ABSTRACT
The term ‘e-government’ indicates a state of tension that will be examined in the following chapter in more detail. On the one hand it is – as evidenced by the ‘e’ – a part of the electronic world. As is widely known, this e-world is characterised by economies of scale and network effects. ‘Government’, in contrast, is marked by fragmentation caused by decentralised responsibilities and a strong differentiation of administrative bodies. This even applies to centralistic states. The attempt to merge the two aspects quickly shows cooperation and coordination of the administrative bodies to be one of the central tasks. Mastering the problem of cooperation and coordination is probably the main factor for successfully achieving sustained and widespread e-government. This becomes obvious when one considers that a major part of administrative contacts in all countries relates to services that are traditionally provided to the citizen at the local and, at least partially, independent level.1 This level cannot, however, afford independent development, financing or even the mere operation of online services.
