Europeanisation of Local Governing in Istanbul: The EU's e-Government Policy

As a multi-level governing system, the EU provides policy templates beyond its borders, from regional development policy to e-government. Hence, it is an actor and source of transnationalisation of governance in the world. This happens either through the EU’s actions or domestic actors’ own efforts. On the other hand, with the increasing use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by public institutions, the relation between citizens and states are transforming. Virtual space opens up the potential for more democratic and effective governing by allowing access to information, services and participation at policy processes along various levels of governing. Yet, the use of ICTs by state institutions varies in nature and type. Therefore, there is not a uniform e-government policy across the countries or even within domestic borders. As result, new relationality between citizens and state institutions differs depending on the factors that induced the use of ICTs. One of the likely sources for e-government practices at different countries is the EU. The diffusion of EU’s e-government policy beyond its borders presents a good case to explore and hopefully explain the multi-level politics involved over the use of ICTs by different state institutions. The paper analyses whether, how and to what extent the EU influenced local institutional governing practices beyond its border with its e-Government policy. It questions whether any such influence has led to more democratic and effective governing practices at local level via allowing acts of citizenship at virtual space. The empirical focus of the paper is placed on the development and usage of ICTs at local institutional governing in Istanbul with a view to understand any change at the relationship between state-citizen; and whether, how and what extent the EU had any effect on this change. In terms of causality, it is assumed that the EU’s e-government policy might have effect on the e-governing practices of three municipalities in Istanbul due to both the EU’s external governance and/or Turkey’s own domestic factors such as lesson drawing or policy transfer. Overall, the paper provides a rich case to explore and understand how multi-level cross border politics is vital to understand the use of ICTs by state institutions, and its resultant effects on the prevailing state-citizen relationality, governance and democracy.