A historical perspective of the development of e-gov in Brazil

Abstract

Initiatives of reform and modernisation of the public sector in Brazil have intensified, not only as a consequence of the fiscal crisis that occurred during the 1980s, but also as a result of the exhaustion and collapse of bureaucratic management and government interventionist models. The development of the Brazilian e-gov program officially started in 2000 and today is in its third phase after two different government administrations. It plays an important role in the modernisation of the public sector in the country and faces the challenge of giving proper support to public policies to universalise opportunities that promote economic and social development. The currently available literature analysing the history of the Brazilian e-gov program focuses too narrowly on the identification of relevant technological aspects affecting its designing and development, failing to use a theoretical framework that takes into consideration social actors and other intervening factors. This chapter presents and employs an approach that takes into consideration the relevant social groups involved in each phase of the construction process of e-gov programs, the intervening factors impacting this construction, and the strength of the relationships among them. Based on qualitative empirical research, this chapter discusses the validity of the proposed framework for studying the history of e-gov in Brazil. As a result of an in-depth documental analysis and interviews with key actors throughout the different administration tenures, this chapter identifies important intervening factors that guided successful and unsuccessful government initiatives in the e-gov program. © 2010, IGI Global.