Improving right to information
The role of digital civil society portals — a research summary
In the 2018 U4 Issue Exploring the role of digital civil society portals in improving Right to Information regimes, Fumega and Scrollini explore the experiences of civil society portals where citizens can claim their rights to information (RTI) from the government.
Ensuring that people can access information on the business of government is important to increasing transparency. In many cases where RTI legislation exists, it is difficult for many people to use. Bureaucratic rules can hinder ordinary people from filing successful information requests. In recent years, information and communication technology (ICT) has transformed the way people can interact with their governments. According to Meijer in a 2007 paper on the role of ICT in public administration: “In the digital era, transparency may well be what people see on their computer or phone screens.”
A new breed of tech-savvy civil society actors have capitalised on the possibilities offered by ICT. By 2008, the idea of Phil Rogers and Francis Irving to develop software that would allow citizens to issue RTI requests became a reality. Since then civil society organisations (CSOs) in more than 20 countries have developed different RTI portals to help citizens cut through bureaucratic red tape and make information requests.
ICT has transformed the way people can interact with their governments.
Right to Information (RTI) regimes
The authors make a valuable contribution to understanding the impact of civil society portals on what they call “RTI regimes”. They categorise three main types of RTI regimes:
- Functional: characterised by a system whereby public information is readily available. Officials process request in good time. Requesters have the right to access independent agencies to resolve conflicts.
- Mixed: Public information is readily available and published regularly but with inconsistencies. Officials are inconsistent in processing requests. Requesters have a degree of access to independent agencies.
- Contested: Public information is rarely available and is not published regularly. Officials do not process requests on time and show a degree of resistance. Requesters have difficulty in accessing independent agencies.
The authors show that when faced with civil society portals for making requests authorities tend to choose one or a combination of actions. They may try to ignore civil society portals, show active or passive resistance, show a degree of acceptance, or take a proactive attitude.
Research questions
Examining case studies from Chile, Germany, Spain, New Zealand and Uruguay, the authors asked the following research questions:
- Did civil society portals change the behaviour of public authorities, and if so how?
- Did portals improve the type of RTI regime?
They attempt to answer these questions by assessing qualitative changes in the RTI regimes and tracking behavioural changes through outcome-mapping.
The five cases represent different types of RTI regimes, but in each of them CSOs had developed online RTI portals before governments created their own.
What was the portals’ effect on RTI regimes?
In all cases, the portals gave rise to a new type of actor: Civic-tech organisation or individual. These organisations and individuals gained recognition as key stakeholders of the RTI regime. Related to this point, the portals paved the way for new forms of digital activism and digital service. In most cases, this activism that led people to organise a portal without government consent, contributed to the development of official government portals. Most importantly, the portals developed by CSOs embedded a set of values that reflected citizens’ priorities rather than government priorities. That being said, a lack of collaboration between NGOs and government in developing official portals, has led to a backslide in the citizen-centred logic of the original portals.
The portals developed by CSOs embedded a set of values that reflected citizens’ priorities rather than government priorities.
Key messages
The authors highlight a number of key messages that can be built upon:
1. Civil society portals can positively affect RTI regimes. In particular, the way public administration and RTI oversight institutions function.
2. Portals demonstrate the real problems requesters can face.
3. Proactive disclosure of all responses was an important feature. A request for information was a clear indication that such information should be made public.
4. The portals enabled a new type of civil society actor. Donors could consider supporting these types of projects to encourage the further development of this new type of organisation.
5. Supporting dialogue between NGOs and government in developing official portals can ensure that citizen-oriented logic is maintained in official RTI portals.
Read U4 Issue 2018: 1 Exploring the role of digital civil society portals in improving Right to Information regimes online, or download as PDF.
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The U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre at CMI works to identify and communicate informed approaches to partners for reducing the harmful impact of corruption on sustainable and inclusive development.
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Disclaimer
All views expressed in this post are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U4 partner agencies, or CMI/U4.
