Annex 3: Freedom of Information – Review of Impact and Effectiveness of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives

Calland, Richard

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2188163

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…FOI promotes deliberative and participatory democracy and hence enforces economic and political rights. It is further based on an understanding that citizens own the information that government institutions generate (Calland, 2010). Yong (2004) was of the view that democratic developments are enhanced when there is an effective flow of information between the government and its citizens.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Freedom of information laws and information access

Svärd

2016

Information Development

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Sierra Leone was engulfed in a destructive civil war between 1991 and 2002. The civil war was partly caused by the non-accountability of the government, endemic corruption, misrule and the mismanagement of the country's resources. Efforts have been made by the country, with the help of the international community, to embrace a democratic dispensation. To demonstrate its commitment to the democratization agenda, Sierra Leone passed the Right to Access Information (RAI) Act in 2013. The Act guarantees access to government information and also imposes a penalty on failure to make information available. However, Sierra Leone's state institutions are still weak due to mismanagement and lack of transparency and accountability. Freedom of expression and access to information are cornerstones of modern democracies. Public information/records are a means of power that governments and other political institutions use to exercise control over citizens, but are also a means of citizens' empowerment. Through access to government information/records, media can play their watchdog role and people can assess the performance of governments and hold them accountable. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate the fact that it is not enough to enact freedom of information laws (FOIs) if there is no political will to make government information accessible, an information management infrastructure to facilitate the creation, capture, management, dissemination, preservation and re-use of government information and investments in civil education to promote an information culture that appreciates information as a resource that underpins accountability and transparency.The free flow of information hinges on a well-functioning information infrastructure.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Freedom of information laws and information access

Svärd

2016

Information Development

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Shifting Power? Assessing the Impact of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives

McGee¹,

Gaventa²

2011

IDS Working Papers

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Summary Accountability and transparency initiatives have taken democratisation, governance, aid and development circles by storm since the turn of the century. Many actors involved with them – as donors, funders, programme managers, implementers and researchers – are now keen to know more about what these initiatives are achieving. This paper arises from a review of the impact and effectiveness of transparency and accountability initiatives which gathered and analysed existing evidence, discussed how it could be improved, and evaluated how impact and effectiveness could be enhanced. This paper takes the discussion further, by delving into what lies behind the methodological and evaluative debates currently surrounding governance and accountability work. It illustrates how choices about methods are made in the context of impact assessment designs driven by different objectives and different ideological and epistemological underpinnings. We argue that these differences are articulated as methodological debates, obscuring vital issues underlying accountability work, which are about power and politics, not methodological technicalities. In line with this argument, there is a need to re‐think what impact means in relation to accountability initiatives, and to governance and social change efforts more broadly. This represents a serious challenge to the prevailing impact paradigm, posed by the realities of unaccountable governance, unproven accountability programming and uncertain evidence of impact. A learning approach to evaluation and final impact assessment would give power and politics a central place in monitoring and evaluation systems, continually test and revise assumptions about theories of change and ensure the engagement of marginalised people in assessment processes. Such an approach is essential if donors and policy makers are to develop a reliable evidence base to demonstrate that transparency and accountability work is of real value to poor and vulnerable people.

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Transparency in the Public Sector: Drivers of Effectiveness in Right to Information Implementation

Trapnell

Lemieux

2015

SSRN Journal

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Annex 3: Freedom of Information – Review of Impact and Effectiveness of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives

Cited by 3 publications

References 25 publications

Freedom of information laws and information access

Freedom of information laws and information access

Shifting Power? Assessing the Impact of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives

Transparency in the Public Sector: Drivers of Effectiveness in Right to Information Implementation

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