Bridging E-Government and Performance in the Italian Public Sector

The chapter presents an account of the likely consequences that performance monitoring systems have on public service transparency and accountability through e-government technology. The research draws upon a study on the Brunetta reform (from the name of the Ministry of Public Administration) to foster public sectorproductivity, whose key principles are efficiency, meritocracy, accountability, and transparency. Specifically we outline the rationale for introducing performance monitoring technologies in public central administrations (ministries), the use the central government made of the system and the ways in which central public administrations responded to such compulsory performance monitoring system.