查看文章

Transparency—the availability of information about an organization’s or actor’s internal processes and decisions1—plays a major role in theoretical, normative, and policy-oriented discussions on good governance (Hood and Heald 2006; Peters 2011; Torfing et al. 2012; Cucciniello et al. 2017). In particular, transparency’s association with the interrelated concepts of accountability, efficiency and legitimacy has made it a central component, as well as a buzzword, in reforms aimed at improving governmental steering and services and enhancing citizen trust.

In this chapter, we discuss the role of transparency in analyzing governance from the perspectives of three types of actors: government; the public; and civil society and the private sector. The central theme is the potential trade-off between democratic accountability and legitimacy on the one hand, and efficiency on the other. Through this brief exposition, we aim to …