WHAT IS "TRANSPARENCY"

One aspect of the role of the Fairness and Transparency advisor is to oversee the "transparency" of process related issues.

What is transparency?

There is no single definition of what constitutes transparency or method for measuring it. Below are some thoughts on what transparency is (or isn't).

"As a principle, public officials, civil servants...have a duty to act visibly, predictably and understandably to promote participation and accountability.

Simply making information available is not sufficient to achieve transparency. Large amounts of raw information in the public domain may breed opacity rather than transparency.

Information should be managed and published so that it is:

Relevant and accessible: Information should be presented in plain and readily comprehensible language and formats appropriate for different stakeholders. It should retain the detail and disaggregation necessary for analysis, evaluation and participation. Information should be made available in ways appropriate to different audiences.
Timely and accurate: Information should be made available in sufficient time to permit analysis, evaluation and engagement by relevant stakeholders. This means that information needs to be provided while planning as well as during and after the implementation of policies and programmes. Information should be managed so that it is up-to-date, accurate, and complete."

Source: The Transparency and Accountability Initiative (T/A Initiative) is a donor collaborative working to expand the impact and scale of transparency and accountability interventions. The T/A Initiative is co-chaired by the Hewlett Foundation and Hivos.

Transparency has to do with disclosure. Providing information about an issue, event, project, policy, program etc. and then providing a way for people to find and view that information.

"(T)ransparency comprises not only the disclosure of government information, but also the access, comprehension, and use of this information by the public. Transparency, as such, requires a public that can acquire, understand, and use the information that it receives from the federal government. This concept of transparency, however, is not the only possible designation of the term."

Source: Government Transparency and Secrecy: An Examination of Meaning and Its Use in the Executive Branch, Congretional Research Service, November 14, 2012.

Richard W. Oliver, in his book What is Transparency? wrote that transparency has come to mean "active disclosure."¹

¹ Richard W. Oliver, What is Transparency? (New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., 2004), p. 2.

WHAT IS "TRANSPARENCY"

Other scholars have defined government transparency as "the publicizing of incumbent policy choices,"² and "the availability and increased flow to the public of timely, comprehensive, relevant, high-quality and reliable information concerning government activities."³

In many ways, the duty of transparency relates to acting in ways that are visible, predictable and understandable.

Many of the hallmarks of "transparency" relate to how public consultations are undertaken. (See discussion on What Constitutes Adequate Public Consultation Process).

² Justin Fox, "Government Transparency and Policymaking," p. 2. ³ David Ferranti et al., How to Improve Governance: A New Framework for Analysis and Action (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2009), p. 7.