scholarly journals Access to Information in the Age of Trump

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Schoenberger
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Information Policy ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Government Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Government Data ◽  
Government Websites ◽  
Trump Administration

As a primary supplier of information and research of importance and value to the public, the government’s activity in doing so must be subject to scrutiny. This paper examines access to information under the government’s control within the context of the current United States presidential administration. After providing an overview of access to information, the paper moves to a discussion of current issues, highlighted by actions taken by the Trump administration. Of particular interest are the removal of information from government websites and gag orders or other restrictions imposed on government agencies. These have led to a lack of transparency as well as concerns regarding the authority and reliability of government data. In these ways, the Trump administration has limited and significantly harmed access to information. The paper also makes connections to larger information policy concerns, ending with a discussion of ways to promote access to government information.

Institutions of Information Access and Constraint

2012 ◽  
pp. 247-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeannine E. Relly
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Information Access ◽  
Information Policy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Government Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
China And India ◽  
History Of

This chapter examines institutions of information access and the potential for information asymmetry in China and India, both of which have recently adopted access-to-information regulations and legislation, respectively. An examination of these two countries largely is a study of most-different cases. The chapter uses the framework of institutionalism to follow the history of government information policy in both nations and to examine measurements of the political, cultural, and economic environments in which access-to-information legislation is adopted, implemented, enforced, and used by the public.

Getting at the Live Archive: On Access to Information Research in Canada

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 623-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Walby ◽  
Mike Larsen
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Official Discourse ◽  
Dirty Data ◽  
Information Research ◽  
Public Record ◽  
Constitutional Right

Most of the draft documents, memoranda, communications, and other textual materials amassed by government agencies do not become public record unless efforts are taken to obtain their release. One mechanism for doing so is “access to information” (ATI) or “freedom of information” (FOI) law. Individuals and organizations in Canada have a quasi-constitutional right to request information from federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government. A layer of bureaucracy has been created to handle these requests and manage the disclosure of information, with many organizations having special divisions, coordinators, and associated personnel for this purpose. The vast majority of public organizations are subject to the federal Access to Information Act (ATIA) or the provincial and municipal equivalents.We have been using ATI requests to get at spectrum of internal government texts. At one end of the spectrum, we are seeking what Gary Marx calls “dirty data” produced by policing, national security, and intelligence agencies. Dirty data represent “information which [are] kept secret and whose revelation would be discrediting or costly in terms of various types of sanctioning.” This material can take the form of the quintessential “smoking gun” document, or, more often, a seemingly innocuous trail of records that, upon analysis, can be illuminating. Dirty data are often kept from the public record. At the other end of the disclosure spectrum are those front-stage texts that represent “official discourse,” which are carefully crafted and released to the public according to government messaging campaigns.

scholarly journals Validation of e-Government Information Delivery Attributes: The Adoption of the Focus Group Method

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 1069-1095
Author(s):  
José Monteiro ◽  
Maria Bernando ◽  
Mafalda Ferreira ◽  
Tânia Rocha
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Information Delivery ◽  
Group Method ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Government Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Emotional Aspects ◽  
Government Websites ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Focus Group Method

In democratic countries, government websites became an important channel for interaction with the public administration in the last few years. Nevertheless, several issues have an impact on the way users access to content and information. Lack of accessibility and usability or, in the broad sense, lack of concern with user needs, can still be found in many government websites. To address the problem, a previous literature review on e-government information delivery attributes was performed. Based on this review, a large set of attributes related to quality was obtained to evaluate these dimensions in the context of e-government. The purpose of this study is to better understand which of these attributes are the most valued, in the users’ perspective, for evaluating content delivered by government websites. A qualitative approach was adopted, using Focus Group interviews as a strategy to obtain data and Thematic Analysis to analyze such data. The main results highlighted the attributes related to content delivery, interaction, and emotional aspects. User Experience, accessibility, and usability were prioritized by Focus Group participants.

Achieving Useful Government Accountability and Transparency Websites

2015 ◽  
pp. 26-48
Author(s):  
Deborah S. Carstens ◽  
Stephen Kies ◽  
Randy Stockman
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Government Accountability ◽  
The Public ◽  
Government Websites ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Performance

With the transition from government to e-government, greater transparency in government accountability has occurred. However, state government budgets and performance reports are voluminous and difficult to understand by the average citizen. There is a need for government Websites to promote public trust while providing understandable, meaningful, and usable government accountability information. The public needs to have access to information that links the outcome of government spending so that government can be accountable for their spending. There are three fundamental functions for government: accountability, budgeting, and policy-making. The chapter discusses literature specifically relating to government accountability resulting in a checklist being developed to provide a mechanism for evaluation of government Websites from a technical and usability perspective. Therefore, it is not only important for a Website to have the government accountability information but to also display it in a useful and meaningful format understandable by citizens accessing the Website.

Accessing Democracy: The Critical Relationship between Academics and the Access to Information Act

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 613-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Kazmierski
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Legal Studies ◽  
Adequate Knowledge ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The Government ◽  
The 1960S

Parliament recognized the fundamental importance of protecting access to government information when it enacted the federal Access to Information Act. When the Act came into force on Canada Day 1983, Canada was just one of a handful of countries to have legislative protection of access to government information. Now, 27 years later, over 80 countries across the globe have enacted some form of access to information legislation.Although the world has followed Canada's lead in recognizing the importance of protecting access to government information, Canada has “fallen behind” (to borrow the descriptor used by journalist and author Stanley Tromp) and may even be “backsliding” (in the words of Laura Neuman of the Carter Center). What has gone wrong with the federal access regime? Why should legal studies scholars care? I address these questions in this article. I start by outlining the symbiotic role between academics and access to government information. I then identify three key factors that have contributed to the decline of the federal access regime: administrative resistance, legislative degeneration, and political indifference. Finally, I close by briefly discussing three ways in which scholars can continue to work to protect and promote access to information in Canada.Academics and AccessAcademics took the lead in advocating for access to government information in the 1960s and 1970s in Canada. One of the earliest advocates was Donald C. Rowat, a professor of Political Science at Carleton University. In a 1965 article entitled “How Much Administrative Secrecy?”, he summarized the key arguments in favour of protecting access to government information, writing Parliament and the public cannot hope to call the government to account without an adequate knowledge of what is going on; nor can they hope to participate in the decision-making process and contribute their talents to the formation of policy and legislation if that process is hidden from view.

scholarly journals Strategical communication as a method

2005 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 19-37
Author(s):  
Pål B. Horsle
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Information Policy ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Strategic Communications ◽  
Target Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
Selection Of

This article presents a way of thinking and planning strategic communications step by step. But even though the term step is used, the process must not always follow the sequence shown here. Often it may be necessary to go backwards and forwards to adjust the steps in relation to each other. This applies not least to the choice of target groups, the determination of sub-objectives, the selection of the main procedures and the level of ambition. But regardless of the sequence, no step should be omitted. The overall focus is effectiveness in order to what extent objectives is reached. This article is based upon my experience and as responsible for exercising approximately 50 strategies primarily within the public sector, in addition to use of The Norwegian Central Government Information Policy. Which is as a fact the only public information policy in the whole world which is implemented. Of this reason this article could be interpreted rather normative than empirical theoretic.

Open Government Success Factors in Government Websites

2013 ◽  
pp. 235-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Sandoval-Almazán
Keyword(s):  
Search Engine ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Final Conclusion ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Government Data ◽  
Government Websites ◽  
Conclusion Section

Open Government Websites are a different perspective for presenting government information. In the Mexican case, it is mandatory by law since 2002 to present some government data through Websites. Despite this strong impulse of transparency, there is not enough measurement for the success or the failure of this novel practice. This chapter analyses data collected from a benchmarking of three year measures of open government portals during 2007, 2009, and 2010. From this data, three success factors are identified: trust, search engine, and legal issues. The success factors for open government portals are a contribution that must be verified by further research. This chapter is organized in seven sections. In the first section is the introduction of open government and the background of the Mexican case; the second section presents a literature review about open government and success factors; the third section describes the methodology of the open government portals measurement during 2008-2010; the fourth section discusses the results of this benchmarking and identifies three success factors: trust, search engine, and legal component; the fifth section describes these three findings and provides some recommendations for practitioners; the sixth section discusses the limitations of success factors and the limitations of this kind of research; a final section of future research presents some research paths, and a final conclusion section closes the chapter with a summary of findings and discussion.

Achieving Useful Government Accountability and Transparency Websites

2014 ◽  
pp. 19-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah S. Carstens ◽  
Stephen Kies ◽  
Randy Stockman
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Government Accountability ◽  
The Public ◽  
Government Websites ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Performance

With the transition from government to e-government, greater transparency in government accountability has occurred. However, state government budgets and performance reports are voluminous and difficult to understand by the average citizen. There is a need for government Websites to promote public trust while providing understandable, meaningful, and usable government accountability information. The public needs to have access to information that links the outcome of government spending so that government can be accountable for their spending. There are three fundamental functions for government: accountability, budgeting, and policy-making. The chapter discusses literature specifically relating to government accountability resulting in a checklist being developed to provide a mechanism for evaluation of government Websites from a technical and usability perspective. Therefore, it is not only important for a Website to have the government accountability information but to also display it in a useful and meaningful format understandable by citizens accessing the Website.

scholarly journals Information and political aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States

2020 ◽  
pp. 120-132
Author(s):  
P. Koshkin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Information ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Global Spread ◽  
Trump Administration ◽  
The Way

The COVID-19 pandemic became the main catalyst of the so-called infodemic in the sphere of public information and communications. The article is an attempt to systematize and conceptualize informational and political aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. First, the author explains how the Trump administration responded to the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States both domestically and internationally and how it presented its anti-coronavirus policy to the public. Second, the article analyzes the role of journalists, experts and politicians in instigating or curbing the COVID-19-driven ― infodemic‖ in the United States as coronavirus paved the way for global spread.

scholarly journals The Partisan Impact on Local Government Dissemination of COVID-19 Information: Assessing US County Government Websites

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Michael A. Hansen ◽  
Isabelle Johansson ◽  
Kalie Sadowski ◽  
Joseph Blaszcynski ◽  
Sarah Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Population Density ◽  
The United States ◽  
County Government ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Unit Of Analysis ◽  
Government Websites ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This study explores the relationship between local government dissemination of COVID-19 information and partisanship. The unit of analysis is all official county government websites in the United States. In particular, we investigate if there is a correlation between the overall partisanship of a county and whether a county government's website (1) mentions COVID-19 and (2) provides safety instructions concerning COVID-19. We hypothesize that mass partisanship will impact the probability that a county government's website provides information related to the coronavirus. We find that a larger share of Democratic voters in a county is associated with an increase in the probability that a county government's website mentions COVID-19 and provides safety instructions for its residents. The results hold even after controlling for population density, internet subscriptions and COVID-19 cases and deaths. The finding indicates that citizens’ access to information, even on matters of public health, are partially a consequence of partisanship.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document