Watchdog journalism: India's three largest English-language newspapers and the Right to Information Act

India's Right to Information Act (RTIA) has been described as one of the strongest laws in the world for access to public information. The preamble spells out its promise to expose government corruption. Given that the Indian news media is the largest in the world and has a storied history of unearthing public corruption, this exploratory study employed the normative theory of the monitorial role of the news media to examine the extent that the RTIA was used to uncover government corruption. This content analysis examined a census of 221 articles published in India's three largest English-language newspapers in the period after the RTIA was adopted in October 2005 and then five years later. Slightly more than 80% of the articles referencing corruption fell into four thematic categories: progress on implementing the law, public education about the legislation, the watchdog role of activists and other non-journalists, and a brief mention of the RTIA. During this period the English-language dailies reported their own use of the RTIA to expose corruption in 2% of the articles.     

Empowering people through information: A case study of India’s Right to Information Act

The beginning of the 21st century is marked with the developments made in the field of information and technology. The primary role of the information is to equip the citizens to make informed choices. Information is life blood that sustains political, social and business decisions. It may pertain to quality, quantity, standard, and prices of products or services that are needed to make an informed decision. This is particularly true in a country where government and its numerous administrative agencies have expanded in a bewildering manner.

The Right to Information Act, passed by the Indian Parliament in the year 2005 has proved to be a landmark for good governance and in helping common people, especially the poor and underprivileged, get their dues from the government. The act has emerged as the most potent tool to empower ordinary citizens to combat state corruption and to play an important and active role in participatory democracy. Drafted by civil society itself, the law is unique in the sense that it has been the result of years of struggle by civil society, NGOs and media.     

Do FOI laws and open government data deliver as anti-corruption policies? Evidence from a cross-country study

In election times, political parties promise in their manifestos to pass reforms increasing access to government information to root out corruption and improve public service delivery. Scholars have already offered several fascinating explanations of why governments adopt transparency policies that constrain their choices. However, knowledge of their impacts is limited. Does greater access to information deliver on its promises as an anti-corruption policy? While some research has already addressed this question in relation to freedom of information laws, the emergence of new digital technologies enabled new policies, such as open government data. Its effects on corruption remain empirically underexplored due to its novelty and a lack of measurements. In this article, I provide the first empirical study of the relationship between open government data, relative to FOI laws, and corruption. I propose a theoretical framework, which specifies conditions necessary for FOI laws and open government data to affect corruption levels, and I test it on a novel cross-country dataset. The results suggest that the effects of open government data on corruption are conditional upon the quality of media and internet freedom. Moreover, other factors, such as free and fair elections, independent and accountable judiciary, or economic development, are far more critical for tackling corruption than increasing access to information. These findings are important for policies. In particular, digital transparency reforms will not yield results in the anti-corruption fight unless robust provisions safeguarding media and internet freedom complement them.     

信息自由、信息权利与公共图书馆制度

信息自由是人类的基本价值目标。信息权利是信息自由得以实现的基础保障。公共图书 馆制度是民主政府为了保障公民的信息权利而选择的一种制度安排。     

我国政府信息公共获取行政问责的问题及对策

当前我国政府信息公共获取缺乏问责意识,缺失问责机构,问责主体单一,问责立法滞后。欲完善政府信息公共获取行政问责,应该着力提高问责意识,建立健全问责法律制度,强化异体问责,确立多元化问责机制,完善问责绩效评估制度、问责救济制度和公益诉讼制度。     

信息网络传播权保护对开放存取的影响及版权策略

网络传播权保护对信息的开放存取具有重要影响。文章分析了《信息网络传播权保护条例》的背景、目的、范围和网络传播权的内涵与特点。《条例》在保护权利人权益的同时,通过“合理使用”和“法定许可”方式对权利人权益附加各种限制,维系信息网络传播权保护与信息公共获取的平衡。提出应尽可能地扩大“合理使用”与“法定许可”的范围,为开放存取出版争取更大的发展空间,实现知识和信息传播的社会效益最大化。最后,探讨提出在现行版权法框架下以授权协议为核心的开放存取版权策略。     

Information for Building a New Nation

This paper examines the view taken of the importance of information and information technology by the government in the new democratic South Africa. The relationship between new principles of governance and citizenship of transparency and accountability, and information provision is discussed. The new philosophy can be traced through important policy initiatives that have taken into account inputs by the Library and Information Services (LIS) sector in the formulation of public policy. The key issues of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) of the government are highlighted and the ways in which LIS can contribute to its aims are suggested. The effects of disunity in the professional LIS arena are considered in the light of the dynamics of policy formulation. It is concluded that the trajectory of South Africa towards an information society needs to take into account the requirements of the majority for information and information literacy.     

我国政府信息公开制度述评

文章梳理了我国政府信息公开制度的发展过程。详细阐述了《中华人民共和国政府信息公开条例》中有关政府信息公开的目的、原则、责任主体、公开范围、公开程序、相关责任和救济措施等重要条款的内容。评述了该条例在遏制腐败、保障公民权利、促进政府执政理念转变和政治体制改革以及加强政府信息资源开发利用方面的重要意义和作用,指出了它在基本原则、明确规定政府信息公开范围、行政机关权力缺乏制约以及相关法律不配套等方面的不足,并提出了若干建议。     

Accountability for governance of liquid communication generated through the use of social media in Botswana: whose duty is it?

The continued use of social media by governments requires that the resultant records, currently termed liquid communication, be governed for accountability purposes. However, some governments worldwide and many in Africa do not have information governance policies to ensure accountability for social media generated records. Therefore, this study examines the roles and responsibilities for the governance of liquid communication generated through social media use by the Botswana government. The study adopts a qualitative approach to collect data from purposively selected participants. This study reveals that public relations officers administered the Botswana government’s social media pages. Furthermore, the Botswana National Archives and Records Services was not involved in the country’s liquid communication governance. Therefore, the study recommends a cross-functional approach to the governance of liquid communication in Botswana. All stakeholders' roles and responsibilities in government information management should be clearly spelled out and documented, which is currently not the case.

     

图书馆数字信息网络传播权限度的有效运用

针对著作权加强权利人对作品网络传播权控制的现象,分析了《信息网络传播权保护条例》对公众数字资源网络获取的权限限制,提出图书馆在合理使用制度下,通过修改《信息网络传播权保护条例》、充分利用"除外"条款、文献传递"一对一",最大化地实现图书馆数字信息网络传播权。     

获取政府信息权与政府信息公开

获取政府信息权是政府信息公开制度的法律基础。人民主权理论、知情权理论和表达自由理论,为获取政府信息权提供了合理性基础。政府信息公开制度具有促进民主、宪政和保障个人自由的价值。     

信息资源公共获取主体和客体辨析

信息资源是重要的战略资源。随着信息时代的到来,信息资源公共获取变得日益重要。以政府信息、证券信息、产品与服务信息为例,分析信息资源公共获取的权利主体和义务主体,并从知识产权制度的相关规定和信息资源的生成机制两个方面分析信息资源公共获取的客体。     

Transparency,participation, and accountability practices in open government: A comparative study

In a comparative national study addressing the fiscal domain, we explored relationships between socio-cultural, political, economic, and government conditions and concepts critical to open government, defined as (a) budget transparency (b) participation in budget processes, and (c) accountability information. We found that democracy, human capital, and budget document disclosures are consistently related to transparency, accountability, and the involvement of the Supreme Audit Authority with the public. E-participation and commitment to the Open Government Partnership are each related to particular measures of transparency and accountability. Gross domestic product was negatively related to particular measures of transparency and accountability. Only democracy was related to public participation in budget discussions with the executive, and that was a minimal effect.     

The trust continuum in the information age: a Canadian perspective

This paper examines the role of trust in the information continuum. It argues that in the context of Canadian federal government records, an analogous ??trust continuum?? is a useful model for analysing the relationships that exist between creator, archives and user in the information-abundant environment. The paper borrows from sociological theory to posit that creator, archives and user are bound together in a complex expert system that facilitates trust and mitigates risk in a broad societal context and contends that these interactions are shaped at the macro level by a dominant public discourse of accountability. These points are illustrated through three recent examples at Library and Archives Canada. First, the relationship between Canadian society and the archives is explored by interrogating the concept of relevance and assessing the feasibility of managing a pan-Canadian collection via a national network of knowledge institutions. Then, the role of trust between the archives and the creator in the management of government digital information resources is examined in light of the recently issued Directive on Recordkeeping, and in the context of LAC??s Trusted Digital Repository. Finally, Commissions of Inquiry??and the Indian Specific Claims Commission in particular??demonstrate both the power of archival records in repairing trust between a society and its government and the iterative nature of the relationship between the user and the archives.     

FOI in transition: A comparative analysis of the Freedom of Information Act performance between the Obama and Trump administrations

FoIA is an important marker of transparency and the flow of government information in a democracy. Stakeholders such as the news media have been critical of how government policies affect access to that information. In this context, this study systematically analyzed the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) performances between the Obama and the Trump administrations regarding the efficiency and disposition of requests, appeals processing and success, staff workload, processing fees, and the use of exemptions. Data indicate that the Trump administration underperformed in the processing of requests, the release of records, and it has accelerated the use of exemptions to deny requests. There was also no marked improvement over the previous administration in performance among other parameters. The study affirms prior results that indicate that FoIA performance is explained better by legacy, and some trends transcend administrations. The study also addresses the methodological problems with FoIA data and suggests remedies for scholars.     

政府信息公共获取行政问责的体系构建——必要性与可行性维度

现代文件管理理论和人民主权学说是政府信息公共获取行政问责的理论基础。建设透明政府、责任政府、法治政府,提高政府执政力与公信力,保证社会公众的知情权、参与权、表达权和监督权,要求推行并强化政府信息公共获取的行政问责。同时,现行的法律制度保障、丰富的实践经验及广泛的社会公众基础使得政府信息公共获取行政问责成为可能。     

香港特区政府信息公开制度:高度透明与立法缺位

构建香港特区政府信息公开制度的核心规则是不具有法律拘束力的《公开资料守则》。现实中政府信息公开制度在香港得到了良好的实施：公民大部分政府信息公开申请均被满足,申诉专员对公民知情权提供有力救济。内部利益吸引和外部制度制约是政府信息公开制度实施的核心要素;司法救济的缺失应归责于法院的过度保守而并非政府信息公开法的缺位。内地完善政府信息公开制度应当充分利用政府信息公开制度提升政府形象,完善政府信息公开制度监督和评议制度。     

“You Lie!” Identity,Paper, and the Materiality of Information

This article uses the problems associated with citizenship verification in U.S. government health insurance programs to argue that paper needs to be analyzed as a media technology. To examine paper as a media technology is to ask, “How does paper work?” and “What are the rules and habits that enable paper to be used in paperwork?” To consider paper as a media technology, this article makes 2 arguments. First, it argues that there is a set of skills and knowledge associated with paper documents that need to be recognized as a distinct form of literacy. Second, this article argues that the relation between paper and identity is an argument about the materiality of information. In focusing on how paper facilitates the materialization of information, this case study illustrates how distinct practices of use create specific relationships between technology and information that give information a distinct functional presence.     

Who pays the piper? The political economy of freedom of information

If freedom of information is fundamental to contemporary democracy, why have democratic countries differed so markedly in their willingness to pass laws enshrining formal rights of access to government files? This article demonstrates that an analysis grounded in comparative political economy can provide a compelling answer to this question. Specifically, it demonstrates that the more highly coordinated a country's economy, the less transparent it is likely to be. Through a comparison of the United States and Germany, this article argues that in coordinated market economies, ongoing negotiations between the state and the peak representative bodies provide privileged access to information about the government, and indeed privileged channels of influence over government action. Public access to official files threatens this privileged access. In less coordinated economies, however, firms lack this privileged access; they are likely to favor access laws as a partial substitute, especially since such laws are more consistent with the highly fragmented and competitive environment in which they operate. By further comparing Sweden and the United Kingdom, it also demonstrates the limits of this explanation, suggesting that historical sequences and classic political variables should also be taken into account.     

Government control of information: Some British developments

Despite long-standing claims to democracy, Britain has an unenviable reputation for secrecy and no Freedom of Information Act. However, in 1993, the government introduced a nonjusticiable Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, the limitations of which are explored in this article.A specific aspect of government control of information recently under the spotlight is the use by government ministers of Public Interest Immunity (PII) Certificates to deny litigants access to government documents in the course of proceedings. The use by Ministers of this power formed part of the terms of reference for the recent Scott Report into the export of defense-related equipment to Iraq, the relevant parts of which are reviewed.The article concludes that recent developments have not remedied the situation relating to access to information in Britain, the norm remaining one of secrecy rather than openness, and that the use of PII certificates exemplifies the resulting fragility of mechanisms for executive accountability.In the United Kingdom (UK) today the executive branch of government alone determines what official information should be disclosed to the public and the legislature, to whom the executive is nominally responsible. The UK is a very secretive society.¹