The Evolution of Internal IT Applications and e-Government Studies in Public Administration

This study reviews research themes and methods used in information technology (IT) in government and e-government research. Although IT/e-government studies (including inward aspects of IT applications in government and e-government studies) continue to increase, they are not comprehensively understood as a subfield within public administration. Based on Rosenbloom’s three competing approaches to public administration (managerial, political, and legal), we investigated the major research themes of IT/e-government studies in public administration. We analyzed 248 IT/e-government articles published in six major public administration journals from 1965 to 2010 to examine IT/e-government research trends in terms of research themes and methods.