The World's Right to Know

Blanton, Thomas

doi:10.2307/3183417

Cited by 61 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…While economic and political transparency has been touted as especially significant for liberalizing economies and for new democracies, recent events in some of the most democratic and liberal systems have suggested that the issue is relevant for all states. From the refusals of the Bush administration to offer Congress the names of private-sector advisers on energy policy and the stalling of Reagan-era documents under the Presidential Records Act (Blanton, 2002) to the decision of the British government to postpone for another four years the implementation of the Freedom of Information Law (which had already taken decades to pass) (Frankel, 2001), events have shown that the issue of public access to official information has not been entirely solved even in traditional democracies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

International Organizations and Government Transparency: Linking the International and Domestic Realms

Grigorescu¹

2003

Int Studies Q

143

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent years there has been an increased interest in political science in the concept of “transparency.” The literature has emphasized the effects that government transparency can have, especially on democratic consolidation. Yet there has been very little research focusing on the causes of transparency. This study discusses some of the possible factors affecting government transparency and offers several aggregate tests of their relevance. It emphasizes the mechanisms through which governments adopt institutions supporting transparency in order to signal to their societies and to external actors that the information they offer is indeed credible. It argues that such signals are more likely to be offered as the public receives increasing amounts of alternative information from international organizations. The discussion thus links processes taking place at the international level with those in the domestic realm.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

International Organizations and Government Transparency: Linking the International and Domestic Realms

Grigorescu¹

2003

Int Studies Q

143

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this mode, transparency is now seen not just as an aspect of good governance, but as a regulatory tool in itself (Blanton, 2002). The first is external transparency, meaning how well citizens in general and civil society organizations can see into the work of the organization, and the second is internal transparency, meaning the ability of smaller and developing country members to participate in the organization.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Regulatory transparency, developing countries and the WTO

Wolfe

2003

World Trade Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The tension in the WTO between adaptation to globalization and integration of developing countries is illustrated by one of the central norms of the regime, transparency. Experts believe democratic governance and efficient markets are both enhanced when autonomous administrative agencies are open about what they doing. WTO requirements for regulatory transparency may prove to be more straightforward for OECD countries than developing countries. The future of the WTO as a legitimate and effective international organization depends on finding modes of regulation accessible to all its Members. A review of how Canada, Brazil, South Africa, Thailand, and Uganda implement the transparency requirements of the agreements on basic telecommunications, and sanitary and phytosantitary measures found that regulatory independence and transparency are increasingly prevalent in telecommunications, but much less so in food safety. Transparency between countries appears easier than transparency within countries, and economic regulation seems easier to adapt to international norms than social regulation.

show abstract

“…Specifically, democracy allows freedom of the press (Grigorescu, 2003) and empowers citizens to pursue the 'public's right to know' (Blanton, 2002). Hungary's information disclosure law, for example, was introduced after persistent pressure by the nongovernmental 'Open Society' organization.…”

Section: National Politymentioning

confidence: 99%

National transparency: Global trends and national variations

Jang

Cho

Drori

2014

International Journal of Comparative Sociology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nation-states worldwide are institutionalizing a culture of transparency and accountability. In our analyses of data reported in the United Nations (UN) Statistical Yearbooks since 1970, we identify two main trends: (1) national governments are providing a greater amount of data on a larger set of social, political, and economic domains, and (2) national governments increasingly offer such data in accordance with international standards introduced by the UN. In addition, we find that the overall cross-national trend toward transparency and accountability, as measured by the standard reporting of national accounts to the UN from 1970 to 2000, is driven by a unique set of factors in each time period. Specifically, domestic and economic conditions drove the trend toward transparency before 1990, whereas political factors have driven transparency since then. Throughout the period studied, the presence of links between a given country and world society has increased the likelihood that it will engage in transparent reporting. We conclude that active networking with international governmental organizations, such as the UN, teaches governments the norm of transparency, inculcating them with the rationales of public accountability and proper governance.

show abstract

The World's Right to Know

Cited by 61 publications

References 0 publications

International Organizations and Government Transparency: Linking the International and Domestic Realms

International Organizations and Government Transparency: Linking the International and Domestic Realms

Regulatory transparency, developing countries and the WTO

National transparency: Global trends and national variations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About