Translating Policies - How e-government can be a “glue” in multi-level government organizations

All forms of e-government are integrated in an organizational structure defined by the institutional arrangements of the specific state. Thus when using e-government applications to make the government smarter it has to be contextualized in the specific structure of government. A common institutional arrangement is to divide governments into different levels – a multi-level government system. This paper focus on how e-government can be a smart tool for such integration and bridging over levels of government. Based on two case studies of implementation of welfare policies in Sweden. Implementation of public policies is here seen as a process of translation. The analysis elaborates on how egovernment can be smart tool to translate policies from one national decisions into local practices. The concluding argument is that digitalization, if used smartly, can function as glue between the levels of government. in a multi-level government system.