Freedom of information laws and information access

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Proscovia Svärd
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Information Access ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Information Culture ◽  
The Government

Sierra Leone was engulfed in a destructive civil war between 1991 and 2002. The civil war was partly caused by the non-accountability of the government, endemic corruption, misrule and the mismanagement of the country’s resources. Efforts have been made by the country, with the help of the international community, to embrace a democratic dispensation. To demonstrate its commitment to the democratization agenda, Sierra Leone passed the Right to Access Information (RAI) Act in 2013. The Act guarantees access to government information and also imposes a penalty on failure to make information available. However, Sierra Leone’s state institutions are still weak due to mismanagement and lack of transparency and accountability. Freedom of expression and access to information are cornerstones of modern democracies. Public information/records are a means of power that governments and other political institutions use to exercise control over citizens, but are also a means of citizens’ empowerment. Through access to government information/records, media can play their watchdog role and people can assess the performance of governments and hold them accountable. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate the fact that it is not enough to enact freedom of information laws (FOIs) if there is no political will to make government information accessible, an information management infrastructure to facilitate the creation, capture, management, dissemination, preservation and re-use of government information and investments in civil education to promote an information culture that appreciates information as a resource that underpins accountability and transparency.

The ICT and the Legislation on Transparency and Freedom of Information

2015 ◽  
pp. 347-365
Author(s):  
Alejandro Sáez-Martín ◽  
Arturo Haro-de-Rosario ◽  
Manuela García-Tabuyo ◽  
María Del Carmen Caba-Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Electoral Turnout ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Many ◽  
Economic Capacity

The many cases of corruption that have come to light, among other scandals, have led the public to lose faith in the management of public institutions. In order to regain confidence, the government needs to inform its citizens of all its actions. Public information should be accessible and controlled by means of a regulatory framework. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the transparency achieved and the progress still needed to be made by Dominican Republic municipalities with regards to complying with the requirements of the law on public information management. The chapter discusses the voluntary transparency achieved and factors that affect the implementation of information policies. The results highlight deficiencies in certain areas of online public information disclosure. The population size, economic capacity and electoral turnout are all factors that affect the online dissemination of public information by local governments in the Dominican Republic.

Academic Libraries in Partnership With the Government Publishing Office

2020 ◽  
pp. 1411-1434
Author(s):  
Barbara Costello
Keyword(s):  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Information Access ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Government Printing ◽  
Government Information ◽  
National Plan ◽  
Electronic Information ◽  
Information Preservation ◽  
Library Program ◽  
The Government

The implementation of the Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-40) brought the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) fully into the digital age. The transition has created expected and unexpected changes to the way the Government Publishing Office (GPO) administers the FDLP and, in particular, to the relationships between the GPO and academic depository libraries. Innovative partnerships, use of emerging technologies to manage and share collections, and greater flexibility on the part of the GPO have given academic depository libraries a prominent and proactive role within the depository program. Newly announced initiatives from the GPO, the National Plan for Access to U.S. Government Information and the Federal Information Preservation Network (FIPNet) potentially could either increase academic depository libraries' collaboration with the FDLP and the likelihood that they will remain in the program, or accelerate the rate at which academic depositories are dropping depository status.

scholarly journals Political Trust and Values of Loyal and Oppositional Youth in the Exclave Region of Russia

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 570-583
Author(s):  
Aleksandr V. Shchekoturov
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Theory Of Value ◽  
The Government ◽  
Kaliningrad Region ◽  
Materialistic Values

The study determines the level of trust in public and political institutions among the loyal and oppositional youth of the Kaliningrad region, as well as their attitudes towards materialistic and post-materialistic values. The study is based on R. Ingleharts theory of value and the understanding of trust as described in the works of P. Sztompka and A. Giddens. The author relies on an online survey conducted among young people aged between 18 and 35 (n = 987). As a result of the study, the author defines three groups of institutions, depending on the degree of trust in them. The study confirms the hypothesis that young people loyal to the government demonstrate greater trust in traditional and state institutions. It also reveals that, in general, young people put post-materialistic values in the first place, while materialistic values are more characteristic of the youth loyal to the government. The author concludes that the level of the political trust towards a certain institution among loyal and oppositional youth differs depending on the possibility of influencing the institution. The trust of loyal youth is based on the importance of social status, and the trust of oppositional youth is based on the freedom of expression.

scholarly journals Using Power-Sharing to Win a War: The Implementation of the Lomé Agreement in Sierra Leone

2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helga Malmin Binningsbø ◽  
Kendra Dupuy
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
United Front ◽  
The Government

To end the civil war in Sierra Leone the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) signed a peace agreement guaranteeing power-sharing in July 1999. Such power-sharing is a widely used, often recommended political arrangement to overcome deep divisions between groups. However, scholars disagree on whether power-sharing causes peace, or, on the contrary, causes continuing violence. One reason for this is the literature's tendency to neglect how power-sharing is actually put into place. But post-agreement implementation is essential if we are to judge the performance of power-sharing. Therefore, we investigate the role played by power-sharing in terminating the civil war in Sierra Leone. We argue that the government was able to use the peace agreement to pursue its goal of ending the war through marginalising the RUF.

Congressional Concerns Over Partisanship and a Lack of Professional Independence: Critical Junctures and the Evolution of U.S. Government Information Agencies

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-233
Author(s):  
Murendehle Mulheva Juwayeyi
Keyword(s):  
Public Information ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Global Media ◽  
Voice Of America ◽  
Critical Junctures ◽  
The Government ◽  
Professional Independence ◽  
The Voice

The nomination by Pres. Donald J. Trump of Michael Pack as the Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the agency that oversees the Voice of America (VOA) and other civilian international broadcasters, was politically controversial. Democratic senators feared that if confirmed, Pack would pursue a partisan political agenda through the broadcasters because he was a known associate of President Trump’s former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon. This study shows that fears that a president could use government agencies to advance a partisan political agenda emerged long ago when the government first started establishing information agencies, such as the Committee on Public Information (CPI) and the Office of War Information (OWI). Such fears are likely to continue.

Data protection in Botswana

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-78
Author(s):  
Tumelo Keakopa ◽  
Olefhile Mosweu
Keyword(s):  
Data Protection ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Records Management ◽  
Privacy Rights ◽  
Individual Privacy ◽  
Protection Legislation ◽  
The Government

Data protection legislation is concerned with the safeguarding of privacy rights of individuals in relation to the processing of personal data, regardless of media or format. The Government of Botswana enacted the Data Protection Act in 2018 for purposes of regulating personal data and to ensure the protection of individual privacy as it relates to personal data, and its maintenance. This paper investigates opportunities and challenges for records management, and recommends measures to be put in place in support of data protection, through proper records management practices. The study employed a desktop approach and data was collected using content analysis. The study found that opportunities such as improved retrieval and access to information, improved job opportunities for records management professionals and a conducive legislative framework are available. It also revealed that a lack of resources to drive the records management function, limitations in electronic document and records systems and a lack of freedom of information to regulate access to public information by members of the public is still a challenge. The study recommends the employment of qualified records management staff with capacity to manage records in the networked environment for purposes of designing and implementing records management programmes that can facilitate compliance with the requirements prescribed by the Data Protection Act.

Freedom of Information Law and Its Application in Indonesia: A Preliminary Assessment

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 1-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Butt
Keyword(s):  
Public Information ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
New Order ◽  
Preliminary Assessment ◽  
Government Transparency ◽  
The Future ◽  
Information Law ◽  
The Government ◽  
Transparency And Accountability ◽  
Public Bodies

AbstractIn 2008, Indonesia introduced its first “freedom of information” statute – Law 14 of 2008 on Disclosure of Public Information (the “FOI Law” or the “Law”) – which became fully operational in 2010. The FOI Law is an important component of the government transparency and accountability mechanisms established after Soeharto and his authoritarian “New Order” government fell in 1998. This article assesses the extent to which the FOI Law has been effective in requiring public bodies to disclose “public” information that they would rather keep within their ranks. More time is needed for these reforms to take hold. However, this article, which provides the first academic analysis of the freedom of information reforms “in practice”, shows that Indonesia’s central Information Commission and the courts have, with two important exceptions, applied the FOI Law in favour of information-seekers, thereby providing some reason for optimism for the future of this reform.

scholarly journals UU KETERBUKAAN INFORMASI PUBLIK ANTARA HARAPAN DAN KENYATAAN

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Suko Widodo
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Property ◽  
Information Law ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Government

Disclosure of public information is one manifestation of the implementation of good governance where the public information disclosure is the duty of government and public institutions. It refers to the fact that the public information is public property and is not owned by the government and public institutions. Therefore, to be able to meet these conditions, the Freedom of Information Law was established, despite the fact that the law is not so popular in the community, so it is still necessary

scholarly journals A implantação da lei de acesso à informação pública e a gestão da informação arquivística governamental │ Access to Public Information Act: implementation and the management of government archival information

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
José Maria Jardim
Keyword(s):  
Information Access ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Federal District ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Regulatory Processes ◽  
Distrito Federal ◽  
Social Use ◽  
Almost All

Resumo São identificados e analisados aspectos relativos à implantação da Lei de Acesso à Informação Pública - LAI (Lei no 12.527, de 18 de novembro de 2011), considerando-se a sua regulamentação nos Poderes Executivos Federal, de 15 Estados e do Distrito Federal até 16 de junho de 2013. A natureza da informação arquivística, o seu uso social e a função dos arquivos no Estado contemporâneo são referências teóricas à análise. Os dispositivos legais regulamentadores da LAI são analisados em termos das suas categorias conceituais, especialmente do ponto de vista arquivístico. É também observada a presença/ausência das instituições arquivísticas nas diversas arquiteturas de gestão da LAI nos vários cenários de administrações públicas federal e estadual. Exceções à parte, as conexões entre as políticas públicas de acesso à informação e as políticas arquivísticas são ainda insuficientes. Conclui-se que o papel das instituições e serviços arquivísticos públicos é, na quase totalidade dos casos analisados, periférico ou inexistente nos processos de regulamentação da LAI.Palavras-chave Lei de Acesso à Informação, Acesso à Informação Governamental, Políticas Arquivísticas, Gestão de Documentos, Administração de Arquivos, Uso social da Informação.Abstract This study addresses several aspects related to the implementation of the Access to Public Information Act - LAI (Law 12.527 of November 18, 2011). The research adopted as references for analysis the regulation of LAI in the Federal Executive Branch, 15 State Governments and that of the Federal District approved up to June 16, 2013. The nature of archival information, its use and the social function of archives in the contemporary state are theoretical references. The analysis of various LAI regulations emphasized their conceptual categories related to archives. The research examined the presence or absence of archival services and institutions in the various structures of management of LAI regulations. Exceptions aside, the connections between public policies on information access and archival policies are still insufficient. This study concludesthat the role of archival institutions and services is, in almost all cases analyzed, peripheral or non-existent within the regulatory processes of LAI.Keywords Access to Public Information Act, Access to Government Information, Archival Policies, Records Managements, Archival Administration, Social Use of Information

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