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Transparency Deserts, Christina Koningisor
Transparency Deserts, Christina Koningisor
Northwestern University Law Review
Few contest the importance of a robust transparency regime in a democratic system of government. In the United States, the “crown jewel” of this regime is the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Yet despite widespread agreement about the importance of transparency in government, few are satisfied with FOIA. Since its enactment, the statute has engendered criticism from transparency advocates and critics alike for insufficiently serving the needs of both the public and the government. Legal scholars have widely documented these flaws in the federal public records law.
In contrast, scholars have paid comparatively little attention to transparency laws at the …
Testing Transparency, Brigham Daniels, Mark Buntaine, Tanner Bangerter
Testing Transparency, Brigham Daniels, Mark Buntaine, Tanner Bangerter
Northwestern University Law Review
In modern democracies, governmental transparency is thought to have great value. When it comes to addressing administrative corruption and mismanagement, many would agree with Justice Brandeis’s observation that sunlight is the best disinfectant. Beyond this, many credit transparency with enabling meaningful citizen participation.
But even though transparency appears highly correlated with successful governance in developed democracies, assumptions about administrative transparency have remained empirically untested. Testing effects of transparency would prove particularly helpful in developing democracies where transparency norms have not taken hold or only have done so slowly. In these contexts, does administrative transparency really create the sorts of benefits …