Transparency: The Key to Better Governance?
Christopher Hood and David Heald
Abstract
‘Transparency’ is widely canvassed as a key to better governance, increasing trust in public-office holders. But it is more often preached than practised, more often referred to than defined, and more often advocated than critically analysed. This book exposes this doctrine to critical scrutiny from a range of disciplinary perspectives, including political science, philosophy, and economics. It traces the history of transparency as a doctrine of good governance and social organization, and identifies its different forms; assesses the benefits and drawbacks of measures to enhance various forms ... More
‘Transparency’ is widely canvassed as a key to better governance, increasing trust in public-office holders. But it is more often preached than practised, more often referred to than defined, and more often advocated than critically analysed. This book exposes this doctrine to critical scrutiny from a range of disciplinary perspectives, including political science, philosophy, and economics. It traces the history of transparency as a doctrine of good governance and social organization, and identifies its different forms; assesses the benefits and drawbacks of measures to enhance various forms of transparency; and examines how institutions respond to measures intended to increase transparency, and with what consequences. Transparency is shown not to be a new doctrine. It can come into conflict with other doctrines of good governance, and there are some important exceptions to Jeremy Bentham's famous dictum that ‘the more closely we are watched, the better we behave’. Instead of heralding a new culture of openness in government, measures to improve transparency tend to lead to tighter and more centralized management of information.
Keywords:
transparency,
good governance,
political science,
philosophy,
economics,
social organization,
institutions,
Jeremy Bentham,
centralized management
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2006 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780197263839 |
| Published to British Academy Scholarship Online: January 2012 |
DOI:10.5871/bacad/9780197263839.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Christopher Hood, editor
Gladstone Professor of Government, University of Oxford; Fellow of the British Academy
David Heald, editor
Professor of Financial Management, University of Sheffield
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