8. Monitoring the U.S. Executive Branch Inside and Out: The Freedom of Information Act, Inspectors General, and the Paradoxes of Transparency

2018 ◽  
pp. 166-186
Keyword(s):  
Executive Branch ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Freedom Of Information Act ◽  
The U.S

scholarly journals Where do FOIA responses live? Electronic Reading Rooms and web sources

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Lisa DeLuca
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Personal Privacy ◽  
Freedom Of Information Act ◽  
Electronic Reading ◽  
Google Search ◽  
The U.S

The Freedom of Information Act, FOIA (5 U.S.C. 552), generally provides any person with the statutory right, enforceable in court, to obtain access to government information in executive branch agency records. FOIA does not apply to the judicial or legislative branches of the U.S. government. This right to access is limited when information is protected from disclosure by one of FOIA’s nine statutory exemptions and exclusions.The “Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996” required that agencies needed to make eligible records available electronically. As a result, there are dozens of FOIA Libraries and Electronic Reading Rooms that are repositories for responses to agency FOIA requests. These documents are also known as responsive documents. Documents are often posted by agencies with redactions to protect personal privacy, national security, and other FOIA exemptions and exclusions. It is important for researchers, journalists, and citizens to use the terms “FOIA Libraries” and “Electronic Reading Rooms” as part of their search terminology. This will ensure they can find documents that might not be findable through a regular Google search.

Presidential Privilege and the Freedom of Information Act

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin M. Baron
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Freedom Of Information Act ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Government Secrecy

Executive privilege (EP) as a political tool has created a grey area of constitutional power between the legislative and executive branches. By focusing on the post-WWII political usage of executive privilege, this research utilizes a social learning perspective to examine the power dynamics between Congress and the president when it comes to government secrecy and public information. Social learning provides the framework to understand how the Cold War's creation of the modern American security state led to a paradigm shift in the executive branch. This shift altered the politics of the presidency and impacted relations with Congress through extensive use of EP and denial of congressional requests for information. When viewed through a social learning lens, the institutional politics surrounding the development of the Freedom of Information Act is intricately entwined with EP as a political power struggle of action-reaction between the executive and legislative branches. Using extensive archival research, this historical analysis examines the politics surrounding the modern use of executive privilege from Truman through Nixon as an action-reaction of checks on power from the president and Congress, where each learns and responds based on the others previous actions. The use of executive privilege led to the Freedom of Information Act showing how policy can serve as a congressional check on executive power, and how the politics surrounding this issue influence contemporary politics.

scholarly journals Individuals’ Use of Twitter to Discuss Freedom of Information in the United States: A Social Network Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-59
Author(s):  
Kayla Schwoerer
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Public Agencies ◽  
Freedom Of Information Act ◽  
Advocacy Organizations ◽  
The U.S

This study employs social network analysis to examine more than 10,000 Twitter interactions that include the U.S. Freedom of Information Act hashtag (#FOIA) to understand who is engaging online, and to what extent. The analysis finds evidence of a dynamic conversation online among citizens, journalists, advocates, and public agencies. Findings offer insights into how citizens are using social media to engage with government and one another in conversations around important public policies, such as government transparency, as well as how technologies such as social media can be leveraged to better understand citizens’ interest. The study also found a significant increase in tweets during national Sunshine Week, a vehicle that increases national dialogue about FOI, and highlights effective social media strategies employed by MuckRock and other advocacy organizations.

scholarly journals The manipulation of History: censorship in Freedom of Information Act requests at the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Federal Bureau ◽  
Department Of Justice ◽  
Freedom Of Information Act ◽  
Federal Bureau Of Investigation ◽  
The U.S

O Freedom of Information Act americano é gratuito até um número de páginas decidido pelo governo, mas as informações dadas estão sujeitas à censura desnecessária. Como essa supressão se relaciona com o Federal Bureau of Investigation, assumimos que grande parte desse controle de informações deve a sua existência a uma regra em casa, seja de facto ou de jure, que restringe qualquer coisa que mesmo parece que pode voltar a assombrar a agência. O suporte é fornecido por documentos liberados pelo FBI contrastados com os mesmos documentos disponibilizados a partir dos serviços de segurança do Canadá.

From our Own Correspondent … the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) in Context: FoIA, Privacy and Public Records

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-113
Author(s):  
Dave Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Complete Picture ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Freedom Of Information Act ◽  
Public Records ◽  
The Past ◽  
Private Collection ◽  
The Us ◽  
Public Record ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The U.S

The US Freedom of Information Act is a tool that can be used with success, but the current climate makes it less effective than it has been in the past. Privacy Acts are set up to protect the citizenry from untoward governmental scrutiny, but even with current legislation in place private collection of information from governmental public record resources and a variety of private resources can compile a relatively complete picture of many individuals in the U.S, from where Dave Rogers from Sidley Austin in Chicago sends us this report.

From Wartime Friend to Cold War Fiend: The Abduction of Kaji Wataru and U.S.-Japan Relations at Occupation's End

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 159-183
Author(s):  
Erik Esselstrom
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Freedom Of Information Act ◽  
Military Intelligence ◽  
Japanese Writer ◽  
The U.S

This article examines archival evidence related to the abduction and interrogation of the leftwing Japanese writer Kaji Wataru by U.S. military intelligence operatives in Tokyo in the early 1950s. The detention of Kaji became a cause célèbre in December 1952 when he publicly claimed that he had been seized in November 1951 and held against his will until late 1952, some seven months beyond the formal end of the U.S. occupation. Kaji said that U.S. officials had accused him of being a Soviet spy, but he denied those charges vehemently. As both sides presented vastly different versions of what had transpired during Kaji's captivity, the truth of the case became enshrouded within the politics of the early Cold War in East Asia. By exploring the Kaji affair through available archival sources, including two important documents released in 2013 in response to a Freedom of Information Act petition, this article casts new light on the incident and connects it to broader interpretive themes in early postwar U.S-Japan relations.

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