Social analysis of government information systems

The literature contains numerous studies on government information systems from a variety of academic traditions. This paper presents a critical analysis of some of the major streams of research that have focused on the organisational and social aspects of government information systems in both developed and developing countries. Two major groups of research initiatives, those of the Centre for Research on Information Technology and Organizations of the University of California, Irvine and the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, are discussed in some detail. The aim is to locate the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of existing research, which then serve as a benchmark for evaluating the relevance of a range of theoretical perspectives from the fields of information systems, organisational theory and sociological theory. The social systems perspective, Kling’s web model, Pettigrew’s contextualism, mixed level theory and Giddens’ theory of structuration are considered and elements of them pulled together into a comprehensive conceptual scheme. This synthesised theoretical framework, emphasising the need to simultaneously consider history, content, context, process and the linkage of context and process, is presented as a useful sensitising device for analysing government information systems.