Increasing transparency in government

• Main Author: FLORINI, Ann
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2002
• Subjects: Political Science; Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2326; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3583/viewcontent/IncreasingTransparencyGovernment_2002.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The article focuses on the transparency in the government and investigates how transparency is related directly to achieving and maintaining international peace, by transforming the security relationship between countries. It also examines transparency's indirect role in contributing to legitimate and effective governance and explores the trends in transparency in national politics, international organizations, and environmental management. Information is the lifeblood of both democracies and markets. Without information, citizens have no basis upon which to evaluate their representatives or voice their opinions, and both elections and the very process of representation become a meaningless sham. Without information, the financial markets upon which modern economies depend become irrational exercises in guesswork, and governmental regulators cannot hope to carry out their responsibilities. The key to good governance is thus to make governments and markets transparent. Only such open flows of information can ensure that governments and economic systems will enjoy the long-term stability and widespread legitimacy upon which peace and prosperity depend.