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Transparency in Government-An Administrative Value
Transparency in a democratic government is necessary to build public trust. This paper discusses the history of administrative transparency and how open government aims at averting irregularities found in government from the Age of Enlightenment to modern times. The government serves the interests of its citizens by providing access to information and being responsive to citizen inquiries. To test government transparency and responsiveness our group submitted a public information request to three agencies at varying levels of government, conducted seven interviews with mid-to high level public administrators, and asked two average citizens to gauge their perception of transparency in government. Finding that there is great value in public participation, knowledge can be gained, policy can be changed, and public administrators are held accountable all as a result of government transparency.
Transparency and Trust in Government (2007–2014): A Comparative Study
NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy
This article exposes contemporary approaches to transparency and trust. It explores the links between the two concepts in 10 countries between 2007 and 2014, using open-data indexes and access-to-information requests as proxies for transparency. So far, most studies have focused on conceptual models, specific aspects of transparency in particular case studies or have compared legal frameworks from different countries. Here, data about citizens’ requests to get access to administrative documents have been gathered. This dataset, combined with existing indexes on open data and government, has enabled us to establish a national ranking, particularly useful in a comparative perspective. Data about trust have been collected from reports published by international organisations. Key findings prove that there is no sharp decline of trust in government in all countries considered in this article. They also tend to show that transparency and trust in government are not systematically positiv...
Transparency and Trust in Government: A Two-Way Relationship
Yearbook of Swiss Administrative Sciences
This paper investigates the complex relationship between transparency and trust. If trust in government is most of the time regarded as a positive effect of transparency, it should also be considered as a factor influencing citizens' perceptions of transparency, and not only as a result of transparency measures. Moreover, the principles underpinning transparency policies, especially accountability and trust, have not been widely tested empirically yet. This article proposes some paths of research regarding the effect of administrative transparency on citizens' trust in government in the Swiss context.
Transparency in public administration as a challenge for a good democratic governance
ADMINISTRATIE SI MANAGEMENT PUBLIC, 2021
In democratic societies, the transparency of public institutions is essential. Increasingly, developed or developing countries recognize that free access to information is fundamental to democracy. Whether we are talking about the government or the private companies that manage public services, access to the data held by these organizations means increasing accountability and allows citizens to know what these organizations do and what they use public money for. Access to information develops citizens' trust in public institutions, enabling citizens to understand public policy decisions and monitor their implementation. The purpose of our research is to identify the degree of transparency of the ministries in the Romanian Government. The research was based on public data and information identified on the websites of 18 ministries in the current structure of the Romanian Government, but also on data collected using online questionnaires answered by 45 officials from the Informati...
Transparency in government communication
Journal of Public Affairs, 2007
Basic to a successful democracy is the existence of a public informed about government actions. This requires government information to be open and accessible to the public. This study sought to understand how communicators in government value and practice transparency. Constant comparative thematic analysis of 18 semi-structured interviews of government communicators revealed a transparency model for government communication. This paper outlines that model and identifies practices and structures that promote transparent communication practices. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Basic to a successful democracy is the existence of a public informed about government actions. This requires government information to be open and accessible to the public. This study sought to understand how communicators in government value and practice transparency. Constant comparative thematic analysis of 18 semi-structured interviews of government communicators revealed a transparency model for government communication. This paper outlines that model and identifies practices and structures that promote transparent communication practices.
Information Polity, 2020
The concepts of Transparency, Citizen Participation and Open Government is increasingly being used by politicians, public officials and civil society. Open Government strategies are being assumed by public administration at different levels of government, but also by civil society organizations that are involved in issues of transparency, citizen participation mainly. However, there is a diversity about how the concepts are used by different social sectors. In this sense, it is pertinent to know how these concepts are perceived among the main sectors that trigger policies of transparency, citizen participation and open government. The objective of this research is to analyze transparency, citizen participation and open government from the perspectives of two fundamental sectors in the political-social participation process: Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and Government. To contrast the perspectives of the two sectors, the case of the State of Jalisco, Mexico is studied. This rese...
Transparency, Trust and Confidence in the Public Sector
2013
This article forwarded findings from a research on public sector performance measurement regimes in a selected developed country. Amongst the issues explored in the research is on the public trusts and confidence in the government agencies and its influence on aspects of participation and voting decisions. Transparency is recognised for the means to improve trust. Therefore greater transparency in the public sector is also hope to enhance public confidence and trust in the government agencies. The research questions were answered using pragmatic paradigm which allows for mixed research methodologies. Utilising documents analysis, survey questionnaires and interviews, the study examine 22 cases. Findings on the aspects presented in this paper, suggest that enhanced transparency neither influence the voting decisions nor improved public participation in the local government activities. However, it does provide clearer views for the public service employees on the local government func...
Assessing Government Transparency: An Interpretive Framework
Administration & Society
How can we evaluate government transparency arrangements? While the complexity and contextuality of the values at stake defy straightforward measurement, this article provides an interpretative framework to guide and structure assessments of government transparency. In this framework, we discern criteria clusters for political transparency—democracy, the constitutional state, and social learning capacity—and for administrative transparency—economy/efficiency, integrity, and resilience. The framework provides a structured “helicopter view” of the dimensions that are relevant for a contextual assessment of transparency. An illustrative case discussion of the introduction of Freedom of Information (FOI) in the United Kingdom demonstrates its utility.
Transparency in government institutions: a literature review
Brazilian Journal of Operations Production Management, 2014
This paper presents a literature review on the issue of transparency in government institutions. The review is carried out through a bibliometric survey of the Scopus database, brazilian government websites, and brazilian legislation. The review explores and evaluates government transparency as it pertains to Brazilian as well as international spheres. An analysis of the articles (from 2011 to 2012) found in the Scopus database using the keyword "transparency," uncovered the following recurring themes: open government, e-government, government accountability, and communication. The theoretical scope was constructed from these issues, plus the more relevant Brazilian legislation as well as issues encountered on websites focusing on international governmental institutions. Thus, it was possible to construct a theoretical framework that should guide the development of future researches.
Transparency, open data and trust in government
Proceedings of the 4th Annual ACM Web Science Conference, 2012
This paper examines the ways in which using the World Wide Web to promote transparency and to disseminate open data will affect warranted and unwarranted trust in politics and within societies. It is argued that transparency and open data will be damaging for unwarranted trust, but this will open up a space for warranted trust to flourish. Three types of theory about trust and decision-making in politics are discussed: social capital theories, rational choice theories and deliberative democracy theories. Using the UK government's transparency programme in crime and criminal justice as an example, it is argued that mechanisms being pioneered to disseminate open data online, such as sites like data.gov and data.gov.uk, promote trust on each theory, although the supply of data is necessary but not sufficient. It is also necessary to consider the wider infosphere, putting deliberative processes in place to foster trust.