Governmental bodies large and small are moving into the digital age by making services increasingly available through the Internet.

Government "of the people, by the people, for the people" has been a United States ideal dating back to the 19th century. In the 21st century, information technologies have given citizens powerful new tools to achieve that goal.

The U.S. government offers citizens new ways to navigate the bureaucratic maze at a World Wide Web site called FirstGov (http://firstgov.gov/). When President Clinton launched the site with an Internet address to the nation on September 20, 2000, he described a service that gives citizens access to government information and services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. A single online information portal connects Americans with the resources of one of the world's largest collections of Web pages -- 27 million pages of information located on 20,000 U.S. government Web sites. This message from the president greets the FirstGov site visitor:

"FirstGov allows users to browse a wealth of information -- everything from researching at the Library of Congress to tracking a NASA mission. It also enables users to conduct important business online -- such as applying for student loans, tracking Social Security benefits, comparing Medicare options, and even administering government grants and contracts. This monumental breakthrough in one-stop shopping for government services will help Americans across the country and around the world find the information and resources they need at a click of a mouse -- quickly and easily."

Cyberspace service is what Americans want, according to a recent Hart-Teeter study conducted by the Council for Excellence in Government, a non-profit, bipartisan organization devoted to promoting better performance in the public sector. Investing government funds in e-government was cited as a priority by 68 percent of participants in the poll. That figure rose to 77 percent after surveyors described examples of government services online. Seven in 10 of the respondents who had visited government Web sites praised the quality of what they'd seen, and 60 percent said it was easy to find what they were looking for.

With 50 states, 3,100 county governments, and more than 12,000 cities and towns across the United States, decisions on how to take government online are being approached in myriad ways. However it is approached, e-government must have the support of political leaders, government administrators, and the public, according to officials creating these "electronic capitals" at the state and local government levels.

Some governments are moving more slowly than others, but two jurisdictions bordering Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, offer strong examples of how information technologies can improve the relationship between government and the people.

The Web site maintained by the County of Fairfax, Virginia (http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/fairfax.htm), began as a trial project in 1995. It is a county with income and education rates exceeding the national average, statistics which correlate with higher levels of computer use. Today, the site averages 1 million visits per month. In an interview, Fairfax's Chief Information Officer David Molchany said, "We didn't know who was going to use the site or how they would use it, or if it would be successful .... (Now) Its use by citizens is just amazing."

Another factor in the public's acceptance of the Web product is that this county of 1 million people has one of the nation's highest concentrations of information technology companies. As a result, when the Fairfax County officials began to promote "a government without walls, doors, or clocks," they spoke to a population more receptive to the idea than might be found in many more rural or less affluent parts of the country.

North of Fairfax, the state of Maryland's more than 5 million people also fit a profile that indicates greater likely willingness to accept e-government. Marylanders have higher incomes and higher education levels than the national average, and most of its population lives within the urbanized areas surrounding Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland. The state government, based in the capital of Annapolis, began taking its functions online in 1995.

Maryland's Chief Information Officer Alisoun Moore emphasizes how the latest information technologies give citizens greater opportunity to get involved in government. "In Maryland, we now broadcast on the Internet every legislative session -- audio broadcasting. You can contact every single one of our legislators, and every government official .... So every citizen has access."

Molchany also cites citizen access as an important component in his jurisdictions' 5-year-old foray into cyberspace. E-mail allows citizens unprecedented access to the Board of Supervisors, the county's top governing board, which is empowered to make decisions about how trash is collected, how land is used, and how police, fire, and emergency services are provided. Molchany said Fairfax County has adopted a citizen communication tracking system for E-mail communications. "When supervisors get e-mails and letters, they can actually track the course of the issue so they know they are being responsive to the citizens."

The imperatives of citizen access and bridging the digital divide between computer "haves" and "have-nots" also extend to the types of technology in use by these governments. Recognizing that not every household has acquired a computer, the County of Fairfax and the State of Maryland have both included integrated voice response (IVR) technology into their efforts to establish better communication with citizens. IVR gives citizens access to a variety of services and recorded information about government programs with the use of a touch-tone phone.

Moore said attempting to close the digital divide is another goal for Maryland's online-government services. "It's so important that we would err on the side of openness rather than being too closed and restrictive."

The County of Fairfax Web offers an online catalog of available services: leisure, human services, public safety, government, and courts. Delving into the sub-page on leisure, for example, the visitor can locate all of the county's parks and recreation facilities, peruse recreational opportunities, and even reserve a tee-time on the golf course.

While much of what is on the site now is informational only, Molchany said the Web site will soon incorporate more interactive services, allowing visitors to pay taxes, or register for an exercise class online.

Maryland's Electronic Capital Web site (http://www.mec.state.md.us/) offers information and links to the entire range of state services, in addition to consumer-friendly advice such as "How to Get Things Done in Maryland." A visitor can find information on a vacation spot in Maryland, employment in state government, or the status of a pending bill in the legislature. The site also allows easy navigation to sites outside of the state bureaucracy: colleges, universities, businesses, and local governments.

Beyond communication about services and activities, Moore sees Maryland's "Electronic Capital" as an extension of the government's commitment to creating better communities and to improving the quality of life and the standard of living for citizens. "It's everything from the political freedom to the physical environment, schools, and parks, and so on. Government must use technology to support and encourage the development and use of these resources."

In their work to create electronic government sites, Molchany and Moore have now also become disciples attempting to convert other leaders to a belief in what the Internet can do and the opportunities it can bring to citizens. Molchany is now part of a statewide Digital Opportunities Taskforce in Virginia devoted to helping communities in less developed areas create "e-communities." He said, "We're going to try and build different blueprints or templates that we can hand out to different size computer communities and say, 'Here are some things you can do to actually get your citizens connected, to get them online.'"

Moore raises the global question about the Internet's potential to loosen the grip of dictators and autocrats, allowing a greater flow of information into insulated societies. The Internet, Moore said, "is like an electrical grid, an information grid, an information highway, that you can literally get anywhere in the world (and) get information .... The Internet makes it possible for people to get knowledge and use knowledge, and basically you can't keep the people ignorant."

William Peters is the editor of Global Issues. Charlene Porter writes on communications issues for the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.