Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58 33
Boris Kragelj UDK 354:004.738.5(497.4)
Towards e-governance:
Evaluating the use of the Internet
by the Slovenian government
ABSTRACT: The government has potentially good possibilities of employing the
Internet for its activities. It can use the Internet for boosting its internal efficiency,
or it can use it to provide better life for citizens and improve the democratic process
of governance. In the paper we are questioning Slovenian government’s use of the
Internet with regard to various possibilities provided by the Internet and taking
into account broader social and political factors of Internet use by the govern-
ment. We critically evaluate Slovenian government’s use of the Internet at the begin-
ning of 2002 (53 main websites), taking into consideration three important factors:
different possibilities of government employment of the Internet, social conditions of
successful Internet use by the government, and the corresponding model of adopting
the Internet by the government in relation to its particular national background. For
this purpose we are introducing a special methodological approach: an evaluation
study that is based on five classical evaluation criteria of public policy analysis. We
try to determine how (1) effectively, (2) efficiently, (3) equitably, (4) adequately and
(5) responsively the Slovenian government uses the Internet. Based on the results we
can conclude that the Slovenian government only employ the Internet to a limited
extent and we suggest a number of improvements for a more effective and successful
use of the Internet by the Slovenian government in the future.
KEY WORDS: Internet, government, e-governance, e-administration, e-participation,
public policy, evaluation
1. Introduction
The Internet provides new possibilities for government activities in its relationship
with the citizens, the private sector, and also for internal use, for administration pur-
poses. The Internet not only provides another possibility for the government to present
and disseminate its information to the public, but also opens new channels for two-way
communication that could  introduce new ways of operation between government and
its environment. These channels could improve the government administration’s effi-
ciency and may provide its citizens the possibilities for an active public participation
in the process of governance. Some authors (Hernon 2001; Layne and Lee 2001; Smith
2001; West 2000) are looking at the Internet in the way of its capacity for service provi-
sion with government administration using the Internet to provide citizens a non-stop
34 Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58
Boris Kragelj
access to public services, bringing them directly to the citizens in a simpler and more
efficient way. Again some others (De Sola Pol, Grossman in Oblak 2003; Hacker and
Todino 1996; Luk{i~ 2003; Norris and Jones 1998; Oblak 200, 2003, 2003a; Rosenblatt
1999; Van Dijk 1996) look at the capacity of the Internet in different way, namely, as a
chance for bringing the public closer to the government activities and its decision-
making. Among the latter, the Internet is seen as a proper tool for establishing a classi-
cal model of participatory democracy, which could lead the society to a new social
order often called “electronic democracy”.
When evaluating the government’s use of the Internet, we should consider various
potentials of the Internet and many possible ways of employing it by the government.
In this respect the government’s use of the Internet could be evaluated on the basis of
its level of adequate presentation and information provision through the WWW, qual-
ity of administrative electronic service delivery, endeavour to involve citizens in gov-
ernment activities including decision-making, and finally by the appropriate imple-
mentation of all these possibilities regarding specific social conditions of the Internet
use and corresponding national model of establishing e-government.  Taking such
consideration into account, each government should implement its ideas of electronic
governance in a different mode and in a different manner, accordingly to its national
characteristics such as social and political system, cultural practices, historical tradi-
tion … etc.
In the paper we are therefore concerned with the use of the Internet by the Slovenian
government, more precisely, with the extent to which the Slovenian government em-
ploys various Internet possibilities, taking into account appropriate ways of their imple-
mentation due to particularities of the Slovenian national context. The main research
question guiding the study would be the following: How well is the Slovenian govern-
ment using the various possibilities provided by the Internet and how successful is it in
reaching the idea of electronic governance? With the intention to exceed just a com-
mon assessment of (government) websites, we introduce a special methodological
approach that takes into account some broader social and political factors of the
government’s use of the Internet. Applying this methodological approach of evalua-
tion study roughly based on five classical criteria of public policy analysis, we attempt
to estimate: (1) how effectively, (2) how efficiently, (3) how adequately, (4) how equita-
bly and (5) how responsively the Slovenian government uses the Internet? Finally, by
answering to these five questions we try to determine a general comprehensiveness of
the government’s employment of the Internet. We argue that the Slovenian govern-
ment only employs the Internet to a limited extent and provide a number of sugges-
tions for its further improvement towards fully functional electronic governance.
The structure of this paper is as follows. First, we elaborate on the theoretical frame-
work that may serve as groundwork for evaluating activities, concerning the use of the
Internet by the Slovenian government. Here we present different ways and possibilities
of employing the Internet by the government, paying special attention to some impor-
tant ways of their implementation; we develop a corresponding model of establishing
e-governance in Slovenia with regards to its specific national context. From the theo-
Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58 35
Towards e-governance: Evaluating the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government
retical discussion we derive a methodological approach applied in our case study. The
following section brings extensive and detailed empirical results of the evaluation study,
organised by each evaluation criteria separately. At the end, we look at all of the evalua-
tion criteria results together, and draw conclusions with regard to general successfulness
of Slovenian government’s Internet use. Finally, some reasons for the current condition of
government’s employment of the Internet are discussed and a number of suggestions for
an improved Internet use by the Slovenian government in the future are provided.
2. Conceptual framework of electronic governance
A brief theoretical review of electronic governance key concepts will help estab-
lish foundations for understanding our latter evaluation attempt. Electronic gover-
nance (e-governance) can be defined as “... any process that citizenry, in pursuit of
governance, conducts over a computer mediated communication”, or as “… the use of
information and communication technologies (ICT) to support government operations,
engage citizens, and provide government services”, or even as “…a special case of ICT
enabled business process change” (Scholl 2001: 2). Following these definitions e-gov-
ernment is “a government that applies ICT to transform its internal and external relation-
ships in order to optimize carrying out its functions” (DPAM/UNDESA 2002:1) or “a
government that uses the tools and techniques of electronic commerce in the business of
governance for the benefit of both - government and citizens” (Heath 2000: 39).
Layne and Lee (2001: 123) suggest that that establishment of e-governance is an
evolutionary process going through four major stages in government’s adoption of the
Internet: (1) cataloguing (digitalization of government information and documents
followed by their presentation on the WWW), (2) transaction (connection of the inter-
nal government information systems with the WWW allowing citizens to interact and
transact with government electronically), vertical integration (online connection of
local with higher-level government departments’ information systems within the re-
lated functions), and (4) horizontal integration (online integration of different govern-
ment areas and functions into a single point of entry on the WWW). These four stages
together presents a process of gradual transformation of governance from a tradition-
ally and hierarchically structured government to an integrated entity of e-government,
uniformly structured around life scenarios of the average citizen with “one stop shop” for
completing any level or any kind of government service (Layne and Lee 2001: 132).
E-governance can be described as using electronic means to ensure delivery of the
full range of information and services provided by government departments and their
agencies for the citizens and private sector (Malina 2003: 142). Regarding the full
range of information and services possibly provided by the government through the
Internet, e-governance in general can be broken down into three areas (Banisar 2003:
3): government transparency (online presentation of the government and its activi-
ties), electronic administration (provision of government administrative services online)
and electronic participation (provision of online possibilities for public participation
and its engagement in the process of government activities).
36 Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58
Boris Kragelj
Transparency includes general presentation of government departments, provid-
ing insight into governmental work and enabling access to all government documen-
tation so that citizens can get all the information about the government at any time and
have the possibility of supervising its activities and work. All these can help prevent
corruption and strengthen good governance. A government open to scrutiny and ac-
countable to its citizens contributes to building public trust in government and estab-
lishes the legitimacy of its work (Misnikov 2003: 22). Yet, we have to add at this point,
that it is not always an easy task to list consistently and in a commonly agreed manner
all the public departments, their benevolent activities and work duties, which a gov-
ernment is responsible for. As noted elsewhere in political science literature, a state and
its government has often to handle not only “pleasant” services but also less pleasant
obligatory demands - either due to tax collection or other measures resolving interest
conflicts and power struggles within the real politics, which all gives different public
services a variable shadow of coerciveness (more on this in Schedler et al. 1999).
E-administrationcomprises government’s provision of the information on various
services offered by central government departments and their agencies, with the possi-
bility for the citizens to fully carry out these services online. With the use of the
Internet, the citizens could conclude transactions with administration from their “home
sofa” and “through a single point of entry” on the WWW (PCIP 2002: 2); also, the
government could increase its internal efficiency (employing electronic data administra-
tion, operations and storage). Appropriate implementation of the bureaucratic adminis-
trative services on the Internet where they can be fully conducted electronically therefore
results in reduced administrative costs, as well as a better quality of life for citizens.
Beyond the area of e-administration as a mere e-service delivery matters, e-partici-
pation is related to the ambitious idea of using the Internet for improving the demo-
cratic process of governance. It encompasses government’s provision of online possi-
bilities for public participation and citizens’ engagement in the process of government
activities. In its various forms (e.g., synchronous chat, asynchronous forum, web-polls…)
the Internet enables various possibilities that could strengthen democratic activities
(e.g., civic consultations, referenda, voting…) and lead to better governance. The main
idea of e-participation is thus in using the Internet to simplify (make it easy to take
active part), broaden (include all citizens) and deepen (include deliberation and con-
sultations) the democratic process of governance (Oblak 2003:1).
Considering the various areas and possibilities of the government’s Internet use
altogether (e.g., transparency, e-administration and e-participation), the Internet can
soon become the primary source of government information and services delivery
(Eschenfelder and Beachboard 1997: 174). But this will only be accomplished if some
important conditions of the government’s use of the Internet will be taken into account.
The success of government’s Internet services implies some important conditions about
government’s Internet use on which a word of caution should be mentioned.
The Internet potentially brings a chance for strengthening the democratic process,
improving government internal efficiency and providing a better life for the citizens.
But a practical realization of all these potentials strongly depends on the appropriate
Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58 37
Towards e-governance: Evaluating the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government
ways and methods of the government’s Internet implementation. First of all, the gov-
ernment should avoid illegally strengthening its surveillance temptations, inherent to
new information and communication technology as well as to a state’s internal affairs
and investigation agencies. The most important condition of the government’s success-
ful employment of the Internet is therefore above all strong consideration for citizens’
privacy, confidentiality and security in governmental online interactions. Another im-
portant conditions are also universal access to the government’s online services, and
user-centric design of the government facilities on the WWW. Of course all these features
should be guaranteed and controlled also by civic and not only government supervision.
Public fear has its solid base. A collection of various private information about
citizens and integration of government databases holding all kinds of interlinked
information, presents a sensitive but necessary condition for provision of government
services and chances for public participation electronically. There is a strong fear that
such activities could become a strong means of registration and central social control,
which could result in a Foucault’s idea of panopticon - an effective government con-
trol over citizen behaviour instead of a better and more democratic governance
(Blanchette and Johnson 1998: 1; Foucault 1977: 195-231). Therefore, taking special
care for citizens’ privacy and security (confidentiality of personal data and high secu-
rity level of electronic transactions with the government) is the pre-condition of devel-
oping a successful e-governance.
Assuring universal access to all of the e-governance services is the other such
important condition of a successful Internet use by the government. E-government
should be equitably available to all citizens without social or technological discrimi-
nation and though not subverted to a project that will empower only social elites, that
can afford technology and know how to operate it (Malina 2003: 146).
Along with universal access, user-friendly or user-centric design1  of government
features on the Internet is another condition for successfulness of e-governance. User-
centric design of government online facilities presents a necessary condition for their
easy and simple use by the citizens. “Without possibility for an easy and simple use of
the (government) Internet features by their end-users (citizens), there is no real chance
of taking benefits of the potentials provided by the Internet (neither for the govern-
ment, nor for the citizens) (Nielsen 1993: 24, emphasis added).
3. Model of adopting e-governance by
the Slovenian government
Different governments are implementing their ideas of e-governance in a different
ways. On the basis of their national context, socio-political system, cultural character-
istics, historical tradition … etc. they are adopting different models of establishing e-
governance. The process of developing e-governance can be systematically driven
either from the top (top-down approach), or more randomly, namely, from the bottom of
government departments up. Some governments have systematically organized a top
down approach in managing its activities on the Internet. Others have been driven by
38 Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58
Boris Kragelj
individual agencies that set up their own websites because they saw a need and neces-
sity for it (Banisar 2003: 1). However, a coordinated, integrated approach and crosscut-
ting of government activities among different levels and departments of government
on the Internet is urgent at least for developing a more cohesive, holistic and common
approach to e-administration processes (Malina 2003: 148). Before evaluating the
Slovenian government’s use of the Internet, we will therefore first try to present a
proper (ideal) model of its Internet implementation regarding the particularities of the
Slovenian national background.
Kramberger et al. (1998) identified some general factors of differentiation among
governments regarding their way of implementation of the Internet. The factors are
based on different approaches to the presentation and operation of the governments on
the WWW. These factors of differentiation are: degree of centralization (central vs.
individual organization of government departments on the WWW), degree of democ-
ratization (amount of possibilities for public participation through the Internet), open-
ness of the system (orientation of government Internet facilities: internally  - to the
government itself vs. externally - to the public and environment), and the authenticity
or credibility of information provided on the WWW (information provision vs. propa-
ganda) (Kramberger et al. 1998: 215).
Slovenia is a very small country, with a tradition of representative democracy, high
integration of power, and rather centralized system of administration. On the basis of
factors introduced by Kramberger et al. (1998) and considering particularities of the
Slovenian national background, the ideal model of Slovenian government on the
WWW could be as follows. The entire system of Slovenian government websites should
be highly centralized (like the government itself), authentic and credible in providing
information about government work and activities (democratically oriented society),
with relatively high degree of democratic potential (citizens should have possibility
to be in contact with their official political representatives) and open to the public and
environment (originating form the basic right of being informed about government
activities as ensured within the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia).
4. Method: Evaluation study
Several attempts of evaluating the use of the Internet by the governments have
been done in the past (Eschenfelder and Beachboard 1997; Fagan and Fagan 2001;
Hernon 1998; Purcell 1999; Smith 2001; Stowers 1999; West 2000, 2001, 2001a).
They vary with regard to different methodological technique(s) applied, introduced
measures of quality and the government level being assessed (e.g., local, national or
other), but all of them are rather limited in their assessments of only selected (different)
characteristics of government websites and their benchmarking. None of them consid-
ers a more complete framework of government employment of the Internet, embracing
its broader social context, neither do apply comprehensive criteria that would system-
atically take various dimensions of governmental Internet activities into account. All
of the mentioned attempts are similar in another deficiency, namely, that they are
Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58 39
Towards e-governance: Evaluating the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government
commonly concerned only with a single area of governmental Internet use (e.g., online
presentation, e-administration, e-participation). Also, they usually take position of a
biased examination of the government websites – in the way that is either government
or citizen-centric, which as such fails to provide a relevant evaluation including different
areas of government Internet activities and both involved parties (state bodies and rel-
evant users). When examining the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government, we
will try to overcome these major deficiencies with introduction of our special method-
ological approach - an evaluation study based on the criteria of public policy analysis.
Following Rossi and Freeman (1993: 3), an evaluation study is “a systematic use of
procedures, methodologies, and research techniques of the social science, for assessing
ideas, plans, projects, results and effects of public or political programs”. Evaluation
study as a methodological approach is aimed at reviewing certain activity, program
monitoring or assessment of the progress of a given program of activities (Macur 1995:
289). It is designed to question the success of the program under scrutiny in broader
social context taking into account all the partners involved in the program. The pur-
pose of the evaluation study is not only to critically evaluate the effect and success of
a specific program, but also to provide some solutions for improving the performance
of the program and its activities.
In our case, the evaluation study is aimed to evaluate the effect and success of the
Slovenian government’s Internet use, as well as find some solutions for its improve-
ment. The program under evaluation is “the use of the Internet by the Slovenian gov-
ernment”, where the object of assessment is “the whole system of Slovenian govern-
ment websites”2 . For the starting point of our evaluation we apply the above-sketched
“conceptual framework of e-governance”.
For the purpose of the this evaluation study a large and detailed analysis of the
system of (major) Slovenian government’s websites was performed, assessing various
characteristics (e.g., information and service provision, usability, accessibility, privacy
and security, frequency of visitation…), from different perspectives (citizens’ and
government’s), applying different methods (e.g., focus groups, web surveys, usability
testing, technical measurements, network analysis…), and addressing all government
levels (local and national). The analysis includes a snapshot of 53 websites, among
them websites of all ministries, different government bureaus and offices, the office of
the President of the government and some local administration units. The analysis was
carried out at the beginning of 2002; it started with the order given by the Slovenian
government and was performed within a research consortium of public institutions and
specialized private companies3 .
4.1. Evaluation criteria
It is obvious that the execution of any evaluation study should always be grounded
on certain evaluation criteria by which the program of the evaluation study could be
judged. In the case of evaluating the Slovenian government’s use of the Internet adopted
the following evaluation criteria, already well established in the field of public policy
analysis: effectiveness, efficiency, adequacy, equity and responsiveness. These classi-
40 Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58
Boris Kragelj
cal criteria introduced by Dunn (1994) could be applied for the evaluation of any
public or political program. Only when considering all these criteria together we get a
relevant and valid evaluation of the effect and success in the realization of the public
program under scrutiny (Graham and Hays cited in Macur 1995: 297).
Table 1: Criteria for the evaluation, their application to the use of the Internet
by Slovenian government, and their appropriate operationalization
Criteria for the Theoretical description Application of the criteria Operationalization:
evaluation of the criteria  to the government’s use characteristics of
of the Internet government websites
indicating the criteria
Effectiveness Has a potential and valued To what extent have CONTENT and SERVICES
outcome of government’s the various possibilities providedon government
Internet use been achieved?   of government use websites QUALITY of
of the Internet content and service
been realized? provision: ACCURACY
(period of updating)
in providing content
RESPONSE rate and quality
 in online communication
 with government
Efficiency How efficient is the achieved How well can users take USABILITY of websites
outcome of government advantage and benefit from ORGANIZATION and
Internet use? the government’s employment CONNECTEDNESS of
of the Internet, and how websites
adequately in terms of
rationality is government
organized on the WWW?
Equity Are costs and benefits Are the advantages and    ACCESIBILITY of
of government’s Internet use benefits of government government websites
distributed equitably among Internet services equitably by WAI4 standards of
different social groups? accessible to all citizens? universally accessible
website design
Adequacy To what extent does the To the what extent are Actual USAGE of the
achieved outcome resolve the provided government possibilities on government
essential problem and reach Internet services actually websites by citizens
the final goal of government’s used in practice, and, Achieved SOCIAL and
Internet use? to what extent is the goal POLITICAL outcomes of
toward establishing  government websites
e-governance realized?
Responsiveness Do outcomes of government’s Does the government in Users’ DEMANDS vs.
Internet use satisfy the needs, using the Internet (providing government’s OFFER on
preferences and values of content and services) satisfy government websites
particular social groups?    the needs, necessities and Users’ SATISFACTION with
expectations of the users?   government websites
EMPATHY of the government
for citizens’ needs on their
websites: PRIVACY and
SECURITY concerns
Source: derived from Dunn (1994: 405)
Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58 41
Towards e-governance: Evaluating the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government
These criteria together address key points of the whole conceptual framework of e-
governance. They also capture broader socio-political context of government employ-
ment of the Internet as they take into account important social conditions of govern-
ment’s Internet use and proper (ideal) national model of its Internet implementation, as
well as implies both involved parties (government and governed). A general (theoreti-
cal) description of each evaluation criteria, its application in the case of evaluating the
Internet use by the Slovenian government, and the way in which they were opera-
tionalized are demonstrated in Table 1.
Operationalizationof the evaluation criteria copes with the problem of applying
general and theoretically grounded criteria (column 2) to some measurable facts (col-
umn 4) in order to estimate how well governmental use of the Internet in practice meets
each of the evaluation criteria (column 3). As demonstrated in Table 1, each evaluation
criteria is operationalized with a combination of different measurable characteristics
(on the whole system) of the Slovenian government websites.  A combination of assess-
ments of various measurable characteristics of the government websites system of (e.g.,
content and service provision, usability, accessibility, user satisfaction) presents a cor-
responding indicator of certain evaluation criteria. The better the estimate of a certain
combination of measurable characteristics of the (system of) government websites, the
greater is the extent to which a government use of the Internet meets the evaluation
criteria indicated by this combination of characteristics. Finally, the greater the extent
to which the whole system of government websites meets all of the evaluation criteria
together, the better and more successful an average employment of the Internet is - in
our case, by the Slovenian government.
5. Evaluating Slovenian government’s use of the Internet
Before we discuss the results we want explicitly to note that the results are based
solely on the general impression of the Slovenian government websites system as a
whole. Within the present evaluation study, we do not consider any differences be-
tween individual governmental units in their employment of the Internet, even though
they may vary considerably. We originate from the average condition of the entire
system of the Slovenian government on the WWW. The use of the Internet services by
all governmental bodies is apparently presented as an aggregate, with no special atten-
tion devoted to comparisons between particular departments.5
5.1 Effectiveness
Effectivenessis evaluated on the basis of existing content and services provided by
the government on the WWW, as well as on the basis of quality of the content and
services provided by the government online (accuracy in content provision and re-
sponsiveness in online communication). The government’s use of the Internet is effec-
tive if the system of government websites offers online content and services in all areas
of e-governance (content and service provision), if government websites are regularly
updated (accuracy), and if government is responsive and competent in online commu-
nication (responsiveness).
42 Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58
Boris Kragelj
Figure 1 Content and service provision by the Slovenian government on the
WWW (by the area of government online activities); Source: Analysis of
Slovenian government websites (CATI, January 2002); method: website review;
sample: websites of all Slovenian Ministries, n=12
As shown in Figure 1, all of the Ministries provide online access to their informa-
tion indicating their current activities; a majority of Ministries (86%) announce public
tenders and provide enclosed documentation through the Internet, and only a minority
of the Ministries on the WWW (14%) provide actual decisions regarding their work.
Figure 2 Accuracy of Slovenian government websites - period of updating;
Source: Analysis of Slovenian government websites (CATI, January 2002); method:
continuous website review; sample: websites of all Slovenian Ministries, n=12
Evidence regarding accuracy of Slovenian government on the WWW (presented in
Figure 2) show that only a minority of Ministries (17%) update their websites daily,
and almost half of the Ministries (41%) do not provide information about last change
on their websites at all. Here, we should mention that among all the government depart-
ments, the Ministries are among the most advanced in employment of the Internet, so
information not
available
41%
daily
17%
less often
17%
up to 5 days
25%
Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58 43
Towards e-governance: Evaluating the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government
if taking into consideration the overall system of government websites, the condition
of accuracy is even worse.
Figure 3 Responsiveness of government services on the Internet: response rate
and quality of response in online communication with government Source:
Analysis of Slovenian government websites (CATI, January 2002); method: mystery
visiting; sample: systematic selection of government websites (various departments),
n=53
Considering responsiveness (Figure 3), we can see that only half of government
departments respond to the question generally addressed to the department via the e-
mail in decent time (same or next day). This share is even lower if the question is
addressed directly to the Webmaster or to the high department’s representative in per-
son (43% and 44 % respectively). A half of government departments are providing
adequate answers to questions addressed to government departments in general, and
only one third of them provide adequate responses if the questions are addressed
directly to high department’s representatives in person.
With regard to content and service provision (Figure 1), the evidence shows that the
government is most successfully using the Internet for explaining the structure of
government departments and their regular nominal activities, less importance is devoted
to e-administration and the least to its provision of chances for e-participation. Looking
at accuracy (Figure 2) and responsiveness (Figure 3), we can say that services provided
by the government on the Internet are not of very high quality, also. Only a few Minis-
tries are updating their websites regularly and the response rate as well as the quality of
response in online communication with many government departments is not decent.
From the evidence it is also clear that the Slovenian government is using the Internet
only in a limited manner, focusing merely on presentation, not considering the poten-
tials provided by the Internet very seriously. On the basis of these findings we may
conclude that the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government (in the 2002) is not
very effective.
50%
33%
representative
of gov.
department
(officials)
adequate response
no response
formal response
no contact
high gov.
officials
in person
(functionaries)
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
10% 46% 11%
12% 27% 11%44%
50%
technical
support
(web masters)
response
not responded
...same or next day
no contact
representative
of gov.
department
(officials)
high gov.
officials
in person
(functionaries)
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
12% 27% 11%
43% 46% 11%
56%
...in one week
44 Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58
Boris Kragelj
5.2 Efficiency
Efficiency is evaluated by the degree of simplicity of using government Internet
services by their end-users (usability) and appropriateness of the organization of the
system of Slovenian government on the WWW (organization and connectedness of
government departments). A government websites system that is difficult to use by the
citizens or is inadequately organized with regard to the appropriate (ideal) model of
the Internet implementation corresponding to its national context, is of low efficiency
for the citizens (low performance in using government services online), as well as for
the government (low rationalization of its operations). The government use of the
Internet is effective only if government websites are easy to use for citizens, and highly
connected and integrated in a centralized system that is open to the environment, as
presumed from the model, based on the Slovenian socio-political background.
Table 2 Usability of Slovenian government websites: performance in solving
basic tasks on the government websites; Source: Analysis of Slovenian govern-
ment websites (CATI, January 2002); method: usability testing; sample: users with
average experience in visiting government websites, n=6
Legend:   Successfully executed without problems;    Executed with minor problems;
  Executed with major problems;     Not executed successfully;    Run out of time
anticipated for the execution of the task
Results of usability testing of three highly important government department’s
websites (presented in Table 2) reveal that users are confronted with some difficulties
while using government services on the WWW. The users that participated in the
experiment of usability testing, all experienced at least some difficulties in performing
basic tasks on the government websites, and none of them really succeeded to com-
plete all of the anticipated tasks in an expected period of time.
Website Task User 1 User 2 User 3 User 4 User 5 User 6
Office of RS T 1
for equal T 2
chances T 3
T 4
Ministry for T 1
culture of RS T 2
T 3
Ministry for T 1
the Information T 2
Society of RS T 3
Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58 45
Towards e-governance: Evaluating the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government
Figure 4 Organization of Slovenian government websites: network of Slovenian
government departments’ websites; Source: Analysis of Slovenian government
websites (CATI, January 2002); method: network analysis; sample: systematic
selection of government websites (various departments), n=53
Organization of the system of the government websites on the WWW is presented
with the help of network analysis (Figure 4), on the basis of linkage (arcs in the direc-
tion of outgoing hyperlinks toward another department’s website within the system of
government on the WWW), between websites of individual government departments
(nodes) and its frequency of recorded monthly visits among Internet users (largeness of
nodes). The results indicate rather dispersed and decentralized organization of the
governmental online system as grasped by their supposed mutual linkage and visitation.
The system consists of a couple of highly visited government portals (main user entries)
and a number of individual department websites that are almost without visitors (pay-
to-designer entries). Many of the individual departments’ websites can be mutually
reached only through the main government portals (they are not inter-connected) and,
as we can see, they cannot be reached from all of the main government portals. These
findings indicate irrational and improper organization of the government websites
system on the WWW, which is causing difficulties for users in seeking information and
using services on the government department websites. We would expect that ideally
the system of Slovenian government on the WWW would be centralized, with only one
major entry point (all embracing e-government portal) and integrated with a high
degree of mutual interconnection between individual government department’s
websites.
46 Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58
Boris Kragelj
Figure 5 Connectedness of Slovenian government department websites:
outgoing links to related government departments and international institu-
tions; Source: Analysis of Slovenian government websites (CATI, January 2002);
method: website review; sample: websites of all Slovenian Ministries, n=12
Looking at connectedness between individual government department’s websites
alone (outgoing links from one government department to another) (Figure 5), the
results are in accordance with the findings of the above network analysis. Only 71% of
all Ministries provide links on their websites to related government departments within
the Slovenian government websites system on the WWW, and even less (57% of them)
provide links to the important international governmental institutions as well.
On the basis of the presented evidence, where an ordinary Internet user failed to
accomplish even the basic tasks on main government websites, and considering decen-
tralized organization with low connectedness of the system of the government depart-
ments on the WWW, we may claim that the government’s use of the Internet is not very
efficient. This claim has two faces. The government’s Internet use is not efficient from
the government’s point of view because of the irrational and inadequate organization
of the whole government websites system, neither is it efficient from the citizens’ point
of view, as they are confronted with difficulties in using the intended governmental
Internet services. A more appropriate model of the system of the Slovenian government
on the WWW should be organized in a different way: in a more integrated and central-
ized, but still open fashion (i.e. offering only one major portal where the information
and services from different individual departments would be integrated and provided
collectively or in such a way that individual government departments would be inter-
connected to a greater extent between themselves).
It’s worth mentioning here a general characteristic, namely, that the Slovenian
administration as a whole still suffers from a substantial deficiency - at the statistical
data level the magnitude of the same phenomena are hardly congruent and consistent,
if one looks at them across different governmental bodies and departments.6  This
unpleasant feature of classic governance, having its origins in a rather dispersed state
history of Slovenia during the last century, may also contribute to the persistence of the
observed non-integrated e-governance through examination of its websites.
0%
Links to related
governmental
departments
Links to related
international
governmental
institutions (EU)
20% 40% 60% 80%
71%
57%
Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58 47
Towards e-governance: Evaluating the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government
5.3 Equity
Since all citizens are paying taxes and therefore indirectly contribute to the devel-
opment of government’s Internet services, ideally they should be available to all of
them regardless of their possession of latest computer equipment or the level of their
ability and knowledge of using it7 . Equity is evaluated on the basis of the universal
access of government content and services on the WWW. The government is using the
Internet equitably, if the government websites meet Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
standards of universally accessible web design. Although such a measure itself does
merit for a full range of conditions inherent to the universal access without technologi-
cal and social discrimination and as such fails to address full dimension of equity, it
presents a necessary condition for it.
Figure 6 Accessibility of Slovenian government websites (meeting require-
ments of WAI guidelines); Source: Analysis of Slovenian government websites
(CATI, January 2002); method: HTML validation of WAI principles; sample: systematic
selection of government websites (various departments), n=53
The evidence presented in figure 6 indicates that only a minority (6%) of all gov-
ernment departments’ websites meet WAI principles, and a majority of department’s
websites (73%) do not meet principles of universally accessible website design. Users
with special needs (vision-impaired, those lacking necessary skills), disabled people
and users with unsophisticated computer equipment are therefore automatically ex-
cluded from access to all governmental content and services provided online and
cannot take an advantage of all of the services provided by the government on the
WWW. On the basis of this finding, we may claim that government use of the Internet
is inequitable. It favours privileged social classes and as such does not contribute to
the idea of democratic government open to all citizens. This issue is just another facet
of the digital-divide discussion on Slovenia.
not meeting
WAI atributes
of univ. access
73%
entirely
meeting WAI
atributes of
univ. access
6% partialy
meeting WAI
atributes of
univ. access
21%
48 Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58
Boris Kragelj
5.4 Adequacy
Adequacyis evaluated on the basis of actual usage of the government facilities
provided through the Internet and estimation of social and political outcomes that
could be potentially achieved with the government’s employment of the Internet fa-
cilities. Government’s use of the Internet is adequate if its online facilities are actually
used for the designed purpose and are achieving “desired” social and political out-
comes: i.e. improved process of governance and better quality of life for citizens.
Figure 7 Actual usage of Slovenian governmental Internet services: Have you
ever … ; Source: Analysis of Slovenian government websites (CATI, January 2002);
method: web survey; sample: self-selection of Internet users, n=107
The evidence presented in Figure 7 shows that a great majority of Slovenian Internet
users (78%) are actually using the government Internet services, too. A great majority
of the users (75%) use government Internet facilities merely for searching the official
governmental information and documents, and only a minority of them use these
facilities for the purpose of political engagement - such as writing e-mail to govern-
ment institutions and their representatives (28%), or participating in online discussion
on a political issue (17%).
Accordingly, with actual usage of government online facilities (presented in table
7), social and political outcomes of government’s employment of the Internet at its best
help in strengthening the transparency of government activities and do not result in
encouraging public participation or developing a sounder process of governance (Table
3). Estimates among Internet users show that among all the possible outcomes of gov-
ernmental Internet use, the greatest success by the Slovenian government is evidently
achieved in assuring a direct access to government information (mean value is 3) and
a smaller in provision of chances, either for e-administration or e-participation (mean
values 2,5 and 2,4 respectively).
...visited the website of any political
institution (ministry, parliament)
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
...try to search for official government
documents (laws, programs)
...try to participate in online poll or
survey on political issue
...try to write an e-mail to government
institutions or its officials
...try to participate in a discussion on
a political issue
never once more often
13%
17%
25%
57%
64% 18% 17%
15% 28%
17% 58%
8% 75%
9% 78%
Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58 49
Towards e-governance: Evaluating the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government
Table 3 Assessment of social and political impacts of Slovenian government
websites; Source: Analysis of Slovenian government websites (CATI, January 2002);
method: web survey; sample: self-selection of Internet users, n=135
Symmetry of both, the actual usage and the outcomes of government Internet facili-
ties might have two explanations. It could suggest that Slovenian government under-
employs the Internet for e-administration and e-participation, or, vice versa, that citi-
zens simply are not properly motivated for a more “ambitious” use of the Internet. In
any case, we may conclude that the Slovenian government’s Internet is quite inad-
equate. “Government should provide useful links to chat rooms, electronic confer-
ences and interactive forums, combined with the proper initiatives and encouraging
content that would stimulate greater citizen involvement in government activities”
(Oblak 2003: 12).
5.5 Responsiveness
Responsiveness is evaluated with three factors: on the basis of comparison between
users’ demands from the government online and Internet services actually offered by
the government online, with the degree of government empathy for citizen needs on
the WWW, and finally, on the basis of general satisfaction of users with the government
use of the Internet. Therefore the government’s use of the Internet is responsive, if the
  What do you think, Not 2 3 4 Very Estimate
  how successful is at all successful (Mean value)
  government with
  its websites in …
  … Assuring direct access
  to all government
  information of public nature
  to all citizens 14% 20% 35% 14% 17% 3
  … Strengthening legitimacy
  of the government and
  its institutions 20% 19% 34% 18% 9 % 2,8
  … Building trust between
  citizens and government 17% 29% 29% 15% 10% 2,7
  … Providing support for
  citizens in relation with
  government administration
  and its services 22% 34% 27% 13% 5 % 2,5
  … Providing democratic
  possibilities to take active
  part in the process of
  government decision
  making to all citizens 31% 27% 24% 6 % 11% 2,4
50 Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58
Boris Kragelj
offer on government websites matches user demands, if users are appreciating the effort
of government to satisfy their needs on the WWW, and if users are generally satisfied
with government’s use of the Internet.
Figure 8 Intentions for using Slovenian government websites: For what pur-
pose do you (would you) use government websites? Would you use it for... ;
Source: Analysis of Slovenian government websites (CATI, January 2002); method:
web survey; sample: self-selection of Internet users, n=135
Considering various possible intentions of using government websites, a majority
of Internet users are mostly interested only in transparency of government activities:
getting information about government activities (69% of Internet users) and accessing
government documents (67%). Less than half of the Internet users have demands for e-
administrative matters (36%) and even less for e-participation matters (22%). These
tendencies in user demands match the distribution of content and services provided by
the government on the WWW (Figure 1), where transparency gets the most attention,
before e-administration, and with e-participation an the end.
Results of government empathy for citizen needs presented in Table 4 show that the
majority of Internet users appreciate the government efforts to satisfy their needs on the
WWW, especially in the most sensitive area of protecting citizens’ privacy and security
of their personal data (mean value 3,4). Also, considering the aggregated satisfaction
with various characteristics of government websites (Figure 9), we could say a majority
of Internet users seem to be completely (44%) or at least partially (40%) satisfied with
current government employment of the Internet.
searching information about activities,
news and current projects
accessing government documents
(program, laws, regulations)
matters related to government
administration and services (guidelines,
instructions, possible transactions)
getting in touch with government
department or officials (tel&fax, address,
e-mail, working hours)
using online communication with
government or officials (expressing opinions,
discussing, consulting)
0% 20% 40% 60%
69%
67%
36%
22%
80%
Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58 51
Towards e-governance: Evaluating the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government
Table 4 Empathy of Slovenian government websites – user’s assessment of
government effort to satisfy citizen needs: How much do you agree with the
following statements? Source: Analysis of Slovenian government websites (CATI,
January 2002); method: web survey; sample: users of government websites within
self-selection of general Internet users, n=103
Figure 9 Satisfaction with the Slovenian government’s websites: How are you
in general (considering all different characteristics) satisfied with govern-
ment websites? Source: Analysis of Slovenian government websites (CATI, January
2002); method: web survey; sample: self-selection of users on government websites,
n=395
  How much do you Don’t 2 3 4 Perfectly Estimate
  agree with the agree agree (mean value)
  following statements? at all
  Government seems to
  take care for users’
  privacy and try to provide
  secure transactions
  on their websites. 10% 15% 29% 24% 22% 3,4
  Government websites
  are intended only for
  self-promotion, forgetting
  on citizens needs! 11% 16% 27% 26% 19% 3,3
  Government websites
  are designed only for
  particular groups and
  not for ordinary citizens
  like me! 9 % 19% 45% 20% 7 % 3
  Government websites
  are neglecting concrete
  problems faced by the
  citizens! 20% 18% 17% 28% 16% 3
not satisfied
(missed user needs)
16%
partially satisfied
(suggested changes)
40%
completely
satisfied
44%
52 Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58
Boris Kragelj
Comparison of both sides, users’ demands from the government versus the
government’s offerings on the WWW, show that users’ demands almost perfectly match
the government’s offer. Furthermore, a majority of users appreciate the government’s
effort to satisfy their needs online and in general they are mostly satisfied with the
government employment of the Internet. All this evidence indicates that Slovenian
government is using the Internet very responsively, in accordance with user needs and
expectations.
6. Towards e-governance in Slovenia:
Conclusions and suggestions for future developments
With respect to the results of our evaluation study, we should notice that they are
based on a general impression of the entire system of the Slovenian government websites
and are thus not directly related to any of the particular government department. Re-
sults are also based on the evidence that is dated and may not reflect the existing
condition of the system of government websites anymore. Nevertheless, due to the
holistic approach of our study, which focuses on broader issues of e-governance and
which results do not change as fast as particular characteristics of government
department’s websites, the results may still reveal some fundamental problems of the
employment of the Internet by the Slovenian government.
The evaluation study revealed that the Slovenian government is not very effective,
efficient, equitable or adequate in using the Internet, but is surprisingly very respon-
sive. The government, using the Internet, is apparently not reaching a high level of
effectiveness because of its limited employment of the Internet in the area of e-admin-
istration and e-participation, and also because of the limited quality of its Internet
services. It is not particularly efficient because government Internet services are hard to
use by the citizens and because the system of government on the WWW is not orga-
nized rationally, appropriately for the specific national socio-political context. The
use of the Internet by the Slovenian government is also not equitable because all
citizens do not have equal access to the government Internet services and it is not very
adequate because it does not succeed to achieve important social and political out-
comes, potentially enabled by the Internet. However, the government Internet use is
highly responsive because it succeeds to meet user demands. On the basis of such
findings we conclude that Slovenian government is not exploiting the possibilities of
the Internet properly and that the Slovenian government is not yet fully successful in
reaching the idea of e-governance.
Let us try to explain the phenomenon of responsiveness. Although the government
is highly responsive to user needs it does not succeed to meet other evaluation criteria
and consequently does not reach greater social and political outcomes potentially
enabled by the Internet. This fact indicates that responsiveness is to some extent in
contradiction with other evaluation criteria, especially with adequacy with which it is
most evidently in pure contradiction. As presented in Figure 8, a majority of users do
not expect government’s Internet services to include e-participation features that are
Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58 53
Towards e-governance: Evaluating the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government
essential for greater social and political outcomes, potentially enabled by the Internet.
Government priority to user demands therefore directly results in disregarding Internet
use for e-participation matters and consequently, in ignorance of important social and
political outcomes that could be potentially achieved with the Internet. High respon-
siveness in government’s use of the Internet is automatically reducing its adequacy,
limits stimulation of possibilities for achieving greater social and political outcomes
enabled by the Internet, and prevents the full range of e-governance developments.
On the basis of these findings, if we consider responsiveness as a social measure of
achieved democracy, we may even speculate that an average level of achieved democ-
racy within the country is not as high as declared elsewhere: if government is not very
far-reaching in its usage of Internet and if users are still satisfied with it - than one may
also guess that this is a mutually dependent issue. As overall government’s Internet use
was found not to be on a very high level, but obviously very responsive, we may infer
that the government itself in fact is not responsive (what would be in congruency with
the other evaluation criteria), but users are satisfied with its effort none the less. This
would mean that the reason for the ascertained responsiveness is not in government’s
empathy for citizens’ demands, but in the low recognition of the value of the Internet
and a rather poor culture of its use on the side of both, the government and the citizens.
These last findings on e-government responsiveness would imply an interesting
additional insight: namely, that our evaluation criteria on “good” and “comprehen-
sive” e-governance are set at a much higher level than those of average users. This
discrepancy can be explained with the model of government’s Internet policy in the
relation to the cultural values socially assigned to the technology of the Internet.
According to Werle (2003), in Europe, there are basically two subsequent policy
models at work in governments’ aspiration toward the “information society”, which
significantly differ regarding the role and value devoted to the Internet by the govern-
ment. In the first one (Old information society approach), emphasis was put on the
society’s need for an efficient and internationally competitive telecommunication in-
frastructure, where the Internet remained in the background as a kind of hidden agenda
without visible commitment to its use. In the latter one (New information society
approach), the government is not only passively open to the Internet but actively takes
up the needs, preferences and interests related to Internet use, with users playing a more
prominent and active role (Werle 2003: 70-71). Considering the results of the evalua-
tion study it seems that Slovenian government is still in the stage of “old information
society approach”, with true potential of the Internet remaining in the background of
its “information society” activities.
Werle in his model of Correspondence between the Internet and culture (2003: 73)
also suggests that development of the technology of the Internet is accompanied with
a certain trend in changes of cultural values, assigned to the Internet by its users.
Among cultural values that would better correspond to the “new approach to information
society” are: individualism, freedom, self-responsibility, active participation, mistrust
toward bureaucracies and hierarchies; all of them incorporating a more or less critical
perspective toward the government and its power that can be easily abused. Though,
54 Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58
Boris Kragelj
judging by the overall evaluation results that are not at all favourable, and an obvi-
ously high estimation of responsiveness Slovenian Internet users apparently did not
yet adopt new cultural values anticipated by Werle. While the groundwork for our
evaluation obviously already originates from the new policy model approach, Slovenian
users evidently still possess the cultural values corresponding to the old one. If this is
the fact, and cultural values assigned to the Internet by the users are still corresponding
to the “old approach to information society”, and also, as inferred from the findings of
the presented study, this approach is still at work in Slovenia, our overall (not good)
appreciation of the Slovenian government’s Internet use reasonably ends in line with
its rather high (good) responsiveness. Simply, a not yet satisfactory e-government
supply is a mirror of the mainly parochial, a too obedient, and not very demanding
overall (political) culture in Slovenia.
On the basis of general conclusions we may argue that Slovenian government on
one side, and the governed on the other, have only limited benefits from the current
government’s employment of the Internet. With better employment of the Internet, the
Slovenian government could benefit both sides. Government itself would improve
internal productivity, raise the level of democratic process, rationalize the acceptance
of political decisions, and strengthen its own legitimacy. On the other side, citizens
would get a chance to establish a better relationship with the government, complete
services with the government from their home in an easy and simple way, participate in
government activities and decision-making, and finally, improving their quality of
life.
A plausible reason for a lag in the national developments regarding employment of
the Internet lies in governments’ inadequate strategic political action and a lack of
appropriate government incentives, already in the first period of (global) Internet de-
velopments in the early 1990s (Werle 2003: 66). This could especially be the case for
Slovenia, which adopted its first public policy document concerning government’s
Internet use as late as 2003 (The Republic of Slovenia in the Information Society), and
only under the pressure of joining the European Union, following its e-Europe+ action
plan. With regard to the lack of policy initiatives in the government’s Internet domain,
the presented evaluation study provides several directions that could serve as policy
recommendations concerning governmental use of the Internet for the Slovenian gov-
ernment. Consideration of the following suggestions could bring the Slovenian gov-
ernment closer to the idea of fully functional e-governance:
- Utilization of the broader potential of the Internet for government activities, espe-
cially in the area of e- participation
- Raising the quality of content and service provision in the way of improving accu-
racy and responsiveness in online communication
- Improving the ease of use of government websites and simple exploitation of their
possibilities
- Integrating departments’ websites into a more centralized system with a “single
point of entry” on the WWW (the e-governance portal)
Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58 55
Towards e-governance: Evaluating the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government
- Assuring universal access of government Internet services
- Reducing the effort of satisfying user needs for the price of more ambitious and
socio-politically engaged employment of the Internet (but keeping high care for
privacy and security)
- Promoting more ambitious use of government Internet facilities among citizens
and stimulating their greater involvement in government activities; by Davis (1999:
179) poor interest of citizens for the politically engaged use of the Internet presents
the most important barrier for achieving greater social and political outcomes,
potentially enabled by the Internet
These suggestions should serve as a policy recommendation for the development
of the Slovenian government on the WWW. Because government administration sys-
tems are being naturally slow, inflexible, and insensitive to social changes or changes
in human needs (Caiden in Lynn 2003: 50); and because they are traditionally very
resistant to internal changes with a strong tendency to predomination of the status quo,
unless exposed to very powerful executive policy (Lynn 2003: 59), the above policy
recommendations must be legally adopted. Without an adequate policy concerning
governmental Internet use introduced on the highest level of the government hierar-
chy, we can hardly expect significant changes in the government’s employment of the
Internet in the near future (for more on the role of legality for bureaucracy, see Weber
1958).
All the conclusions about the use of the Internet by the Slovenian government are
drawn upon single measures and are based on the condition of the whole system of
Slovenian government websites at the beginning of the 2002. From the continuously
changing nature of the WWW we can expect that the condition has changed consider-
ably since the measures were taken. The factor working against this is the fact that users
appreciated the already achieved level in 2002, but none the less, we can expect at
least some degree of change through time also in users’ expectations, which would be
followed by the responsiveness of government. Therefore, future research in the area
should focus on a longitudinal study with comparison of the government use of the
Internet across time. Yet another form of comparison would be across different govern-
ment sections regarding their exigency and expectancy of employing the Internet. We
can suspect that government departments with functions such as information and ser-
vice provision would somehow be more forced to move online and therefore signifi-
cantly more engaged in developing their activities on the Internet. These kinds of
longitudinal and cross-sectional studies would certainly help us to improve further
understanding and deepen our explanation of the use of the Internet by the Slovenian
government.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank to professor Nicholas W. Jankowski under whose supervision during the
seminar New Media & Society (and much beyond it) this paper has been developed. His
thorough and rigorous comments on the (numerous) previous versions of this paper have been
nothing but a stimulation of my persistence to bring my research work to the level suitable for
56 Dru`boslovne razprave, XX (2004), 45: 33-58
Boris Kragelj
publication. An acknowledgement also goes to the editor of the present journal, who at the end,
provided me with final comments and encouraged me to publish this paper, and also to Zenel
Batagelj, president of CATI research & consulting company, who offered me the opportunity to
take part in the project Analysis of Slovenian Government Websites (2002), and trusted me on
the idea of its execution. Still, the author is fully responsible for all remaining insufficiencies.
Notes
1. User-centric design in government’s application of various possibilities provided by the Internet
means organizing government features online in the way of needs, demands and preferences of
the citizens. Namely, this is the only way that they could commonly used. A success of e-
governance is dependent from actual use of government online facilities, which requires re-
conceptualization of traditional government structure so that it will be organized for citizens’
convenience instead of the convenience for the government.
2. We are considering all websites under the domain gov.si together, disregarding the differences
between each unit, which vary considerably.
3. At the beginning of 2002, by the order of Government Bureau for Information and Ministry of
Information Society, a detailed analysis of condition of Slovenian government websites system
was carried out. The research project was conducted by the “CATI research & consulting”
company, together with the Faculty of Social Sciences Ljubljana, and with support of two other
specialized private companies: “PROFANO” (expertise in website development and design) and
“DOTI^NI.NET” (expertise in web measurements). The summary of findings as well as detailed
results of the analysis are publicly accessible through the website of Ministry of Information
Society (www.gov.si/mid/Analiza_spletisc/Analiza_spletisc.zip) (consulted Oct. 2003).
4. WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) is the public initiative with the commitment to lead the
WWW to its full potential - with promotion of universal access of website content dedicating
special attention to people with all kind of disabilities. The WAI initiative includes fourteen
guidelines which presents general principles of universally accessible website design. The
guidelines are accessible on http://www.w3.org/WAI/ (consulted Oct. 2003).
5. Detailed empirical results including the differences between each of the analysed governmental
units can be found on www.gov.si/mid/Analiza_spletisc/Analiza_spletisc.zip (consulted:  May
2003).
6. This fact was recognized and noted to also by the European Commission while closing one of
the acceptation chapters in the process of Slovenian accession to the European Union.
7. Well, a bit of exaggeration here. We can imagine that this “ideal” with government being
equitable to all the citizens in practice is hardly achieved in any area of its activities.  Namely,
government also confronts with its own constraints and temptations, and is exposed to strong
exterior pressures of various interest groups, so its equity is usually merely a result of conflict
struggles among all involved parties, not being fully benevolent to the citizens.
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