Making Transparency Work: How Institutions Implement Government Transparency

How institutions put into practice freedom of information legislation (FOI)? What sort of adjustments do government organizations must sustain in order to comply with transparency? Literature on transparency has focused on two... [ view full abstract ]

How institutions put into practice freedom of information legislation (FOI)? What sort of adjustments do government organizations must sustain in order to comply with transparency? Literature on transparency has focused on two important topics: how citizens employ transparency to impact their daily lives, and whether government institutions comply with freedom of information laws and transparency. This focus has left aside the analysis of how government organizations transform transparency mandates into daily activities. This paper aims to contribute fulfilling this gap by analyzing how government institutions at the federal and national level in Mexico adjust internal routines to put into work transparency policies. The ultimate goal is to explain what factors may affect the “supply side” of government transparency, in order to understand how we can make of transparency an organizational value, and improve the performance of governments on this particular aspect of democratic governance.
This paper analyzes data from more than 250 Mexican organizations at the federal and national level regarding institutional adjustments these institutions have undergone to comply with FOI legislation. Data was gathered during 2016 and includes variables on administrative financial and human resources devoted to transparency compliance. This data also incorporates information about institutional processes to comply with information requests and the proactive publication of governmental information.