The Right to Know: Transparency for an Open World

Published by Columbia University Press 2007

The Right to Know

Transparency for an Open World

Edited by: Ann Florini
Preface by: Joseph E. Stiglitz

In the series Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia: Challenges in Development and Globalization

https://doi.org/10.7312/flor14158

Overview
Contents

About this book

The Right to Know is a timely and compelling consideration of a vital question: What information should governments and other powerful organizations disclose? Excessive secrecy corrodes democracy, facilitates corruption, and undermines good public policymaking, but keeping a lid on military strategies, personal data, and trade secrets is crucial to the protection of the public interest.

Over the past several years, transparency has swept the world. India and South Africa have adopted groundbreaking national freedom of information laws. China is on the verge of promulgating new openness regulations that build on the successful experiments of such major municipalities as Shanghai. From Asia to Africa to Europe to Latin America, countries are struggling to overcome entrenched secrecy and establish effective disclosure policies. More than seventy now have or are developing major disclosure policies or laws. But most of the world's nearly 200 nations do not have coherent disclosure laws; implementation of existing rules often proves difficult; and there is no consensus about what disclosure standards should apply to the increasingly powerful private sector.

As governments and corporations battle with citizens and one another over the growing demand to submit their secrets to public scrutiny, they need new insights into whether, how, and when greater openness can serve the public interest, and how to bring about beneficial forms of greater disclosure. The Right to Know distills the lessons of many nations' often bitter experience and provides careful analysis of transparency's impact on governance, business regulation, environmental protection, and national security. Its powerful lessons make it a critical companion for policymakers, executives, and activists, as well as students and scholars seeking a better understanding of how to make information policy serve the public interest.

Author / Editor information

Ann Florini is the founding director of the Centre on Asia and Globalization at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. She is also a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., where her work explores new approaches to global governance.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Foreword Joseph E. Stiglitz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Introduction. The Battle Over Transparency Ann Florini Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART ONE. National Stories
Chapter One. India. Grassroots Initiatives Shekhar Singh Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
Chapter Two. Toward a More Open China? Jamie P. Horsley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	54
Chapter Three. Open Government in China Practice and Problems Hanhua Zhou Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	92
Chapter Four. Central and Eastern Europe Starting from Scratch Ivan Szekely Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
Chapter Five. The Challenging Case of Nigeria Ayo Obe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
PART TWO. Themes
Chapter Six. Making the Law Work. The Challenges of Implementation Laura Neuman and Richard Calland Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
Chapter Seven. Prizing Open the Profit-Making World Richard Calland Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	214
Chapter Eight. The Struggle for Openness in the International Financial Institutions Thomas Blanton Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
Chapter Nine. Transparency and Environmental Governance Vivek Ramkumar and Elena Petkova Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
Chapter Ten. Transparency in the Security Sector Alasdair Roberts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	309
Conclusion. Whither Transparency? Ann Florini Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	337
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	349
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	353

Language: English
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 376

eBook

Published: May 22, 2007
ISBN: 9780231512077