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PurposeThe relationship between the state and the individual is, more than ever before, being mediated by public portals. The requirement specifications for public portals can be said to define the level of expectation among influential actors concerning the roles of the individual in this relationship at a certain point in time. At the same time, they are part of an emergent‐development process. The purpose of this paper is to test this perspective in the empirical context of healthcare.Design/methodology/approachThis research proposes a framework for analysing the requirement specifications for public portals, making various roles possible, such as being a patient, a citizen, a consumer, and a customer. The framework is tested in a case study of a Swedish national healthcare portal.FindingsIt can be concluded that prominent actors in this particular context of design defined the requirement specification so that the patient and citizen roles were well supported, whereas the roles of the consumer and customer were supported in a less well‐developed manner. The case study also indicated the importance of reusing already existing functionality to attain quick and tangible results. Consequently, the individual is both enhanced and limited by the "travel of ideas" in the form of the reuse of existing functionality.Originality/valueThis paper puts forward the view that the requirement specifications for public portals are part of the emergent formation of an e‐governance relationship.

In a critical endeavor, the rationalities existing in the design of public e-services are investigated using the quasi-market for education in Sweden as an example. This study explores the following questions: (1) What rationalities exist in the discourse on the design of public e-services? (2) What can be said about these rationalities from the point of view of a critical perspective on the design of public e-services in a quasi-market situation? The study shows that in the processes of design economic, service, networking as well as institutional and ideological rationalities appear. In the specific context of a quasi-market for education, public eservices might be seen as part of the emergent construction of the market adding new complexities to these rationalities. Adapted from the source document. COPIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM: HAWORTH DOCUMENT DELIVERY CENTER, The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580

This paper describes a Swedish example of when the Internet was used as a citizen-local government link. More specifically, the Internet has been used to provide on-line discussion forums in three local government districts in the City of Goteborg. Some user representatives participated in the process of design of the forums. Consequently, this is an example of Participatory Design outside the workplace. The potential of the forums to improve democracy is valued against the ideal of deliberative democracy. In this ideal the presence of a genuine discussion between citizens and politicians is seen as a goal. Unfortunately, there was a lively discussion only in the forum of one district. This means that the goal of deliberative democracy was not reached yet in the districts. To reach this goal, a strategy of continuous involvement of potential user groups in the design and implementation of the forums is recommended. Such groups are e.g. parents of schoolchildren, as well as relatives of elderly that get service from local government.

Part 3: Governance, Openess and Institutions ; International audience ; This paper focuses on the seemingly routine but essential aspects of network formation by actors in an E-government context. A qualitative case study is used to explore portal development in public healthcare. The theoretical framework applied is Actor-Network Theory (ANT). The research question is: What factors contribute to the enrolment of strategic local actors in technology development in E-government? The results of the study show that the basic functionalities are of strategic importance for the enrolment of local actors in the portal development and its use. These functionalities act as enrolment devices. In complex environments, critical success factors for network formation require local support based on present usefulness of the functionalities and on long-term project organization that safeguards their future development.

The relationship between the individual and the state is more often than previously mediated by public e-services. An emergent phenomenon in this respect is the various forms of devices supporting choice of education that are provided through portals. The question dealt with in this article is: How do portals containing different devices support choice in educational markets? Two portals run by national public authorities in Sweden concerned with educational issues have been chosen as material for the analysis. A first conclusion is that the devices integrate a sequence of advanced calculations, which aim to contribute to a choice of education. Secondly, we can distinguish between a mechanical and a pedagogical character of integration. A third conclusion is that the devices connect the objectives of government authorities with choices in educational markets and are therefore part of public policy implementation. Finally, it is argued that the seemingly simple procedures for calculation might affect people's entire lives, a fact which adds an ethical dimension to the design of this kind of public e-services.