Framing the Questions of E-Government Ethics

Abstract

Scholars have suggested that the delineation of a field’s “big” questions is critical for its cohesive and practical intellectual growth. Instilling a habitual practice of focusing inquiries on fundamental questions is particularly warranted for fledgling areas of research. Currently, while there is already a rich body of literature that addresses administrative, computer, information, and cyber ethics, only a limited number of writings discuss ethical problems specifically within the e-government context. It can be argued that the e-government condition introduces a distinctive type of ethical problems; questions regarding which have yet to be properly framed. This article suggests five critical questions of e-government ethics at the organizational level that justify notable academic attention.