Transparency in the portals of Brazilian Federal Government: The cases of E-procurement Portal and Transparency Portal

What are the possibilities of promoting transparency in the Federal Brazilian Government Portals? The objective of this research is to discover what possibilities exist to promote transparency in the Federal Brazilian Government Portals: ComprasNet (E-procurement Portal) and Transparency Portal. The methodology used was: 1) a literature review about egovernment, transparency and the relationship between them; 2) an investigation of the features in these websites; and, 3) an evaluation of transparency in the government websites ComprasNet Portal and Transparency Portal. The literature suggests that e-Government can promote transparency in government. Exploratory research allowed cataloging various information that is available in the portals that enhance transparency, for example, glossary, legislation, communication tools and reporting, among others. We applied an evaluation method called Website Attribute Evaluation System (WAES) and concluded that these portals do not have the most items proposed to ensure transparency. Only ComprasNet Portal provides results superior to 50% in one of the proposed categories. We also conclude that information and communication technologies (ICTs) will not promote the rights of citizenship as the promotion of transparency by itself, but also depend on a culture of transparency that society is prepared to control and understand how the Government acts.