A presentation by Mete Yildiz (UNU-EGOV & Hacettepe University). This event is part of the Digital Governance Research Colloquium hosted by the Centre for Digital Governance.
Metaphors are being used to explain a relatively unknown, abstract, or complicated concept by employing relatively better-known, concrete, and simple concepts. To this end, many metaphors are being used in the academic analysis and popularization of digital government. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the analysis of metaphor use in digital government studies. Different metaphors used within the digital government realm and their functions have not been studied in detail. Researching this topic is important because metaphor use contributes to better communication between both the digital government experts and the general public, and among the digital government scholars with different disciplinary backgrounds when they try to make sense of the nature of the digital government phenomenon and developments in this realm.
In order to address this gap in the literature, this article examines the use and misuse of metaphors in digital government studies. To this end, first, different metaphors being used by social science scholars in general and digital government scholars, in particular, are identified by conducting a systematic review of the relevant literature. Then, the reasons for and the functions of metaphor use in digital government are analyzed. The following section discusses the benefits and risks of using metaphors in digital government studies. The final section provides some conclusive remarks and suggestions for further analysis of metaphor use within the realm of digital government.
Mete Yildiz received his master's degree from University of Southern California and his Ph.D. degree from Indiana University-Bloomington both on public administration. He is currently on sabbatical leave from Hacettepe University in Turkey to work as a Senior Research Analyst in the United Nations University Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV), based in Guimarães, Portugal. He published extensively on digital government and serves as a member of the editorial boards of Government Information Quarterly, International Journal of Public Administration in the Digital Age (IJPADA) and Digital Government: Research and Practice (DGOV) . He served as a consultant to the Turkish government during the preparation of the Digital Government Strategy and Action Plan.
Registration is required for this event. Registered participants will receive the link to this online event on the day of the event.
