. A new local political leadership in Gangnam made strategic use of e-government applications to exert greater political control over the local civil service bureaucracy. he authors find that e-government applications possess political properties that can be applied effectively by the political leadership as instruments to improve control over the government bureaucracy as well as to enhance essential government accountability and transparency. he political circumstances underlying e-government development as well as its impact on local government are reported, along with key variables associated with this innovation and directions for future research. S ince their introduction in the early 1990s, electronic government applica- tions (e-government) have been adopted by governments around the world. Advocates of e-government promise increasing economies of scale in providing government services to citizens, improved citizen participation and democratic values, and enhanced gov- ernment accountability and transparency. With expectations high, the effects of e-government have been studied at various levels of government, with some mixed findings (Lee and Perry 2002; Moon 2002; Norris and Moon 2005; Scott 2006). Some report positive outcomes associated with e-government adoption, such as improvements in the efficiency, availability, and accessibility of public services and the provision of information to citizens (Ke and Wei 2004; Lee 2008; Lee, Tan, and Trimi 2005), while others express disappointment in reach- ing the promise of transforming government service delivery and improving public trust in government (West 2004). he disappointment seems most pronounced in the areas of e-democracy and online citizen participation, as they fall short of the prom- ise of facilitating greater citizen participation and communication with the government (Edmiston 2003; Ho 2002; West 2005). Such underutilization of e-government as a medium of citizen participation and a general lack of cases in which e-government applications function as meaningful channels of political communication between citizens and the government has rendered the term “e-government” somewhat synonymous with service-type applications, such as driver’s license renewal, online income tax fil- ing, and parking ticket payment. his case study contributes to the literature by provid- ing a much-needed case example from one of the leaders in e-government—South Korea—that demonstrates the transformative potential of e-government as a channel of citizen participation. his case shows how strategic use of e-government can dramatically improve government account- ability, responsiveness, and transparency, while allowing citizens to directly influence government decision making. he study reveals that while these improvements are ends in themselves, they also work as means to create greater political control over the government bureaucracy and its administrators by enhancing accountability to citizens. In addition, the role of political leadership—a locally elected mayor—is identified as the main motivator be- hind the e-government effort. he mayor saw political potential in e-government applications as instruments of bureaucratic reform, political control over bureauc- racy, enhanced means of generating citizen support, and a way of leveraging citizen support in conflicts with an elected legislature. Furthermore, a set of unique political circumstances motivated the mayor to his case study contributes to the literature by providing a much-needed case example from one of the leaders in e-government—South Korea—that demonstrates the transformative potential of e-government as a channel of citizen participation.