The Right to Know: Transparency for an Open World

Ann Florini

ISBN 10: 0231141580 / ISBN 13: 9780231141581

Published by Columbia University Press, 2007

About this Item

Verschmutzung / Wasserschaden; Abnutzung / Risse - leicht; Vergilbt / ausgeblichen. This annotation presents a compelling examination of the critical issue of information disclosure by governments and powerful organizations. It highlights the dangers of excessive secrecy, which can erode democracy, foster corruption, and hinder effective public policymaking. However, it also acknowledges the necessity of maintaining confidentiality around military strategies, personal data, and trade secrets to protect the public interest. In recent years, there has been a global push for transparency, with countries like India and South Africa implementing groundbreaking freedom of information laws. China is also moving toward greater openness, inspired by successful initiatives in cities like Shanghai. Across various continents, nations are striving to dismantle longstanding secrecy and create effective disclosure policies, with over seventy countries currently developing or enhancing their disclosure frameworks. Despite this progress, many of the nearly 200 countries worldwide lack coherent disclosure laws, and enforcing existing regulations can be challenging. There is also no consensus on disclosure standards for the increasingly influential private sector. As the demand for transparency grows, governments and corporations must navigate the complexities of public scrutiny. This work distills valuable lessons from diverse national experiences, analyzing transparency's effects on governance, business regulation, enviro.

Seller Inventory # b82e3f53-33bf-46e9-9438-fce893838d82

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Right to Know: Transparency for an Open World
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0231141580
• ISBN 13: 9780231141581
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fair

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

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.