Establishing a Robust Transparency Regime

Whatever the underlying reason for establishing a transparency regime, after a decade of proliferation of access to information laws, with more than 50 countries now enjoying a legislated right to information, it is clear that the stimulus of both a supply of information and a demand for it is the key to meeting the policy objectives. This supply-demand intersection is a fundamental part of our hypothesis for effective implementation and use of the law. This paper will focus on the government side of the equation—the “supply side”—where there is a new body of knowledge and learning arising from the legislative explosion of the past decade. Examples from Latin America, the Caribbean and South Africa will highlight then recent lessons.