Transparency and Institutions of Public Accountability

Abstract

The ideational changes discussed in the previous chapter have implications for institutional developments. This chapter discusses ideationally induced changes in institutions of public accountability (for the term see Bovens 2005) – that is, changes in the judiciary system on accessing government information and protecting privacy, the development of communication and information services, and performance management, a novelty in the institutions of public accountability. These developments reflect the shifting ideas of central steering (see Chapter 2), now stressing citizen information rights owing to the international debate on freedom of information as ‘a right to know’. On the other hand, there are new initiatives on budget transparency that view the publicity of government activities as a measurable element of performance. The verbose public debate on Nordic openness is also reflected in the increasing activity of citizens and the civil service around the issue.