in Maria Grazia Melchionni (a cura di) (2005), Le relazioni transmediterranee nel tempo presente: dialogo interculturale, integrazione, modernizzazione, conflitti, Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino

Exploring E-modernization of Democracy and Governance: Evidence from Greece

Roy PANAGIOTOPOULOU and Sokratis KONIORDOS

Abstract While rapid growth in the development and application of ICT has been a crucial theme in assessing the extent of modernization and progress achieved by a country or region, ICT have also been associated with governance and the political participatory processes through which citizens can directly express their views and involve themselves politically. Indeed, ICT appear to offer a new framework for the reorganisation of the relations between citizens and the state. Accordingly, terms like “e-democracy” and “e-governance” have already invaded both the current practices of social organization and every day vocabulary. However, it has also emerged that the expansion of ICT has not taken place at the same rate so much so that a technological divide has emerged. This divide is evident within the EU too and there has been concerted action by the EU itself to promote a joint model of e-governance among its member-states. In this paper we aim to outline the development of e-governance and e-democracy in Greece. To do so we first look at the situation with respect to the use of Internet in Greece. We then proceed to present and assess development in the direction of e-governance by scrutinising concrete activities such as the public agencies web portals and actions, like the Citizens Information Telephone Centres, Citizens Service Centres and the TAXIS programme. Following this, in order to approach the development of e-democracy in Greece, we take up the relationship of political parties and candidates for Parliament that establish and operate web sites to the users-citizens. It emerges that a modicum of progress in the dissemination of ICT has taken place, which may be useful in effecting an opening up of the State and its apparatuses to the citizen. However, the observed developments do not in themselves appear to suffice for redressing ingrained social inequalities.

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Exploring E-modernization of Democracy and Governance: Evidence from Greece

1. Introduction Since the beginning of 1990s the development and application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has been a crucial theme in assessing the extent of modernization and progress achieved in every single country of the Western world 1. Impetuous transformations resulting from ICT usage that have been lately observed in the social relations are attributed mainly to the convergence of information and telecommunication technologies, with the mass media. In the context of the last 15 years technological changes in various sectors of the economy, in politics and eventually in society at large have, through a broader application and use of ICT, come to bear such a significance that they are often considered to signpost the dawn of a new digital era, incomparable to previous ones. Of course, the elevation of technology to the main factor that per excellence initiates progress in society, and in its governance, is a recurrent theme in the public arena. What does change is the character of the technology(ies) involved. However, the claim about the overwhelming impact of the select technologies on society is rather constant. In fact, supporters of technological determinism have always claimed that the most important social transformations derive from the use of new technologies (NT). For our present sociological purposes technology is to be understood as the institutionalised application of knowledge to control nature for human purposes (Spencer 1993, p. 482). Technology includes all kinds of machinery alongside the organization of production, knowledge, human beings and their social organization, as well as institutionalised practices. The ingredients of technology are organized in concert for pursuing humanly directed aims and are primarily oriented towards problem resolution (see Wilson 1992, p. 330). Accordingly, technological capability is the ability to effectively apply and use technology and this is the major criterion for appraising it (see Hewitt and Wield 1994, p. 204). In this sense, technology – perceived as a social artifact – is inextricably linked and dependent on the kind of society that is developing it, while the process of its development and application is pre-eminently one of social construction (see for instance Hill 1988; see also the revealing analysis of M. Granovetter and P. McGuire (1998) on the social construction of the electricity industry). Of course, if technology is seen as a social process, it would mean that industrial-technological systems are producing continuously changing results and outcomes of this process. In this sense, technology reflects the society that has developed it. Nevertheless, if technology itself is an influence on that society, important as it may be, it is only one among several other influences (see Wilson 1992, p. 322). On the other hand, technological determinism claims that in a sense it is technology that controls and determines the character of societal change. This conception, which entails a reified understanding of technology, is not usually upheld in the social-scientific context. However, it often finds outlet in everyday life, and this is the reason for which various societies have been defined on the basis of the kind of technology that dominates them. One relatively recent example is that of the city-state of Singapore; its government published in 1989 a plan on the basis of which it aims to become the first “information society”.

1 Year 1989, as Pippa NORRIS notes in her book, Digital Divide, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 3, is not to be remembered only for the fall of the Berlin wall, but also because the World Wide Web became available to the general public.

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Despite the obvious technological determinism of such a position, it has been cultivated in the world of the media and of politics, and even in the fringes of academia (see for instance Peter Draker 1994). In fact, its hold has expanded so much, among key personnel of several multilateral political entities such as the OECD, the World Bank, or the European Union (EU), that they have come to accept the idea of a “knowledge society”. Alongside they have also accepted the thesis about an inescapable convergence of the industrial policies of various nations that, arguably, stems from the inherent necessities of the dominant technologies (for the initial presentation of this thesis, see Kerr 1961). Accordingly, counties as well as blocks of countries are perceived to enter a race to catch up with the imperatives of information technology on society. In particular, during the 2000 Lisbon summit, the EU promulgated decisions that explicitly aim to turn the EU to the most advanced information society in the world by the year 2010, as we shall later see 2. The supporters of the above-mentioned position maintain that ICT have affected societies. They have done so by changing time and space dimensions, made the emergence of «flexibilities» in production and work technically feasible, and revolutionised the communication techniques. These, in turn, have brought an alteration in interpersonal relationships as they broaden information, social knowledge and understanding, and finally, have agitated the established flows of communication and influence in the public sphere 3. In short, such views feed the myth of western civilization that portrays progress as an outcome of technology. The approach of technological determinism undoubtedly includes interesting views and observations. However, it tends to ignore the historical evolution of various societies and the ability for adaptation to new circumstances that result from the use of NT. It ignores them because it deals with a world free from the constraints of real and highly complex social life, and of biological drives. When these conceptual errors are identified and controlled for, then it emerges that all technological achievements are products of a broader social context. Such achievements are not influences that have their origin outside society neither do they develop only on the basis of an inside technological logic, its importance notwithstanding 4. ICT should be treated as part of a causative chain of sets of globalized economic, political and social relations. Having said that, it is true that the expansion of ICT has not been effected at the same rate all over the world. Economically less developed countries are on the one side of an increasingly bifurcated deviation when compared with the advanced countries in the expansion and use of Internet and NTs. Provided that Internet gradually becomes more and more important in organising work relations, in education, in financial exchanges, and so on, it is obvious that poor countries, as well as deprived households in advanced counties, are gradually left out of developments that determine future progress and the welfare of peoples 5. Thus, the technological divide, as slowness (and laggardness) in infrastructure development and use of new digital technologies of information and communication has been characterised, constitutes another key factor to make a distinction between developed and underdeveloped countries. Recently ICT have also been associated with governance and the political participatory processes through which citizens can directly express their views. ICT appear to offer a new framework for the reorganisation of the relations between citizens and the state. So much so that ICT application help the restoration of democracy, both in content and in function, beyond any geographical-political structures of control and the space-time limitations. Accordingly, terms like “e-democracy” and “e-governance” have already invaded both the current practices of social organization and the every day vocabulary of common people. Perhaps, one of the most significant social transformations is taking place in this field nowadays, one that the 21st century has brought along. 2 COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (2000), E-Europe. An Information Society for All. Communication for the Special European Council of Lisbon, March. 3 J. CURRAN (2003), Limits of Technological Determinism: A Historical View, in R. PANAGIOTOPOULOU (ed.), Digital Challenge: Media and Democracy, Athens, Typothito pp. 69-71 (in Greek), J. MEYROWITZ (1985), No Sense of Place, New York, Oxford University Press, John THOMPSON (1995), The Media and Modernity, Cambridge, Polity Press. 4 J. CURRAN, ibid. p. 71. 5 Digital inequality is expressed through of the association of the average household income to Internet connection, see the various pieces of research as cited by P. NORRIS, Idem, pp. 10-12.

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Since the outset of 2000s, the EU has turned towards the promotion of a joint model of e-governance among its member-states 6. It has initiated common directions for the restructuring of the public sector in the provision of services to the citizens. It has also supported the control as well as transparency of government activities through the use of the Internet. The e-governance initiative may either play a mere informative role, or may go further into facilitating and enabling interactive communication between the citizens and public administration. In fact the e-governance initiative extends to economic transactions and ends up with the application of e-democracy at the level of the expression of political preference 7. The aim of the present article is to outline the development of e-governance and e-democracy in Greece. 2. Conditions for the development of e-governance and e-democracy The processes of economic globalisation have come to play an ever-growing vital role in determining the macro-economic factors and therefore, in the development of all countries. The global economy cannot be particularly effective unless it is based on mechanisms for the regulation of the supply and demand of goods and services with a global range. This is what compels the government and public institutions in every country to seek new ways of governance and of functioning; the purpose is to become more flexible and more effective, and thus acquire comparative advantages to be competitive at an international level. States are faced with an irreversible course and are compelled to restructure their basic functions so that they can enable their citizens and enterprises to participate in the globalized economy. It is similar with politicians: they foresee a new era in which participation of the citizens in social affairs, and communication between political organisations and parties, can take a more direct and personalised form that would favour democracy. In the present text we shall deal only with some of the main points that arise in implementing e-governance and e-democracy. 2.1. E-government or E-governance The gradual transformation of public administration from employing “manual” to utilizing electronic means has introduced the new term electronic public administration (e-government), i.e. public administration supporting its activities by means of ICT 8. The new structure for electronic support includes both internal functions of public services (internal informative systems), and communication as well as co-operation with their organizational environment (external information systems). Turning towards electronic communication and co-operation entails a different attitude in the treatment of citizens. One that necessitates the substitution of the bureaucratic model of administrative structure with one that adapts to the needs of citizens for information; it requires a citizen-focused character. This attitude or standpoint is similar to the practices

6 COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (2000), op. cit. 7 Electronic governance is supported by a series of EU programmes, such as the e-Content, Interchange of Data between Administration (IDA), Information Society Technologies (IST), which promotes specific action areas to establish and develop systems of Internet communication. In the programme that was approved for the first time during the Lisbon summit on 23rd and 24th of March, 2000, the specification for the administrative modernization of public administration was set. In the measures decided were included, among others, the safeguarding of general electronic access to public services, the creation of indices for evaluating the public agencies’ productivity, the creation of a strategy to do away with red-tape, and the creation of a strategy for the coordination of actions to simplify the regulatory framework. See, COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (2000), E-Europe. An Information Society for All. Action Plan prepared by the Council of the European Commission for the Feira European Council, Brussels. The E-Europe 2005 programme focuses on certain priorities that mostly concern electronic trade, public services, schools and enterprises and in fact the more effective connection to the Internet and the development of new applications. See, COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (2002), E-Europe 2005, An Information Society for All, Brussels 28.5.2002 COM (2002) 263. 8 The definition provided by the United Nations Organization for it stresses the importance that citizens bear in the provision of services. “Electronic Public Administration means a permanent commitment of a government to improve interaction between citizens and the public sector via an improved, efficient and effective provision of services, information and knowledge”. UN DIVISION OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION/AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Benchmarking E-government: A Global Perspective. Assessing the Progress of the UN Member States, New York 2002.

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followed by private enterprises. Public organizations become more “sensitive” to the citizens’ problems and needs and can then adjust their provision of services accordingly. Patently, such a shift in viewpoint brings major transformations in governance, especially in the mode of governance (by facilitating improvements in the provision of services, reduction of costs, etc.), and in its content (e.g. changes in the targets set, in the procedures and practices) 9. The anticipated positive results accruing from the application of e-governance can be summarized as follows: an increase in the effectiveness of the services of the state, a decrease in their cost, and a different upgraded interaction between state and citizen. Within the framework of e-governance also fall – in addition to the purely administrative sector – all fields of governmental provision and care, such as e-education, public purveyance, services in the fields of economy, health, justice, etc. Also included is e-democracy too, which is the ability to provide extensive information on the work of the government and the activities of public agencies, as well as e-forms, e-consultations, e-voting, etc., – all these are issues, procedures and practices that are bear directly on the core of democracy. Having accumulated certain years of experience, the main question is not whether e-governance is applied or not, but how to define the standards of choices and the consequences resulting from its application. In their work Chadwick and May distinguish three models for e-governance administration: namely the managerial, the counselling, and the participatory 10. The managerial model aims towards the quantitative improvement of the indices of technological development. It is followed by most governments who wish to start the new organizational structure of their services that utilises ICT, and by the new economy enterprises too. Agents addressing the needs of societal interests for a better policy for citizen and “users” follow the counselling model 11. Τhe participatory model is usually adopted by voluntary or Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that wish to secure the right to freedom of speech and international networking through the World Wide Web. E-governance is classified more or less as a managerial model. It is interesting to note that when the managerial model is predominant, the possibilities for democratic participation are limited and even marginalized. In itself, e-governance can either shrink or broaden the democratic procedures. The outcome depends on the political and administrative choices, as well as the socio-cultural background of a country rather than the mere application of new technologies. It is at this point that the issue of protection of personal data is interposed, and which currently is debated in all the countries where e-governance is applied. Uncontrolled data collection on citizens by the public administration authorities and the dissemination of this data among various government services, is a cause of problems to the unfettered upholding of civil rights and liberties and, in the long run, to democracy itself. Heavy measures against terrorism, as well as tight security measures such as those taken during the recent 2004 Olympic Games with the help of ICT, have raised up this issue that seems to puzzle citizens and politicians in Greece alike. But solving such a highly complex problem, one that has an international dimension too, depends basically on the smooth functioning of democracy and democratic institutions, as well as on the alertness of citizens. 2.2. Electronic government It has been pointed out that politics on the Internet can assume three dimensions:

• Politics solely within the net, a typical case of which are the Internet communities that claim and maintain relative political independence.

9 E-governance is defined as the “transformation of procedures, structures, activities and targets of the public sector, along with the way of communication with the citizens based on the potential of ICT aiming at increasing efficiency and effectiveness”, mentioned in I. APOSTOLAKIS, E. LOUKIS, AND I. CHALARIS (2004), Electronic Governance, Athens, National School for Public Administration, p. 17 (in Greek). 10 A. CHADWICK AND C. MAY (2003), “Interaction Between States and Citizens in the Age of the Internet: “e-Government” in the United States, Britain and the European Union”, Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions, 16, 2, pp. 271-300. 11 See, W. H. DUTTON (1999), Society on the Line: Information Politics in the Digital Age, Oxford, Oxford University Press, p.193.

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• Political decisions that have an impact on the net. • Political uses of the net 12.

Here we shall be concerned with the third dimension. All political parties have already anticipated the new possibilities digital technology offers and as a result there is a continuing increase in the number of the parties with a presence on Internet 13. Similarly, NGOs and other political organizations have been developing websites that have a political content at a fast rate to put forward their ideas and action on the Web. Indeed, P. Norris’ remark that «Cyberspace has become the virtual equivalent of Hyde Park corner» is not an exaggeration 14. The portals of political information, political advertising and e-voting – despite the technical problems of validity and reliability yet to be solved – have started to expand dramatically. Generally, the development of e-democracy as far as the presence of political organizations and the transmission of political information are concerned, has significantly multiplied since 1999. Arguments on the use of ICT and specifically of Internet in politics are not new. Both optimists and sceptics of the conjunction and articulation of democracy and technology have been maintaining their points of view for three decades, with unreduced zeal. Yet, three basic points have arisen from this debate: first, technology contributes to the formation of a democratic state, secondly, the use of communications is subject to policies of a social and political nature, and thirdly, technology has a cultural character 15. Such theories tend to describe and promote the new conditions under which politics can be restructured and new political moral rules can be formed. Τhe main assets offered by the new medium are: decentralization of information, a vast forum for debates and transformation of passive viewers-voters into active recipients of politics, something that has not yet been confirmed. The main question is whether the presence of a wide range of political parties on the Internet shall lessen the dominant position of the big parties and of two-party polarization, or whether it will eventually bolster up the big parties. The answer depends upon the extent to which the Internet is going to become a mass communication medium in the years to come or not. 3. The Use of the Internet in Greece The improvement and modernisation of public administration in the knowledge and information society are impossible to achieve without the generalised use of ICT. However, a dilemma emerges about the appropriate way forward. One option is to disseminate the use of NT in a country’s population and then to follow with the establishment of applications of e-governance (as is the case in Scandinavian countries or in the Netherlands). Another option is for government to push forward with e-governance applications and in this way instigate citizens to turn to the uses of the Internet (as is the case in Greece). The answer to this dilemma usually accrues from the socio-economic and cultural conditions that exist in a specific country. In any event, the spread and the administration of information entail in their kernel a dynamic, which brings about irreversible structural change. For instance, the radical reorganisation of labour relations, of the administration and management of bureaucratic entanglements (red-tape) problems, of employment training, in a nutshell of the ordinary everyday life and people’s attitudes. Each and every State is called forth to assume a leading role in this process, and to undertake the necessary actions and investments to network public administration and to reform the content of the publicly available information; the aim is to effect the reorganisation of services provided.

12 See, M. MARGOLIS AND D. RESNICK, Politics as Usual: The Cyberspace ‘Revolution’, Sage, Thousand Oaks, 2000, chap.1. 13 P. NORRIS, Idem, p. 153, notes that, “globally 1,250 party websites were found in the 179 nations under comparison, a remarkable phenomenon given that the Internet remains in its adolescence”. 14 P. NORRIS, Idem, p. 148. 15 See, L. FRIEDLAND (1996), “Electronic democracy and the new citizenship”, Media Culture and Society, 18, 2, pp. 185-212, J. STREET (1997), “Remote Control? Politics technology and electronic democracy”, European Journal of Communication, 12, 1, pp. 27-42.

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The use of the Internet services by households in Greece significantly lags behind in relation to the remaining EU-15 member countries. It is quite clear from the most recently available evidence that a digital divide has emerged within the EU between the countries of the North and those of the South. This is due to the delays in creating the necessary technological infrastructures, and to the reserved attitude of the inhabitants of South Europe in proceeding to purchase and use Internet-linked services. The most recent comparative data of November 2002 report that an average of 42.6 per cent of all households in EU-15 had Internet access. The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden had the highest rates of Internet connections per household – 68, 67 and 66 per cent respectively. At the other end stood the countries of Southern Europe in which, with the significant exception of Italy, the lowest rates were recorded. Thus, in Portugal, 32 per cent of households had access to Internet, while the figures for Spain and Greece were, 31 and 14 per cent, respectively 16. Almost two years later, in September 2004, the household Internet connections rates show an increase. For the countries of the Mediterranean, again with the important exception of Italy that has about half of its households accessing Internet (49.3 per cent), Portugal stands at 34.6 percent, Spain at 34.2 per cent, and Greece at 15.3 per cent 17. As regards Greece, the total number of individuals that used the Internet in September 2004 was 28 per cent of the country’s total population, while the rate for the urban population was 34.8 per cent 18. The slow-down in the rate of increase of Internet connections, at least in Greece, is due to a set of factors the most prominent of which are the following:

• The very expensive charges made for Internet connection that households have to pay, • the slow connection speeds, • the unsatisfactory content of WebPages with topics of Greek interest

19. In short, the social profile of the Internet user in Greece remained more or less stable for the years 2003-2004. Users are mainly young men, aged 18-35, had received higher education, had a higher than the average income, and resided in urban areas. They connect to the Internet from their homes and the main reasons for which they use it is to obtain information, then for entertainment, for accessing their electronic mail, as well as for other miscellaneous reasons too 20. Another problem arises with the advancement of e-governance is digital illiteracy, i.e. is the inability of certain population groups to use personal computers (PCs), or to have access or possession of them. In fact, this is a broader social issue, which is dependent on the social inequalities existing in a country. Thus, it is related to the income and education level of the inhabitants, their habitus, their language competences, and their knowledge in using PCs. In Greece, in 2004, 30 per cent of the households do possess a PC. After year 2000 a set of coordinated actions have been unfolding with the aim to combat digital-related inequalities. The first step in this direction has been to supply all school units with PCs and informatics laboratories, and to connect

16 See, COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (2003), e-Europe 2002, e-Europe Benchmarking Report, COM (2003) 66 final Brussels, p. 9. The equivalent comparative evidence a year earlier, i.e. in December 2001, record lower general percentages. Thus the average Internet penetration per household in the EU was at 38 per cent of the total. Holland, Sweden and Denmark had a higher rate with over 60 per cent, while the lower rates were noted for Portugal, and Spain that were about 20 per cent, as well as for Greece, which had the lowest rate; less than 10 per cent. See, COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (2002), E-Europe 2002, e-Europe Benchmarking Report, COM 62, final, Brussels, p.5. 17 See, Internet World Statistics, www.internetworldstats.com/stats4.htm, downloaded 24.10.2004. 18 GFK MARKET ANALYSIS, MEDIA ALERT (2004), “Systematic Research on the Use of the Internet”, Press Release Monday 13.9.2004, www.GfKmarketAnalysis.gr , downloaded 24.10.2004. 19 The charge for 1 Μb in the UK and in Italy is € 40-45, in Belgium 3 Μb cost € 20, while in Greece 3Mb cost as much as € 165. See, the article by G. ELAFROS (2004), “Greece Still in the Digital Middle Ages”, I Kathimerini, 26.9.2004, p. 30 20 COMMUNITY FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME, 2000-2006 (2002), Operation Programme “Information Society”, 2002 National Research on New Technologies and the “Information Society”, Athens, (in Greek), pp. 12-15.

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schools to Internet. In addition, training courses in basic ICT skill are delivered to educators and public sector employees. In parallel to these actions, the development of education-related software is underway 21. It is therefore apparent that, for the time being, every attempt to develop e-governance and e-democracy cannot but address a limited number of citizens. Nevertheless, the efforts of the State to cover the gaps of the digital divide and to improve its services through delivery of electronic services to the general public are noteworthy. The expressed aim of this effort has been to encourage citizens to use Internet on a mass scale and to an extent far greater than they already did. 4. The development of e-governance in Greece The operation of public administration in Greece is characterised by a pre-eminently bureaucratic structure, overconcentration, the overlapping of jurisdictions, and a low educational level of the public administration personnel, all of which are factors that contribute to the inefficiency of the system 22. In this context, the emergence of e-governance appeared as a challenge that once taken up could have the potential of, first, changing, or at least improving the negative picture that citizens have about public administration and, second, reducing its costs while increasing its efficacy. In what follows there is a brief presentation of the basic actions the government undertook for the realisation of e-governance. In 1999 the Greek Ministers’ Council condoned the White Paper “Greece in the Information Society: Strategy and Actions”. The White Paper promotes the following options: “The overall strategy for the Information Society (IS) is founded upon the following basic principles: Equal opportunities and access to all, the promotion of an environment conducive to innovations and the blooming of entrepreneurial initiatives, the safeguarding of individual freedoms, and the smooth functioning of democratic institutions” 23. To practically apply the aims of the White Paper, the Operational Programme Information Society (EIS) was drawn; the European Commission on the 14/03/2001 approved it. This programme includes a set of main as well as a set of complementary interventions. These are to take place in various areas of economic and social life for the purpose of effecting their harmonization so that they function together in the context of the development of EIS in Greece 24. One of the basic aims of the EIS, which has a direct bearing on our topic, is the servicing of the citizen and the improvement of the quality of life, which will materialise by means of actions and interventions in several diverse sectors of daily life. In particular an emphasis is laid on the sectors of e-government, e-health, and e-learning. EIS specialises in supplementary actions, such as the “POLITEIA” programme. This latter concerns the support and coordination of specific operational programmes to improve quality of services available to the citizen, and operate supplementary to the whole EIS 25.

21 By the end of 2003, about 80 per cent of secondary schools have been connected to the Internet, and about 60 per cent of primary schools have also done so. A sizeable group of educators 74.000 in all received training in ICT, 610 informatics laboratories were established, while 62 titles of educational software were developed. See, OPERATIONAL PROJECT IN INFORMATION SOCIETY, STEERING COMMITTEE (2004), “The course of the Greek Public Administration towards electronic governance”, Athens, p. 2, (in Greek). 22 See, A. MAKRIDIMITRIS (1999), Administration and Society, Athens, Themelio, pp. 113-139 (in Greek). 23 GREEK GOVERNMENT (2002), Greece in the Information Society: Strategy and Actions, White Paper of the Greek Government, Athens, p. 5 (in Greek). Information Society is defined as “a form of social and economic development, in which the acquisition, process, evaluation, transfer and diffusion of information leads to the creation of knowledge and the satisfaction of needs of individuals and of enterprises, and play a central part in economic activity, the creation of wealth and the shaping of the quality of life of citizens”, Ibid., p. 10. The White Paper was updated in 2002. 24 See, OPERATION PROGRAMME (2000), Operation Programme “Information Society”, Athens. 25 Basic aims of the programme “POLITEIA” are: (a) the improvement of the state-citizen relations, (b) the gradual shift from the bureaucratic model of public administration to a model of administration by objectives and results using evaluation indices, (c) the strengthening of the strategic role of the State and the simultaneous strengthening of decentralization institutions.

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Another programme is the “Network SYZEUXIS”, which is the first national internal network (intranet) with a countrywide coverage. The aim of the programme is to meet the needs of about 1,800 different public sector administrative agencies, which are found in all the regions of the country. An additional aim is the unified provisioning of services to citizens, and allied to this the improvement in the operation of public administration agencies. The network anticipates, first, telephone connections, secondly, transfer of data through the Internet and, thirdly, video services (teleconferencing, and so on). After several delays, the realisation of the programme began in mid-2004. In the current period citizens’ access of public information may follow the following paths: either through telephone, through the Internet, through in person presence in the public agencies, or through the Citizen Service Centres (CSC). Until the middle of 2004 certain services that are of direct concern to e-governance have been applied. In brief, the following services have been developed:

• Web portals of various government agencies (e.g. ministries, public sector agencies, etc.). • Citizens telephone service centres. • Citizens Service Centres (CSC). • The TAXIS network (www.taxisnet.gr).

4.1. Web portals The public administration agencies’ portal services are multiplying and their contents are continuously being upgraded. Besides the provision of information of a general type some portals are starting to provide particular electronic services that relate to specific public administration agencies area of activation. Thus, electronic services are becoming available in areas as diverse as, for instance, online submission of tax forms, weather broadcasting, timetables, etc. The Greek public administration agencies portals are still in stage of one-way interactivity, as it is the norm in the EU member countries. They include searches on general information, downloadable forms and other documents from the Internet, as well as links to other similar web portals; they are not yet supplying and supporting two-way interactive communication 26. 4.2. Citizens Information Telephone Centres The purpose for the operation of Telephone Centres is mainly to inform citizens. Citizens are informed, for example, on administrative matters, timetables and schedules, tourist issues, cultural events, professional matters, and so on. A special telephone centre accepts applications by telephone (service 1502) and operates on a 24-hours basis. It includes activities that fall under the domain of ministries, prefectures, municipalities, insurance funds, as well as all open calls and bids that are in process, and other activities. The applications made over the phone are transferred electronically to the responsible authority, which then posts results back to the applicant.

26 According to the research by CAP & GEMINI ERNST & YOUNG ’S OVERALL REPORT OCT 2001-OCT 2002 (2003), Online Availability of Public Services. How does Europe Progress?, prepared by Cap & Gemini Ernst & Young, January, for European Commission DG Information Society, progress in electronic governance and the levels of progress for public services for citizens and business are distinguished in three stages: (a) information, (b) one-way interaction (downloaded forms), (c) two-way interaction (electronic forms), (d) transaction (full electronic case handling). For the group of the countries surveyed the overall percentage of online availability of public services for citizen increased from 40 per cent in October 2001, to 47 per cent in April 2002, and to 52 per cent in October 2002, Idem., chapter 3.1.1.

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4.3. Citizens Service Centres The launching of the Citizens Service Centres (CSC) is the most successful and popular so far step in the realisation of e-governance, and they are considered as the first stage in the operation of one-stop shops 27. The stated aim of CSC is to “provide administrative information … and to process the affairs of citizens all the way from the initial application to the issuance of the final act in collaboration with the appropriate relevant administrative agency” 28. Among the responsibilities and activities of CSC, the following are included:

• Inform citizens about the necessary steps for the processing of administrative actions. • Receive applications by citizens. • Assist in locating application forms. • Check the sufficiency and completeness of applications and search for the appropriate supporting

documents. • Transfer the complete file to the appropriate agency that will pursue the matter further. • Verify official documents; issue tax updates via electronic connection to the TAXIS network, and the

processing of personal data. In addition, a web portal has been set up (www.kep.gov.gr) by means of which citizens are informed about those administrative acts that are processed through CSC. All relevant application forms and printed information are available on-line, and useful links to other public agencies are also made available. The operation of CSC is an innovation in terms of an improved servicing of citizens and for this reason citizens in Greece have immediately accepted it. However, there are certain characteristics that still restrict their full operation that can be summed up in two main factors: One, the operating process concerns the build up, of a common access data base, which users may visit from several different and physically diverse points, but there is not, as yet, electronic transfer from the CSC to the public agencies, nor through the central web portal, since the “SYZEUXIS” network has not been fully developed. Second, in the course of simplification and standardisation of the various document forms several problems crop up, which are mainly due to the inflexibility of some agencies to modify and simplify their bureaucratic processes. To these adverse factors we should add the complex legal framework, which quite often requires several, and time-consuming in obtaining them, documents. The CSC operate on the basis of the New Public Management (NPM) pattern, according to which change of practical methods and approaches at the organisational and functional levels is required. It also means a structural shift as the centre of gravity should move in the direction of the State’s transformation: from an autarchic, self-centred public administration system, towards a system that is participatory, and client-oriented 29; to a system that aims to be more flexible in administration procedures, more effective in decision-making. Further, it would encourage the participation of, both, administrative staff and citizens. CSC perform, at the front office level, two functions simultaneously: (a) they form the equivalent for the public administration of what is a sales network for a company, that is the nearst point in servicing the market of all the administrative “products” and the location at which public administration and the citizen meet face to face. They (b) operate 27 One stop shop services, consist in that citizens may put forward their requests either in person, or through the CSC, or over the telephone, or through the Internet and the public administration agency shall carry on all the necessary bureaucratic procedures and shall offer the end product to the citizen who, therefore, is no longer obliged to visit each separate agency. 28 MINISTRY OF INTERIOR, PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DECENTRALISATION (2002), Citizens Service Centres –“The Public Administration and the Citizen”, Topic: Operation of Citizens Service Centres, Memorandum, 24.5.2002, (in Greek). 29 The pattern behind this administrative management stems from the entrepreneurial sector, in which services are distinguished in these of the front office, i.e. the department of a company that negotiates, and which is concerned with purchases and sales and the servicing of customers, while the back office conducts all the relevant with purchases and sales processing (e.g. arrangements, accounts, etc.). In our case, the front office is understood as the point of contact and transactions of the public administration agencies with citizens, while the back office refers to the internal processes that support the external relations, see, K. MASTROGIANNI (2003), “Electronic Governance from Policy to Action: Theoretical Framework and Best Practice”, Final Report, Dept. of General Administration, National School for Public Administration, Athens, October, p. 25.

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as one-stop shops, in which the citizen addresses only the CSC to perform her/his rights and duties. For this reason, it is anticipated that CSC will form the critical “passage” to the more complete forms of e-governance and on-line transactions in a population that shows unwillingness to link up electronically. At the level of the back office, CSC form a service that intervenes between the public administration and the needs of the citizens. By the end of June 2004, about 900 CSC were already in operation, offering solutions for 855 different administrative processes that concerned issues that are in the jurisdiction of 13 different ministries (the forecast is for CSC to rise to 1,000, by the end of the year) 30. In fact, and until today, the operation of the CSC appears to have been a great success. This is testified to by the marked increase of the total number of the certified processes that CSC have accomplished during the present year (2004) in comparison with the last one. Specifically, from February 2003, which is the month that marks their official operation, CSC had processed a total of 549,887 distinct services. By contrast, during the first six months period of 2004, 590,662 transactions have been completed. The daily average number of transactions for 2004 that CSC accomplish now stands at 4,655 31. Definitely these agencies relieve citizens from long hours of queuing up in various public sector services and it is for this reason that they are warmly supported by virtually all citizens in Greece, as it emerges from citizens’ responses about their attitude towards e-governance in a recent 2002 survey. According to this survey, 53.9 per cent of the citizenry in Greece had a very positive attitude about the on-line availability of public services 32. 4.4. The TAXIS programme The most complete electronic application with fully interactive communication capacity is the TAXIS programme, which has been developed by the Ministry of Finances. The programme makes it possible for citizens to complete most of their tax affairs through the Internet. In fact, a portal has been developed (www.taxinet.gr) from which users may draw information, obtain various documents, and also, through a personal code that safeguard secure communication, submit their tax returns, submit tax forms that concern motor vehicles, submit VAT, etc. 5. The Development of e-Democracy in Greece The use of the Internet for political information, and for the promotion of political party programmes, is a new phenomenon in Greece. Nevertheless, the promotion of political parties and of their candidates for the Parliament through the Internet, has started rather early in Greece. Already from the middle of 1998 and 1999 the first sites appeared in the Internet. Still earlier, during the electoral campaign of 1996, there was the isolated attempt of PASOK (the socialist party) to promote itself through the Internet, although the structure of its webpages was rudimentary and was not renewed 33. A first period of inactivity was followed by rapid development of this means of communication. Mainly the smaller political parties and formations, both those being represented in the Parliament and those that were not, achieved this. This development marks the first instance in the history of political communication in which political parties and personalities have had the possibility to directly and personally address the public, without the mediation of journalists 34. Specifically,

30 These data (survey conducted on 28.06.2004), are based on a research of the operation system database of the CSC, see E. GEORGATSONA (2004), “The Communication of Public Administration with the Citizen in the new Digital Environment”, postgraduate paper, Dept. of Communication and Mass Media, University of Athens, Athens, p. 37 (in Greek). 31 Idem., p. 39, and OPERATIONAL PROJECT IN INFORMATION SOCIETY, STEERING COMMITTEE (2004), “The course of the Greek Public Administration Towards Electronic Governance”, Athens (in Greek). 32 See COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (2002), Eurobarometer 57, April. 33 The web page (www.pasok.gr) was hosted by the company ISP Hellas Online, and had the character of a pre-election leaflet. For additional information on the development of the political uses of the Internet in Greece see, B. KOTSIKOPOULOU, “Elections and Internet. The cases of the U.K. and Greece”, in N. DEMERTZIS (ed.), Political Communication in Greece, Athens, Papazisis, pp. 197-306. 34 See, N. DEMERTZIS AND A. ARMENIKIS (2003), “Political (cyber)culture. Political use and reliability of the Internet”, in R. PANAGIOTOPOULOU (ed.), Digital Challenge: Media and Democracy, Athens, Typothito, pp. 257 (in Greek).

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the first official Internet appearance of Greek political parties was made in the following chronological order: “Synaspismos” (March 1997), “DHKKI” (March 1998), “Nea Demokratia”, “Politiki Anoixi”, “Fileleythroi”, and “KKE” (May 1998), “Uranio Toxo” (July 1998), “PASOK” (March 1999), “Elliniko Metopo” (1999) 35. The signal for the appearance of political parties and organisations in the Internet was given by the Euro-elections of 1999. Actually, only just before the national elections of 2000 systematic Internet uses that were related to the electoral campaign start being recorded. The emergent phenomenon was assisted by two factors. First, an intense bipartisanship has emerged in the political arena in Greece. Thus, the Internet offered smaller political parties a medium for expressing their political programme and for propagating their dissatisfaction with the remaining mass media, from which they argued that they were excluded. Besides, the Internet offered a more economic way of political presence than the remaining mass media. It is also a medium that is addressed to young people and new voters, who to a significant extent have not settled party political preferences. Secondly, the use of the Internet creates a new relationship between the voter and the candidate or the political party. This is a relationship primarily based on an interactive personal communication between citizens and their representatives in Parliament. It emerges that this communication form is more direct when compared to the relationships other mass media and traditional ways of political communication offer. During these first years of presence in the Internet, political parties as well as candidates for the Parliament or the later MPs used the Internet sites in an unsophisticated way, more or less as a personal newspaper, retaining a “showcase” mentality, which attempts to meet the fashion of the day according to which politicians should have an Internet presence. The interactive element is completely absent, or remains incidental, incomplete and post-dated, all of which discourage Internet users who are accustomed to the immediacy of communication that this medium may facilitate. Continuity is found in a very limited number of cases 36. In the national elections of 2000, the political presence in the Internet included a total of 17 political parties, while 175 political personalities have had their own web sites 37. During the most recent national elections of March 2004, the number of political parties has remained almost the same – there have been minor changes in the political formations that participate in the elections. However, the number of the candidates has decreased, according to provisional estimates 38. But in the majority of the cases the treatment of the Internet, which is considered to offer a stationary window picture or an electoral “digital” kiosk, has not changed. The content of the sites may be summarised in the publication of press releases, in photographs from election political meetings, in ad hoc presentations of the results of various polls that present outcomes favourable to the candidates. However, the absence of a political communication strategy and the incorporation of the Internet in the electoral campaign of the candidates and the political parties were again typical. The use of the Internet was dictated more by the needs imposed by political competition, rather than by the realisation of the new capacities for political communication that the use of this medium opens up. A usual excuse for the attitude is the low-level of Internet penetration among the Greek population. The interactive communication between the citizens and the political personalities or political parties was conducted mainly through the use of e-mail, while some political parties offered users-citizens visiting their sites the possibility of completing a form for providing them with continuous information in the future. In the national elections of 2000, but also in those of 2004, there have been some interviews over the Internet – the most widely known are those of the prime-minister and of the head of the opposition. Beyond these criteria web sites emerged with a purely informative political content. These hosted interviews over the Internet, the results of polls, scientific articles, archival material from earlier electoral contents, etc.

35 From the 35 in all political parties that participated in the national elections, 16 of them (or 45.7 per cent of the total), had an Internet presence, see, B. KOTSIKOPOULOU, Idem, p. 199-200. 36 N. SARTZETAKIS (2003), “Political Communication in the Internet. The Case of Greece in the national elections of April 2000, in R. Panagiotopoulou (ed.), Idem, p. 286 (in Greek). 37 Idem, p. 282. 38 In the 2004 elections 15 political parties had a Web site and about 124 candidates. See www.in.gr (Spring 2004).

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In a survey that took place during the electoral period of the year 2000 among Internet users with respect to the political attitudes and perceptions, most users (61 per cent) stated that political websites contribute to the active political participation. Additionally, a sizeable group (43 per cent) said that they would have liked to vote in the national elections through e-voting. However, the presence of political parties in the Internet does not appear to have contributed in a decisive way in citizens voting decision, since in the 1999 Euro-elections 52 per cent of the voters were not influenced by any web site in their choice, while in the national elections of 2000, the relevant per cent was 45.4 39 implying a very limited influence, if any. One may come to the conclusion that despite the difficulties involved in becoming familiar with the new digital technologies, a difficulty that characterises contemporary Greek society, the political parties initially, followed by the political personalities, appeared determined to include the Internet among the media of political communication they employ. Especially the small political parties in Parliament but also those that are not represented in it show that they intend to exploit in a more systematic way the benefits, which the Internet may bring about. However, the picture of its usage appears to be fragmented and rudimentary. The political equalisation of the small with the large political parties may only be emerging during the initial stage in the use of this medium. In fact, since the 2004 national elections, and as regards the content of the Web sites, the bigger political parties often become differentiated from smaller ones. The formers’ Web sites contain a larger variety of topics, use picture and video archives, and so on. Thus the comparative advantage of the easy and inexpensive access to a mass medium may gradually be starting to fade. 6. Concluding remarks In this paper there has been made an attempt to outline how the turn towards the use of ICT has affected modernization. We took Greece as an example to empirically focus on the issue. Particularly, we explored the progress made in terms of the developments of e-governance and e-democracy. The development and spread of ICT is a consequence of the current phase of globalisation. In turn, these technologies may and indeed are applied to accomplish an opening up of the State and its apparatuses to the citizen. The purpose of the exercise is the better servicing of the citizen, but this is attempted in a context, which is that of the EU. Indeed, the Greek state has made an attempt in this direction. Several procedures and actions have been institutionalised and are on the pipeline, while some very interesting as well as positive outcomes in cutting down bureaucratic red-tape are already having an impact. At the same time, the existence of ingrained social inequalities show some of the limitations in the attempt to effect modernisation by “going” digital. E-governance will not, on its own, change much of these social inequalities and this is one early lesson to be learned. We have also been discussing attempts by political parties and candidates for the Parliament to apply ICT for advancing their cause and to cultivate what has been termed e-democracy. While the latter is per se, still not apparent, the use of Internet has shown that, on the one hand, it is possible to have islands of direct contact and political communication. But these islands cannot hold fast for too long before those promoting them come to face the powers of the more established and pre-eminent political agents, on the other. At the end of the day, progress on one field in the application of ICT in governance and political life helps bring out the cleavages existing in wider society. The implication is that the technological determinist position is not winning the day.

39 It must be noted that 60 per cent of the sample concern young people from 15 to 34 years of age. See, N. DEMERTZIS and A. ARMENIKIS, Idem, p. 269.

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Curricula Name: Roy PANAGIOTOPOULOU Position: Professor, Department of Communication and Media Studies, University of Athens, Greece Recent Publications: R. Panagiotopoulou (2004), Regional and Local Television in Greece, Athens, Kastaniotis Publishing (in

Greek). R. Panagiotopoulou (ed.) (2003), Digital Challenge: Media and Democracy, R. Panagiotopoulou (ed.),

Athens, Typothito (in Greek). Name: Sokratis M. KONIORDOS Position: Assistant Professor in Economic Sociology, Department of Sociology, University of Crete, Greece Recent Publications: S. M. Koniordos (ed.) (2005), Networks, Trust and Social Capital: Theoretical and empirical

investigations from Europe, Aldershot, Ashgate [ISBN: 0-7546-3636-4]. A. Moschonas and S. M. Koniordos (eds) (2004), European Integration and Labour Relations, Athens,

Gutenberg, (in Greek) [ISBN: 960-01-0996-6].

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