Automating the Bureaucracy: Using McDonaldization Theory to comprehend the future evolution of E-Government

Sociologist George Ritzer has written extensively on the phenomenon of ‘McDonaldization’ occurring in various facets of the American life experience, and increasingly around the world. This paper posits that the current interest in E-Government may be considered a new front in the trend towards McDonaldization, in this case the McDonaldization of government. Concepts from Ritzer's theory are used to demonstrate why E-Government may be considered an effort to foster McDonaldization of government; and to explore what this may mean for the future of government. It is proposed that McDonaldization can serve as a useful paradigm and framework for E-Government research; and that by familiarizing themselves with Ritzer's McDonaldization thesis, researchers in E-Government should be able to glean useful insights that can help them during the course of their research.