Transparency in public administration

Transparency is one of the keywords of contemporary governance. It is often associated with democratic accountability, but it also carries connotations of market efficiency. Though transparency is a key concept for economics and politics, its ideational roots lie in access to government information. Transparency holds promises for increased democrati­zation and economic performance, but these may also stand in contradiction. Coinciding with the rise of transparency as a token of responsible governance, we have witnessed rapid global diffusion of information access laws. In debates on public accountability, transparency appears as an element of both deliberation and performance, which is pecu­liar as these are often seen as complementary types of accountability. Moreover, in­creased transparency is often assumed to lead to increased citizen trust in government, but the relation of trust and transparency is more complex. Transparency also implies ac­cess to public information, which can consist of various types of documents and reg­istries. Through digitalization, public information has become a pressing topic of interest, including as raw material for a knowledge-based economy. Public administration also manages significant amounts of personal data of citizens, raising additional concerns for privacy. While transparency and privacy are not antonyms, there is a trade-off between them. Nevertheless, transparency also appears as a means for holding government ac­countable for its use of registry data. Finally, transparency has become a measured ele­ment of governance indicators that are themselves an instance of transparency. As a key concept of public administration, transparency is relevant for both democracy and effi­ciency of governance, but it is ambiguous and even paradoxical by nature.