Volume X, No. 2, 2009 66 Issues in Information Systems THE ROLE OF E-GOVERNMENT IN COMBATING CORRUPTION IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES Mysore Ramaswamy, Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA, mysore@acm.org Audrey N. Selian, Armenian International Policy Research Group, Washington, DC, aselian@hotmail.com ABSTRACT Improving the enforcement of rules is clearly the best way to combat corruption. The introduction of e- Government can play a major role in this context as it automates several processes. However, in the case of post-communist transitioning countries such as Armenia, the challenges are unique. These countries are struggling with the transformation of their legacy bureaucratic and administrative processes. In addition, almost every post-Soviet country has inherited systemic corruption that is built in to the ‘modus operandi’ of both the public and private sectors. Without some method of categorization, assessment and modification of existing administrative processes, the formation of good policy and planning capable of leveraging the current capacity of institutions to deliver public service in a more transparent and efficient way is simply not feasible. Automating existing bureaucratic processes that are defective will not yield results. In this paper, we propose a methodology to combat corruption using information and communication technologies (ICT) that entails process restructuring. Keywords: e-Government, Information and Communication Technologies, Post-Communist Transition, Process Restructuring, Public Sector Corruption. INTRODUCTION Post-communist transitioning countries such as Armenia have inherited endemic corruption. Recent innovations in information and communication technologies (ICT) have given hope to the idea that new technologies in the form of e-government systems can be used to combat corruption in the public sector. Most governments across the world desire their citizens and businesses to interface with them through electronic means for the obvious reasons of efficiency in cost-saving and effectiveness. However, whether the transparency in process and information-sharing that this presupposes is also an equally important social and cultural objective for all leaders is a less obvious assertion. As Jane Fountain states in her work, there is a certain element of the „perversity of incentives‟ to acknowledge here; Kedzie calls this the “Dictator‟s Dilemma” in the state [1, 7] – where increased efficiency and political efficacy (brought about by ICTs) are positively related to each other, and negatively related to authoritarian and highly centralized control. This is especially true in transition countries where the newly emerging bureaucracies (after the Soviet collapse) are hesitant to give way to automated systems [18]. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. The next section briefly describes the concept of public sector corruption. Post-communist transition and its effects on system integrity are narrated in Section 3. Section 4 explains the concepts of e-governance and bureaucracy. Process restructuring as a necessary precursor to automating government to citizen‟ (G2C) interactions is explained in Section 5 with the help of an example. Conclusions and future research directions are presented in the last section. PUBLIC SECTOR CORRUPTION Corruption is the misuse of public power, office or authority for private benefit. This misuse manifests in many ways: bribery, extortion, influence peddling, nepotism, fraud, or speed money. Petty corruption is frequently found where public servants who may be grossly underpaid depend upon small kickbacks from the public to pad their pockets and feed their families. Grand corruption involves high officials who make decisions on large public contracts for their personal benefit, or to the benefit of organized, informal groups with highly aligned self-interest as the driver of their cohesion. In many parts of the world, a major part of the problem in dealing with public sector or government bodies is corruption. No doubt, corruption has been around since time immemorial and indeed, may well be an engrained trait of human nature; nevertheless, most governments and technologists are interested in figuring out what means may be created to combat it. In this context, „Panoptic Vision‟ as proposed by Heeks [9] affords a way to analyze this critical problem. The concept of Panoptic Vision is based on https://doi.org/10.48009/2_iis_2009_66-75