The New Progressives? The Emergence of Civic Tech in the United States and its Implications for Governing
While much has been written on digital government as a general trend, this working paper instead examines how civic tech is changing American government, focusing on an influential constellation of actors who shape the understanding and implementation of technological opportunities.
Civic tech for government applies technology, data and human centered design to improve policy implementation, often with a social justice focus. It represents a distinct field of administrative practice, addressing traditional public administration problems inside and outside government, in a way that will have long-ranging effects on public sector reform and service delivery. Civic tech offers the promise of increasing state capacity in a way that centers attention on public service clients. This paper explains the origins of civic tech, its core values, how it has evolved, how it is changing government and potential opportunities to build bridges between civic tech and the academic study of government.
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