Environmental protection through e-regulation: Empirical perspectives using an actor-network theory analysis

Sometimes the most commonplace and uninteresting tools demand close attention because their mundane nature means that their role is misunderstood. The use of computer technology by government – specifically, by environmental... [ view full abstract ]

Sometimes the most commonplace and uninteresting tools demand close attention because their mundane nature means that their role is misunderstood. The use of computer technology by government – specifically, by environmental regulators – is one such instance. Information and communications technology (ICT) is increasingly deployed in bureaucratic and regulatory processes; as in business, software code and databases are becoming the invisible ‘glue’ that interconnects the various actors in the regulatory system and weaves an invisible web of control between decision-makers, regulated entities and ordinary citizens. Nonetheless, this topic has received only disconnected academic attention, perhaps because there is little that seems intrinsically interesting about a database.

The paper critically reviews the operation of digitised government. It combines theoretical perspectives from sociology, chiefly actor-network theory, with insights from semi-structured interviews with staff in regulatory agencies, non-governmental agencies and regulated entities, to build a thematic network model of how the use of ICT for information-gathering, as a means of control and as a conduit for communications is perceived by practitioners of environmental regulation. It uses this understanding to sketch the contours of a new field of study, ‘e-regulation’, centred around the core values of the rule of law. It queries whether these new tools could help to make the regulatory system more ‘objective’ or will codify biases, assumptions, and power imbalances.