Empowering citizen – improving legitimate e - government ? -

The output side of the political system provides services for citizens and societies. It is on the output side daily interaction among citizens and public administration take place and is maintained. This is, indeed, a crucial aspect of daily life for most citizens and their interpretation of a good life, not at least in mature welfare states with extensive provision of public social services as in Sweden and has been recognized as important for political legitimacy. e-democracy are extending the meaning of democracy by using information technologies on the in-put side of the political system and thereby influencing political legitimacy in traditional terms. But there is also, as addressed in this paper, digital democratic empowerment and interaction among citizens and the public administration at the output side of the political system. Thus the use of electronic governmental interaction at the output side of the political system is a core of political legitimacy in the digital era legitimate e-government. On the output side of the political system the introduction of e-government have mainly lead to provision of public e-services and information about public services in general. A consequence of the increased and improved Internet use is also that citizens become more informed. In their roles as citizens they can extend their knowledge about available services, social rights and they may also compare public services among municipalities, regions and even states. There are online communities empowering citizens in this respect in different sectors (for example health care, social services and social insurances) and among different groups (for example elderly, people on parental leave and students). In general the e-citizen can probably be empowered and strengthen their positions in relation to the public administration through these community groups. The legitimacy for public administration in general may increase by these processes. This paper will open discussions and test models on how empowering processes takes place in on-line communities and relate them to meanings of legitimacy.