ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the e-reporting systems that have significant biases and constraints that can be revealed by a basic consideration of multiple accountabilities. Online reporting of administrative and programmatic performance information remains a constant theme for public managers across the globe. Better performance, more transparency, and heightened accountability to citizens are often touted as the benefits of this type of performance reporting. Often, public managers use tools such as organizational report cards, online scorecards, and dashboards to achieve this level of online performance reporting. The chapter examines the nebulous concept of accountability in government and distills it into a basic framework used for our analysis. Governmental budgets, performance reports, strategic plans, customer satisfaction surveys, and progress on management mandates from policymakers are all now routinely included on e-government websites. The resulting effect for e-government is that online performance information has been known to disappear as new policymakers implement new policies and performance mandates.
