-
Chapter 3. Transparency
- University of Ottawa Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Chapter 3 Transparency These first two dimensions, service and security, are primarily concerned with how governments are reorganizing themselves internally to adapt to new opportunities and threats in the external environment. In contrast, transparency and trust speak to changes rooted less in the internal structures of government and more in the evolving democratic environment within which governments operate-as the Internet has facilitated the creation of new channels of political mobilization and interaction between citizens and their governments. A fundamental challenge resulting is a clash of cultures between the expectations of an increasingly open and online society and the traditions of hierarchy and control that permeate public sector structures. Trends such as open source software and blogging are indicative of a widening scope of new forms of participation and mobilization that are creating stronger pressuresfor governments to adapt not only their internal governance but also the institutions of democracy that shape the roles and relationships among politicians, public servants, and the public. Yet, despite such pressures, governments may also resist change since "the culture of secrecy is deeply engrained" (Reid 2004, 82). Thedurability of such resistance- and ultimately the adaptability of government itself— are interwoven with the notion of trust discussed in Chapter 4. This chapter begins with a considerationof the importance of transparency to democratic governance. Section 3.2 examines the open source software movement as both an element of e-government and a reflection of broader changes to the governance culture extending across the marketplace and society as a whole. Section 3.3 then explores the evolving nature of freedom of information in the public sector and how various governments are either experimenting with new capacities for openness and information-sharing or resisting with efforts to contain and control information flows. The nexus between secrecy and complexity is thefocus of section 3.4, which asks whether or not thefoundational principles of democratic organization accurately and transparently depict the governance requirements of today's realities such as those examined in the preceding chapters. Section 3.5 concludes this chapter with a gateway into the subsequent discussion of trust. 50 E-GOVERNMENT IN CANADA 3.1 Why Transparency Matters Although there has never been a single standardized definition ofwhat it means for the public sector to be transparent, a useful starting point is to equate transparency with some degree of openness to those with either a right or an expectation ofbeing able to examine and understand the activities of government. Accordingly, there is a close relationship between transparency and accountability since one is arguably a prerequisite for the other. Yet, with regard to transparency as openness, a number of questions present themselves in terms of the degree of openness that is both desirable and feasible within the modern-day operations of large and sophisticated organizations. There are questions about the relative importance of process considerations versus performance outcomes as well as critical sequential questions about when any such openness should occur (i.e., before decisions are made and policies are formulated or after in reporting on results). Thus, although the objective of transparency as a staple of democraticgovernance is a given, there is much fluidity concerning its applicability and use as a guiding principle of political and managerial processes. The emergence of e-government as an overriding agenda for the public sector in nearly all parts of the world has sparked an unparallelled sense of optimism that greater levels of government transparency are both attainable in and beneficialto society as a whole. This point is particularly relevant to the developing world, castigated for its absence of openness, which in turn limits accountability and breeds corruption. Reversing this mix through e-government is now firmly on the agendas of less developed countries and the institutions and agencies seeking to assist them in undertaking the requisite reforms for bettering governance: "To the extent that increased transparency, accountability and predictability (of rules and procedures) are made priorities, e-government can be a weapon against corruption" (Pacific Council on International Policy 2002,10).l Yet the mere existence of an online government apparatus in a jurisdiction plagued by corruption would do little ifunaccompanied by a cohesive and far-reaching set ofreforms, including—but notnecessarily limited to—the sorts of information provided by the government and when, whether the citizenry and other stakeholders have access to [3.229.122.112] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 13:15 GMT) TRANSPARENCY 51 the information (online or elsewhere), and the rules and processes governing their activities in making...