Transparency in Spanish Town Council Websites: A Study of Municipalities With Between 5001 and 10,000 Inhabitants

Abstract

During the last few decades, there has been a very important change within Public Administrations, fundamentally in countries with a liberal economy. Since the end of the 20th century, the need to reduce costs while improving services has led to a new concept of a more open and transparent Administration, which has undoubtedly been helped with the arrival of information and communications technologies. Administrations are made up of two spheres that work inseparablythe political and the administrativeboth of which have been affected by this new culture of transparency and accountability. Thus, it is the World Wide Web together with legislation that has appeared over the last two decades which have lain the foundations of the new relationship that citizens and firms have with the Administrations, creating a new paradigm in Public Administration. This work presents the results of a study carried out on a sample of the town councils of Spanish municipalities with populations ranging from 5001 to 10,000in total 82 town councils. The study used questionnaires from two of the six areas already applied by Transparency International Spain to large Spanish municipalities. The results show a disparity between municipalities, since, while some meet all or almost all the indicators, others barely meet any. The implication is that political willingness or its absence is the main cause for the differences between otherwise similar municipalities. However, some indicators are met by the majority as they are those of obligatory fulfilment, being required by law.