AI-Driven Automation and Digital Era Governance: A Critical Review

This systematic review examines whether AI-driven automation and Digital Era Governance (DEG) strategies offer a more effective solution to administrative ‘red tape’ than traditional deregulation. Drawing on thirteen peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2025 — including meta-analyses, empirical research, and theoretical frameworks — the review traces the causal chain from the well-documented costs of red tape (Djankov et al., 2002; George et al., 2021) to digital solutions such as Burden Shifting, the Once-Only Principle, and algorithmic decision-making. The evidence suggests that strategies like auto-enrolment and interoperability can eliminate compliance costs at scale, but the extent of these gains remains contested. Concepts of Artificial Discretion (Young et al., 2019), Screen-Level Bureaucracy (Busch and Henriksen, 2018), and Algorithmic Agency (Peeters, 2020) indicate that automation may reproduce opacity and rigidity rather than eliminate them. The review concludes that AI-driven governance appears more promising than blunt deregulation in theory and early implementation, but its benefits are contingent on institutional design, equitable access, and robust regulatory frameworks. Key empirical and geographic gaps remain, particularly for low-capacity states and vulnerable populations.