Democratic Disconnect in E-government Policy Initiatives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has initiated several reform measures that have been extensively discussed in the media, policy-making circles, political arenas, and academia. Some of the policy initiatives are published in the form of policy documents, e.g.  KP Youth Policy (2016), KP Industrial Policy (2016) and KP ICT policy (2015-2016), etc. These published documents give us a good idea of the government’s vision, strategy framework, and understanding of relevant concepts and terminologies. This paper explores policy documents related to the e-government initiatives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, i.e., ‘Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ICT Policy 2015-2016’ and ‘The Integrated Development Strategy (2014-2018)’. Through an examination of policy design, this paper investigates the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s vision for e-government as articulated in its policy documents. It elucidates how this understanding addresses the issue of citizens’ participation in governance through information and communication technologies (ICTs). The policy documents are analysed through the e-government models, i.e. managerial, consultative and participatory (Bellamy, 2000; Chadwick & May 2003). This paper argues that the way the concept of e-governance is interpreted, goals set, claims made, and strategies devised in these policy documents, the government appears to be unequivocally restricting e-governance to managing citizens through Information provision and service delivery. In this managerial tradition, the government eschews public consultation and citizen input through ICTs, which creates a democratic deficit.