Identifying transparency

TLDR

Recent scholarship on transparency is extensive, yet it has not defined empirical parameters for what constitutes transparency, leading to misuse and undermining policy integrity. The article proposes a framework and vocabulary for identifying and evaluating transparency. The framework relies on two jointly sufficient conditions: visibility of information and its inferability, i.e., the ability to draw accurate conclusions. By disaggregating these two conditions, the article offers a framework for future research on the quality of transparency.

Abstract

Recent scholarship on transparency has been voluminous, and transparency policies continue to garner international adherents through global initiatives such as the Open Government Partnership. Yet extant scholarship has failed to address the empirical parameters for what constitutes 'tr ansparency' and what does not. This lacuna gives way to misuses and abuses, jeopardizing the analytical utility of the term and the integrity of so-called 'transparency' policies. This article provides a framework and a vocabulary for identifying and evaluating transparency, which depends on two necessary and jointly sufficient conditions: the visibility of information, and its inferability – the ability to draw accurate conclusions from it. By disaggregating these two conditions for identifying transparency, this article provides a framework for the emerging research agenda on the quality of transparency.