Exploring Non-State Stakeholder and Community-Led Open Governance: Beyond the Three Pillars of Open Government

Abstract

Over the past four decades, open government has been applied and researched in diverse democratic and administrative contexts. The literature focuses primarily on open government initiatives designed by government actors or co-created by government actors with non-state stakeholders. But the literature has paid little attention to the emergence of open governance by non-state stakeholders acting independently of government and developing innovative solutions to complex social problems. Thus, we develop a conceptual model of non-state stakeholder-led and community-driven open governance. Based on an in-depth case study on OpenStreetMap—a global digital community of more than 300,000 volunteer mappers—we found key themes and sub-themes that illuminate the concept of non-state stakeholder and community-led open governance leading to a comprehensive model of open governance that compares existing open government initiatives with non-state stakeholder and community-led initiatives. This study extends the open government literature by considering the role of non-state stakeholders in open governance initiatives. Findings from this study can help government actors harness the efforts of non-state stakeholders that provide public benefit.

Keywords:

• Collaborative
• governance
• information and communication technology
• open governance
• open government
• open innovation

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chul Hyun Park

Chul Hyun Park is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. He received a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy from Arizona State University and a Master of Public Policy from Georgia State University. His research interests include information technology for collaborative decision making, crisis informatics, and policy analysis and program evaluation. Currently, he focuses on how non-state actors collaborate with public organizations to address complex social problems, using information, communication, and computational technologies.

Justin Longo

Justin Longo is the Cisco Research Chair in Digital Governance and an Assistant Professor in the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Regina. He has a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Public Administration from the University of Victoria where he researched the use of social collaboration platforms inside government policy analysis settings, and was a postdoctoral fellow in open governance at Arizona State University. His current research focuses on the social, organizational, and political implications of advanced technology, especially artificial intelligence and public surveillance. From the unanticipated consequences of policy analytics and algorithmic governance, to new ways of organizing work, and the evolving relationship between citizens and the state, the profound changes of the digital era provide the foundation for considering the trajectory of our shared future.

Erik W. Johnston

Erik W. Johnston is a Professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and Director of Policy Informatics at the Decision Theater, both at Arizona State University. His research focuses on policy informatics, the study of how computational and communication technology is leveraged to specifically understand and address complex public policy and administration problems and realize innovations in governance processes and institutions. With undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Psychology as well as an M.B.A. and Master of Science in Information Technology from the University of Denver, Johnston holds a Ph.D. in Information from the University of Michigan with a certificate on complex systems.