Open government
Open government is the governing doctrine which maintains that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight. In its broadest construction, it opposes reason of state and other considerations which have tended to legitimize extensive state secrecy. The origins of open-government arguments can be dated to the time of the European Age of Enlightenment, when philosophers debated the proper construction of a then nascent democratic society. It is also increasingly being associated with the concept of democratic reform. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 16, for example, advocates for public access to information as a criterion for ensuring accountable and inclusive institutions.
Components
The concept of open government is broad in scope but is most often connected to ideas of government transparency, participation and accountability. Transparency is defined as the visibility and inferability of information, accountability as answerability and enforceability, and participation is often graded along the "ladder of citizen participation." Harlan Yu and David G. Robinson specify the distinction between open data and open government in their paper "The New Ambiguity of "Open Government". They define open government in terms of service delivery and public accountability. They argue that technology can be used to facilitate disclosure of information, but that the use of open data technologies does not necessarily equate accountability.The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development approaches open government through the following categories: whole of government coordination, civic engagement and access to information, budget transparency, integrity and the fight against corruption, use of technology, and local development.
History
The term 'open government' originated in the United States after World War II. Wallace Parks, who served on a subcommittee on Government Information created by the U.S. Congress, introduce the term in his 1957 article "The Open Government Principle: Applying the Right to Know under the Constitution". After this and after the passing of the Freedom of Information Act in 1966, federal courts began using the term as a synonym for government transparency.Although this was the first time that 'open government' was introduced the concept of transparency and accountability in government can be traced back to Ancient Greece in fifth century B.C.E. Athens where different legal institutions regulated the behavior of officials and offered a path for citizens to express their grievances towards them. One such institution, the euthyna, held officials to a standard of "straightness" and enforced that they give an account in front of an Assembly of citizens about everything that they did that year.
In more recent history, the idea that government should be open to public scrutiny and susceptible to public opinion dates back to the time of the Enlightenment, when many philosophes made an attack on absolutist doctrines of state secrecy. The passage of formal legislature can also be traced to this time with Sweden, where free press legislation was enacted as part of its constitution.
Influenced by Enlightenment thought, the revolutions in United States and France, enshrined provisions and requirements for public budgetary accounting and freedom of the press in constitutional articles. In the nineteenth century, attempts by Metternichean statesmen to row back on these measures were vigorously opposed by a number of eminent liberal politicians and writers, including Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton.
Open government is widely seen to be a key hallmark of contemporary democratic practice and is often linked to the passing of freedom of information legislation. Scandinavian countries claim to have adopted the first freedom of information legislation, dating the origins of its modern provisions to the eighteenth century and Finland continuing the presumption of openness after gaining independence in 1917, passing its Act on Publicity of Official Documents in 1951.
An emergent development also involves the increasing integration of software and mechanisms that allow citizens to become more directly involved in governance, particularly in the area of legislation. Some refer to this phenomenon as e-participation, which has been described as "the use of information and communication technologies to broaden and deepen political participation by enabling citizens to connect with one another and with their elected representatives".
Current policies
Africa
Morocco's new constitution of 2011, outlined several goals the government wishes to achieve in order to guarantee the citizens right to information. The world has been offering support to the government in order to enact these reforms through the Transparency and Accountability Development Policy Loan. This loan is part of a joint larger program between the European Union and the African Development Bank to offer financial and technical support to governments attempting to implement reforms.As of 2010, section 35 of Kenya's constitution ensures citizens' rights to government information. The article states "35. Every citizen has the right of access to — information held by the State; and information held by another person and required for the exercise or protection of any right or fundamental freedom... The State shall publish and publicize any important information affecting the nation." Important government data is now freely available through the Kenya Open Data Initiative.
Asia
started its e-government program in 1998 and since then has had a series of laws and executive orders to enforce open government policies. The Freedom of Government Information Law of 2005, stated that all government information must be made public. Such information includes budgets, administrative plans, communication of government agencies, subsidies. Since then it released its open data platform, . The Sunflower Movement of 2014, emphasized the value that Taiwanese citizens place on openness and transparency. A white paper published by the National Development Council with policy goals for 2020 explores ways to increase citizen participation and use open data for further government transparency.The Philippines passed the Freedom of Information Order in 2016, outlining guidelines to practice government transparency and full public disclosure. In accordance with its General Appropriations Act of 2012, the Philippine government requires government agencies to display a "transparency seal" on their websites, which contains information about the agency's functions, annual reports, officials, budgets, and projects.
The Right to Information movement in India, created the RTI law in 2005 after environmental movements demanded the release of information regarding environmental deterioration due to industrialization. Another catalyst for the RTI law and other similar laws in southeast Asia, may have been due to multilateral agencies offering aid and loans in exchange for more transparency or "democratic" policies.
In October 2023, Iranian government publicly opposed measure "tritary branches of judiciary, executive, legislative transparency program". The transparency law never passes after nine months as judiciary and state did not consent. The government has the Iranfoia website for requests.
Europe
In the Netherlands, large social unrest and the growing influence of televisions in the 1960s led to a push for more government openness. Access to information legislation was passed in 1980; since then, further emphasis has been placed on measuring the performance of government agencies.Transparency as a legal principle underpins European Union law, for example in regard to the quality of the drafting of legislation, and as a principle to be exercised within government procurement procedures. European law academics argued in 2007 that a "new legal principle", transparency, might be emerging "in gestation" within EU law.
The government of the Netherlands adopted an Open Government in Action Plan for 2016–2017, which outlines nine concrete commitments to the open government standards set by the OECD.
Since 2018, in Wales, the Welsh Government has funded the training of Wikipedia skills in secondary schools, as part of the Welsh Baccalaureate and uses an open licence on all published videos and other content.