New technologies, democracy and the efficiency of political institutions

This article studies the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and democracy on political institutions performance. First, we study empirically the impact of technology on government efficiency. In this respect, we show statistically for a cross-section of 98 countries that ICTs and the democratic level significantly explain government performance, while economic openness (as a proxy for globalisation) does not. Secondly, taking Brynjolfsson et. al (2002) work we identify the organizational determinants of efficient ICTs assimilation by enterprises and we apply them to the main political institutions. Using these determinants, we explain why parliaments, political parties, and the public administration have assimilated technology in a distinct manner and path. Finally, we show the direction of some organizational and institutional changes needed in order to better incorporate technologies in the political process fostering then its efficiency.