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Government Transparency

State of the Art and New Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2022

Gregory Porumbescu
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, New Jersey
Albert Meijer
Affiliation:
Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands
Stephan Grimmelikhuijsen
Affiliation:
Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands

Summary

This Element argues that to understand why transparency “works” in one context, but fails in another, we have to take into account how institutional (macro), organizational (meso) contexts interact with individual behavior (micro). A review of research from each of these perspectives shows that the big promises thought to accompany greater transparency during the first two decades of the 20th century have not been delivered. For example, transparency does not necessarily lead to better government performance and more trust in government. At the same time, transparency is still a hallmark of democratic governance and as this book highlights, for instance, transparency has been relatively successful in combating government corruption. Finally, by explicitly taking a multilayered perspective into account, this Element develops new paths for future research.
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