Troubling Transparency

Troubling Transparency PDF Author: David E. Pozen
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231545800
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
Today, transparency is a widely heralded value, and the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is often held up as one of the transparency movement’s canonical achievements. Yet while many view the law as a powerful tool for journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens to pursue the public good, FOIA is beset by massive backlogs, and corporations and the powerful have become adept at using it for their own interests. Close observers of laws like FOIA have begun to question whether these laws interfere with good governance, display a deleterious anti-public-sector bias, or are otherwise inadequate for the twenty-first century’s challenges. Troubling Transparency brings together leading scholars from different disciplines to analyze freedom of information policies in the United States and abroad—how they are working, how they are failing, and how they might be improved. Contributors investigate the creation of FOIA; its day-to-day uses and limitations for the news media and for corporate and citizen requesters; its impact on government agencies; its global influence; recent alternatives to the FOIA model raised by the emergence of “open data” and other approaches to transparency; and the theoretical underpinnings of FOIA and the right to know. In addition to examining the mixed legacy and effectiveness of FOIA, contributors debate how best to move forward to improve access to information and government functioning. Neither romanticizing FOIA nor downplaying its real and symbolic achievements, Troubling Transparency is a timely and comprehensive consideration of laws such as FOIA and the larger project of open government, with wide-ranging lessons for journalism, law, government, and civil society.

Troubling Transparency

Troubling Transparency PDF Author: David E. Pozen
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231545800
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 329

Get Book Here

Book Description
Today, transparency is a widely heralded value, and the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is often held up as one of the transparency movement’s canonical achievements. Yet while many view the law as a powerful tool for journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens to pursue the public good, FOIA is beset by massive backlogs, and corporations and the powerful have become adept at using it for their own interests. Close observers of laws like FOIA have begun to question whether these laws interfere with good governance, display a deleterious anti-public-sector bias, or are otherwise inadequate for the twenty-first century’s challenges. Troubling Transparency brings together leading scholars from different disciplines to analyze freedom of information policies in the United States and abroad—how they are working, how they are failing, and how they might be improved. Contributors investigate the creation of FOIA; its day-to-day uses and limitations for the news media and for corporate and citizen requesters; its impact on government agencies; its global influence; recent alternatives to the FOIA model raised by the emergence of “open data” and other approaches to transparency; and the theoretical underpinnings of FOIA and the right to know. In addition to examining the mixed legacy and effectiveness of FOIA, contributors debate how best to move forward to improve access to information and government functioning. Neither romanticizing FOIA nor downplaying its real and symbolic achievements, Troubling Transparency is a timely and comprehensive consideration of laws such as FOIA and the larger project of open government, with wide-ranging lessons for journalism, law, government, and civil society.

Saving the Freedom of Information Act

Saving the Freedom of Information Act PDF Author: Margaret B. Kwoka
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108482740
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
The Freedom of Information Act is vital for democratic accountability. Understanding who uses it is key to re-centering its oversight purposes.

FOIA Update

FOIA Update PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Freedom of information
Languages : en
Pages : 12

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Book Description


Guide to the Freedom of Information Act

Guide to the Freedom of Information Act PDF Author:
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 920

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Book Description
Contains an overview discussion of the Freedom of Information Act's (FOIA) exemptions, its law enforcement record exclusions, and its most important procedural aspects. 2009 edition. Issued biennially. Other related products: Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, Pursuant to Public Law 236, 103d Congress can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/052-071-01228-1 Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974, 2015 Edition can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/027-000-01429-1

Open Government

Open Government PDF Author: Mila Gascó-Hernández
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461495636
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
On January 2009, President Obama signed the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government. The memorandum declares the new Administration’s commitment to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government and establishing a system linking three principles: transparency, public participation and collaboration. Since then, federal agencies in the United States and public administrations around the world have embarked on open government initiatives and have worked to redefine their relationship with citizens and with each other. On September 20th, 2011, eight governments gathered in New York City to launch the Open Government Partnership, a new multilateral initiative to promote open government. The benefits attributed to open government are many and by no means universally shared. They include the claims that open government leads to more effective decision making and services, safeguards against corruption, enables public scrutiny, and promotes citizens’ trust in government. However, the speed of events and pressure to implement has given rise to confusion and ambiguity. Although many of the initiatives have been based on opening data and on promoting open action, governments have followed different directions and interpretations when it has come to implement them and development of open government has become unequal and heterogeneous. This book provides a comprehensive study of recent major developments of open government around the world, and analyzes the importance of open government efforts for public governance, making it of interest to academics and practitioners worldwide.

Freedom of Information Act Guide

Freedom of Information Act Guide PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Freedom of information
Languages : en
Pages : 1146

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Book Description


The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act

The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act PDF Author: John J. Watkins
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
ISBN: 1682260399
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 597

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Book Description
Since its first edition in 1988, The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act has become the standard reference for the bench, the bar, and journalists for guidance in interpreting and applying the state’s open-government law. This sixth edition, published fifty years after the passage of the Act in 1967, builds upon its predecessors, incorporating later legislative enactments, judicial decisions, and Attorney General’s opinions to present a synthesis of the law of access to public records and meetings in Arkansas.

Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974

Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974 PDF Author: United States. Department of Justice. Privacy and Civil Liberties Office
Publisher: Office of Information & Privacy
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
2012 edition. Issued biennially. Contains a discussion of the Privacy Act's disclosure prohibition, its access and amendment provisions, and its agency recordkeeping requirements. Provides reference to, and legal analysis of, court decisions interpreting the Act's provisions.

The politics of freedom of information

The politics of freedom of information PDF Author: Ben Worthy
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526108526
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
Why do governments pass freedom of information laws? The symbolic power and force surrounding FOI makes it appealing as an electoral promise but hard to disengage from once in power. However, behind closed doors compromises and manoeuvres ensure that bold policies are seriously weakened before they reach the statute book. The politics of freedom of information examines how Tony Blair's government proposed a radical FOI law only to back down in fear of what it would do. But FOI survived, in part due to the government's reluctance to be seen to reject a law that spoke of 'freedom', 'information' and 'rights'. After comparing the British experience with the difficult development of FOI in Australia, India and the United States – and the rather different cases of Ireland and New Zealand – the book concludes by looking at how the disruptive, dynamic and democratic effects of FOI laws continue to cause controversy once in operation.

The World Factbook 2003

The World Factbook 2003 PDF Author: United States. Central Intelligence Agency
Publisher: Potomac Books
ISBN: 9781574886412
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 712

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Book Description
By intelligence officials for intelligent people