The internet would have been perfect for Raymond Williams. In the introduction to ‘Keywords’ he writes: ” I have often wished that some form of presentation could be devised in which it would be clear that the analysis of particular words are intrinsically connected”. Exactly what a hypertext system like the web can offer…

To return to what could be the keywords of e-government. Firstly, there are all sorts of values and ideas embodied in keywords. People use words in different ways, using a certain meaning to fit a certain arguement or view, and ignoring other meanings. Words can have a range of meanings and even consciously different meanings. Subjective positions and preferences come through, during the course of usage.

Words have ideological as well as semantic meanings. E-government as a set of policies, systems and practices has been formulated, developed and now implemented by a certain group of people. This includes civil servants, MPs and councillors, hardware and software suppliers, large firms of consultants and senior managers in local government. They have a particular interest and ideological starting point. Where the end users are in this is unclear. In some instances, relatively senior council staff act as surrogates for the end users.

A set of keywords for e-government might include the following:

citizens, customers, democracy, efficiency, government, information, internet, interoperability, metadata, modernising, personal data, privacy, services, social exclusion, standards, technology,

There are probably others that would be worth adding. Some definitions of the above would be useful, as would showing the connections between the keywords, and why and how those connections might be happening.

Raymond Williams raises this point which could be used as a starting point as to what e-government might mean:

“…many crucial meanings have been shaped by a dominant class, and by particular professions operating to a large extent within its terms”.