Does freedom of information contribute to more open administrations? An empirical analysis of the link between active and passive forms of transparency

Mabillard, Vincent; Keuffer, Nicolas

doi:10.1080/12294659.2022.2044107

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…First, the analysis of over 100,000 requests for government information provides an overview of the topics that citizens are interested in. Whereas previous research focused on the government's drivers for opening up (Mabillard & Keuffer, 2022;Tavares & da Cruz, 2020;Wang & Lo, 2016;Grimmelikhuijsen & Feeney, 2017), this study sheds light on the demand side of open government by investigating which topics are most relevant for citizens. Data on hygiene regulations and consumer protection were requested most often, which might have been due to the campaign initiated by the platform.…”

Section: F I G U R Ementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since this study did not analyze whether their responses complied with the FOI laws, a more detailed examination of government responses would be a pertinent research area. In this context, it would also be insightful to examine how the distinctive laws work and to what extent these laws influence street-level bureaucrats' decision-making and their compliance with FOI in Germany (as suggested in Holsen and Pasquier (2012) and Mabillard and Keuffer (2022)). The different legal elements of the FOI laws could be extracted and analyzed whether stricter regulations are met with higher compliance (similar to Wagner, 2021), thereby shedding light on the relationship between de jure and de facto transparency.…”

Section: Conclusion and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are the answers all out there? Investigating citizen information requests in the haze of bureaucratic responsiveness

2023

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Under freedom of information (FOI) regulations, public officials are pressured to grant citizens access to public information by responding to citizen information requests. However, despite FOI regulations, information requests are treated with varying bureaucratic attention, resulting in a high number of ignored or overdue requests by public organizations. Focusing on this bureaucratic discrimination, this study aims to explain the determinants of varying bureaucratic responsiveness to citizen information requests. Responsiveness in this case is therefore either a successful response to the request, a refusal to respond to the request, or no response at all (i.e., the request is ignored). By drawing on public accountability, and thus a citizen‐driven model of bureaucratic responsiveness, we shed light on the human aspect behind responsiveness to information requests. This research argues that the request's topic as an accountability‐seeking indicator and the communication tone as an indicator for underlying emotions influence responsiveness. The results from applying text mining and text analysis techniques, such as topic modeling and sentiment analysis, on over 100,000 citizen information requests filed via a German online FOI platform support these assumptions.

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Section: F I G U R Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conclusion and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are the answers all out there? Investigating citizen information requests in the haze of bureaucratic responsiveness

2023

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“…Paradoxically, some scholars argue that freedom of information has curtailed the development of open government. Mabillard and Keuffer (2022) conducted a quantitative survey of Swiss counties and found that there was less transparency of information in counties that had FOI laws than in those that did not. Maseh and Katuu (2017) in their review of the Kenyan Judiciary open government initiative, noted that one of the challenges the initiative faced was too much openness, which led to an increase in litigations and consequently increased the backlog of cases, thereby reducing the efficiency of service delivery of the Judiciary.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public access to information and open governance in Kenya

2023

DSI

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This paper investigates the role of public access to information in open governance in Kenya; identifies the factors affecting access to public information in Kenya; establishes the extent to which access to public information has influenced open governance in Kenya; and recommends strategies to enhance open governance through access of public information in Kenya. The paper is based on a qualitative study designed as an exploratory survey. Qualitative data was collected through key informant interviews with staff of the Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman), which is tasked with implementing the Act, and documentary analysis. Content analysis of reports generated by implementing or oversight agencies was also conducted. The findings of the study show that the implementation of the Access to Information Act (2016) has had major contributions to the attainment of Kenya's commitments to open governance. Access to information underlies initiatives relating to open data sharing, beneficial ownership and access to justice. However, the implementation of the Act in Kenya faces challenges such as lack of funding, corruption, low levels of citizen awareness, and a culture of secrecy. The study recommends that the government should set up monitoring mechanisms to evaluate milestones of open governance initiatives such as the Act so as to be able to better evaluate the contributions of each commitment internally rather than relying on external evaluators.

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“…As Ezema (2023) stated, open government is fundamental to the functioning of a healthy democracy. FOI provides mechanisms that members of the public can use to hold those in public office accountable (Mabillard and Keuffer, 2022;Nkwe and Ngoepe, 2021). Democracy can only function when citizens are fully informed about the decisions taken by the government, to allow proper scrutiny to take place (Nwoke, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A framework towards the implementation of freedom of information legislation in South Africa

Mojapelo

2024

IDD

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Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate a framework for the implementation of freedom of information (FOI) legislation in South Africa, against Article 19’s nine principles of FOI legislation. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to collect data from six experts selected by means of the snowball sampling technique and content analysis. The study used a modified Delphi design consisting of two rounds of interviews. Findings The results showed that little effort is made by government officials to demonstrate commitment to the implementation of FOI legislation. Practical implications The passing of FOI is expected to reduce corruption, increase public participation, reduce the level of secrecy and increase transparency and openness. This is not the case as the implementation of this socioeconomic right in South Africa is faced by numerous challenges, such as a lack of political will, secrecy laws providing for the opposite of what the FOI legislation seeks to achieve, poor legislative interpretation and a lack of clear policies. The study proposes a framework aimed at addressing these challenges. Originality/value The study provides a framework for the implementation of FOI legislation. The framework was developed under the guidance of Article 19 principles of freedom of information legislation.

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Does freedom of information contribute to more open administrations? An empirical analysis of the link between active and passive forms of transparency

Cited by 5 publications

References 44 publications

Are the answers all out there? Investigating citizen information requests in the haze of bureaucratic responsiveness

Are the answers all out there? Investigating citizen information requests in the haze of bureaucratic responsiveness

Public access to information and open governance in Kenya

A framework towards the implementation of freedom of information legislation in South Africa

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