Conceptual Complexities and Frameworks to Analyze Digital Transformation and Citizen-Centric E-Participation in Public Administration

The concepts of citizen-centricity and e-participation have gained importance in studies on e-government and e-governance regarding citizens’ new position in politics as influencers of public policies. However, complexities within the concepts of e-government, e-governance, citizen-centricity, and e-participation prevent realizing systematic and substantial analyses of digital transformation in the public sector. This chapter defines the conceptual complexities of e-government, e-governance, citizen-centricity, and e-participation. The study, first, deals with e-government and e-governance mainly used to explain digital transformation and reform in the public sector. Then, it explains different approaches and frames in the literature as well as the categories of centricity concerning different approaches to e-government and e-governance. The study also illustrates the top-down and bottom-up processes to centricity. Finally, it explains the complexities of e-participation and its different types with the help of top-down and bottom-up approaches. The study contributes to the field by presenting conceptual complexities and confusion, thus providing a better understanding of e-government and e-governance in the era of interactive digital platforms with the help of powerful frames in the literature, and also proposes a schema on the different forms of e-participation.