Directgov: The Right Direction for E-government or a Missed Opportunity?

The principal website of the UK government, " Directgov " , is examined to determine whether it is a good example of e-government, in both narrow and broader senses. The narrow definition measures the website " s success largely on economic factors whereas the broader definition encompasses the extent to which it facilitates or enables aspirations towards e-democracy. It is concluded that, despite being successful in the narrow sense, Directgov, constitutes a missed opportunity to broaden the scope of the website " s functionality to provide an e-democracy model that would improve the relationship between citizen and state. A comparative assessment is presented of similar initiatives in Canada, USA, Singapore and Estonia.