The Right to Know : : Transparency for an Open World / / ed. by Ann Florini.

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 strategi...

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Superior document:Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Columbia University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
MitwirkendeR:
HerausgeberIn:
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Place / Publishing House:New York, NY : : Columbia University Press, , [2007]
©2007
Year of Publication:2007
Language:English
Series:Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia: Challenges in Development and Globalization
Online Access:
Physical Description:1 online resource (376 p.)
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Other title:Frontmatter --
Contents --
Foreword --
Introduction. The Battle Over Transparency --
PART ONE. National Stories --
Chapter One. India. Grassroots Initiatives --
Chapter Two. Toward a More Open China? --
Chapter Three. Open Government in China Practice and Problems --
Chapter Four. Central and Eastern Europe Starting from Scratch --
Chapter Five. The Challenging Case of Nigeria --
PART TWO. Themes --
Chapter Six. Making the Law Work. The Challenges of Implementation --
Chapter Seven. Prizing Open the Profit-Making World --
Chapter Eight. The Struggle for Openness in the International Financial Institutions --
Chapter Nine. Transparency and Environmental Governance --
Chapter Ten. Transparency in the Security Sector --
Conclusion. Whither Transparency? --
Contributors --
Index
Summary: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.
Format:Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
ISBN:9780231512077
9783110442472
DOI:10.7312/flor14158
Access:restricted access
Hierarchical level:Monograph
Statement of Responsibility: ed. by Ann Florini.