freedom of information 信息自由 libertad de información تامولعملا ةيرح liberté de l’information доступ к информации
The Freedom of Information Advocates Network is grateful to the Constitution Unit of the
Department of Political Science, University College London for compiling this biography of
FOI resources.
FOI Research Centres
Centre for FOI, Univeristy of Dundee http://www.centrefoi.org.uk/
Constition Unit, University College London http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitutionunit/research/foi/index.htm
Rick Snell, University of Tasmania http://ricksnell.com.au/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=2&Ite mid=23
Eduardo Bertoni, Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information
(CELE) at Palermo University School of Law , Argentina http://www.palermo.edu/derecho/centros/cele-ing/AI-Home-ing.html
Richard Calland, Open Democracy Advice Centre, South Africa http://www.opendemocracy.org.za/
Overviews and comparative
Ackerman, John. and Irma. Sandoval-Ballesteros. 2006. ‘The global explosion of freedom of information laws’, Administrative Law Review 58(1): 85-130.
Banisar, David. 2006. Freedom of Information Around the World 2006. A Global Survey of
Access to Government Records Laws. Available online at http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-543400
Blanton, Tom. 2002.‘The World’s Right to Know’. http://www.freedominfo.org/documents/rtk-english.pdf
Cain, Bruce, Sergio Fabbrini and Patrick. Egan. 2003. ‘Towards more open democracies: the expansion of FOI laws’. In Democracy Transformed? – Expanding Political
Opportunities in Advanced Industrial Democracies, eds. B.E. Cain, R.J. Dalton and S.E.
Scarrow. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 115– 139.
Constitution Unit . 2010. ‘Assessing the performance of FOI’. Forthcoming article for
Government Information Quarterly (Open Government Special)
Constitution Unit. 2009. Understanding the Formulation and Development of Government
Policy in the Context of FOI , report prepared for the Information Commissioner’s Office
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http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/files/consultancy/ICO%20-
%20FOI%20and%20Policy.pdf
Darch, C. and Underwood, P. 2010. Freedom of information in the developing world:
demand, compliance and democratic behaviours. Oxford: Chandos
Hazell, Robert. 1987. Freedom of Information in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
London: Cabinet Office.
Hazell, Robert. 1989. ‘Freedom of Information in Australia, Canada and New Zealand’.
Public Administration 67 (summer): 189–210.
Mendel, Toby. 2008. Freedom of Information: a comparative legal survey. Second edition.
UNESCO. Available online at http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/files/26159/12054862803freedom_information_en.pdf/free dom_information_en.pdf
Open Society Justice Initiative. 2006. Transparency and Silence. A study of access to
information in 14 countries. Available online at: http://www.justiceinitiative.org/publications
Roberts, Alasdair. 2006. Blacked Out: government secrecy in the Information Age. New
York: Cambridge University Press.
Vleugels, Roger. 2009. ‘Overview of all 90 FOIA countries & territories’. Fringe Special
(September 2009).
FOI Theory
Hood, Christopher and David Heald (eds.). 2006. Transparency: the Key to Better
Governance? Proceedings of the British Academy, Volume 135. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
James, Simon. 2006. ‘The potential benefits of Freedom of Information’. in Open
government in a theoretical and practical context, eds. R.A. Chapman and M. Hunt.
Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 17-32.
Stiglitz, Joseph. 2003. ‘Transparency of Government (Part 1) – Breakthrough for
Reforming the Shape of a Nation’. Economics review. Available online at http://www.rieti.go.jp/en/special/economics–review/013.html
Piotrowksi, Suzanne J. 2009. ‘Is transparency sustainable?’ Public Administration Review
69 (2): 359 – 361.
Piotrowski, Suzanne J. (Ed.). (May 2010 paperback and hardcover).
Governmental Transparency and Secrecy: Linking Literature and Contemporary Debate.
Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. 201 pg. http://www.lexingtonbooks.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db
=^DB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=0739127519
Measuring FOI
Cuillier, David and Suzanne J. Piotrowski. 2009. "Internet Information-seeking and its relation to support for access to government records" Government Information Quarterly.
Issue 26, page 441-449
Involve. 2009. ‘Open Government: beyond static measures’. Paris:OECD
Islam, Roueen. 2003. Do more transparent governments govern better? World Bank
Working Paper no. 3077. Washington: World Bank. Available online http://wwwwds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2003/07/08/000094946_030621
04301553/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdf
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Neuman, Laura, and Richard Calland. 2007. ‘Making the Law Work: The Challenges of
Implementation’ in The Right to Know: Transparency for an Open World, edited by Ann
Florini, p.179–213. New York: Columbia University Press. Available online http://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/americas/making_the_law_work.pdf
Roberts, Alasdair S. 2007. ‘Future Challenges for the Right to Information (RTI) Movement
(Futuros Desafíos Para El Movimiento Por El Derecho De Acceso a La Información)’. 5th
International Conference of Information Commissioners, November 26-29, 2007. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1392566
Roberts, Alasdair. 2006.
‘Dashed expectations: governmental adaption to transparency rules’. In Transparency: the Key to Better Governance?, eds. C. Hood and D. Heald.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 107–127.
Relly, J. E. and M. Sabharwal. 2009. ‘Perceptions of transparency of government policymaking: A cross–national study’. Government Information Quarterly 26: 148–157.
Canada
Access to Information Review Task Force [AIRTF].2002. Access to Information: Making it
Work for Canadians. Report of the Access to Information Review Task Force. Available online http://www.atirtf-geai.gc.ca/accessReport-e.pdf
Canadian Information Commissioner. 1994. The Access to Information Act: 10 Years On
(Ottowa: Ministry of Public Works and Government Services).
Canadian Information Commissioner .2004. ‘ Remarks to the Canadian Bar Association’
Available at: http://www.infocom.gc.ca/speeches/speechview–e.asp?intspeechId=99
Gillis, Robert. Peter. 1998. ‘Freedom of Information and Open Government in Canada’, in
McDonald, Andrew and Greg Terrill (eds) Open Government (Basingstoke: Palgrave), pp.
143–168.
Government of Canada. 2006. Strengthening the Access to Information Act: A Discussion
of Ideas Intrinsic to the Reform of the Access to Information Act. Available at http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/dept-min/pub/atia-lai/atia-lai.pdf
Racicot, M. 2005. The Access to Information Act: A Canadian Experience. Available http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/implementation/general/canada_ai_ act_may05.pdf
Australia
Australian Law Reform Commission. 1995. Open government: a review of the federal
Freedom of Information Act 1982, ALRC 77. Canberra: Commonwealth Information
Services. Available online http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/alrc/publications/reports/77/
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia). 2009. Freedom of information
(FOI) reform: companion guide. Canberra: Australian Government. Available online http://www.dpmc.gov.au/consultation/foi_reform/docs/Companion_Guide.pdf
McMillan, John. 2002. ‘Twenty Years of Open Government – What Have We Learnt?’,
Inaugural Professorial Address to the Australian National University, 4 March.
Terrill, Greg. 1998. ‘The Rise and Decline of Freedom of Information in Australia’. In Open
Government, eds. A. McDonald and G. Terrill. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 89–116.
Paterson, Moira. 2005. Freedom of Information and Privacy in Australia: Government and
Information Access in the Modern State. Brisbane: LexisNexis Buttersworths.
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Snell, Rick. 2001. ‘Freedom of Information: The experience of the Australian states - an epiphany?’ Federal Law Review Vol 29, 2001 , 343-358. Available online http://www.ricksnell.com.au/Articles/epiphany0001.PDF
Solomon, David (Chair). 2008. The Right to Know: Reviewing Queensland’s FOI Act.
Available online http://www.foireview.qld.gov.au/documents_for_download/FOI-reviewreport-10062008.pdf
USA
Coalition of Journalists for Open Government. An in-depth analysis of FOIA performance
from 1998 to 2007. Available at: http://www.cjog.net/documents/Part_1_2007_FOIA_Report.pdf
Executive Office of the President. 2009. Open Government Directive. Available online http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-06.pdf
Fung, Archon, Mary Graham and David Weil. 2007. Full disclosure; the perils and promise
of transparency. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Piotrowski, Suzanne J. 2007. Transparency in the path of administrative reform. New York:
State University of New York Press.
Piotrowski, Suzanne J. and Erin L. Borry. (2009). Governmental Transparency and
Websites: The Case of New Jersey Municipalities. In Christopher G. Reddick (Ed.),
Strategies for Local E-Government Adoption and Implementation: Comparative Studies.
(23 pages). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Ireland
High Level Review Group on the Freedom of Information Act 1997. 2002. Report to the
Government. Dublin: Department of the Taoiseach. Available online http://www.foi.gov.ie/publications/high-level-review-group-on-the-freedom-ofinformation-act-1997
Irish Information Commissioner. 2008. Freedom of Information: the First Decade .Dublin:
Office of the Information Commissioner. Available online http://www.hiqa.ie/FOI/FOI_first_10_yearsen.pdf
McDonagh, Maeve. 2006. ‘FOI: The Irish Experience’, paper presented at University of
Alberta Access and Privacy Conference, 8 June.
Switzerland
Pasquier, M., Villeneuve, J.-P. 2006. ‘Access to information in Switzerland. From secrecy to transparency.’ Open Government: a journal on Freedom of Information Vol 2 No. 2.
Available online http://www.opengovjournal.org/article/view/619/478
Holsen, Sarah. and Martial Pasquier. 2009. ‘The Swiss Federal Law on Transparency: Much ado about nothing?’ Paper given to ‘The Future of Governance in Europe and the U.S.’,
George Washington University, Washington, D.C., June 11-13.
More research is available in French at http://swisstransparency.ch/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&It emid=30
Mexico
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Lagunes, Paul. 2009. ‘Irregular Transparency? An Experiment Involving Mexico’s Freedom of Information Law’. Available online: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1398025
Jonathan Fox, Carlos Garcı´a Jime´nez and Libby Haight. 2009. ‘Rural Democratisation in
Mexico’s deep south: grassroots right-to-know campaigns in Guerrero’ The Journal of
Peasant Studies Vol. 36, No. 2, April 2009, 271–298
Bookman, Z. and Guerro, J .2009. ‘One step forward two steps back’ Mexican Law Review.
Volume I, Number 2 January-June 2009
India
Roberts, Alasdair .2010. A Great and Revolutionary Law? The First Four Years of India's
Right to Information Act. Public Administration Review, (Forthcoming). Available online http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1527858
RTI Assessment & Analysis Group (RaaG) and National Campaign for People’s Right to
Information (NCPRI). 2009. Safeguarding the right to Information: Report of the People’s
RTI Assessment 2008 (Executive Summary) Available online http://rtiassessment.org/index.htm
Scotland
Spence, Kate. 2010. Volunteering Information? The use of Freedom of
Information laws by the Third Sector in Scotland- Survey Findings. Available online http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=3488&sID=3210
China
Horsley, J. 2007. ‘China Adopts First Nationwide Open Government Information
Regulations’ Available online http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/Intellectual_Life/CL-OGI-Toward_More_Open-
English.pdf
Piotrowski, Suzanne J.; Zhang, Yahong; Lin, Weiwei; Yu, Wenxuan. 2009. ‘Key Issues for
Implementation of Chinese Open Government Information Regulations’. Public
Administration Review, Volume 69, p. 129-135
Snell, Rick and Weibing, Xiao. 2007. ‘Freedom of Information returns to China’. Available online http://www.ricksnell.com.au/Articles/pat4.PDF
Weibing, Xiao. 2010. Freedom of information reform in China: an information flow
analysis. University of Tasmania: PhD thesis.
New Zealand
Aitken, J. 1998. ‘Open Government in New Zealand’, in McDonald, A. and Terrill, G. (eds)
Open Government (Basingstoke: Palgrave), pp. 117–142.
Snell, Rick. 2000. ‘The Kiwi paradox- a comparison of Freedom of Information in Australia and New Zealand’ Federal Law Review, Issue 3, p. 575-617. Available online http://www.ricksnell.com.au/Articles/snell%20kiwi.pdf
White, Nicola. 2007. Free and Frank: Making the Official Information Act Work Better.
Wellington: Institute of Policy Studies.
South Africa
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Allen, Kate (ed.) .2009. The Paper Wars: Access to Information in South Africa Wits
University Press
Darch, C. and Underwood, P. 2005. ‘Freedom of information legislation, state compliance and the discourse of knowledge: The South African experience’ International Library and
Information Review Volume 37, issue 2, p 77-86
United Kingdom
Birkinshaw, P. 2010. Freedom of Information: the Law, the Practice and the Ideal, 4th edn
(London: Butterworths).
Constitution Unit. 2008. Freedom of Information Act 2000: The Third Year. The experience of
local authorities in England in 2007. London: The Constitution Unit. Available online http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitutionunit/files/research/foi/publications/FOIAandLocalGovernmentSurvey2008FINAL.pdf
Hazell, R., Worthy, B and Glover, M. 2010. Does FOI work? The impact of the Freedom of
Information Act on central government in the UK, Constitution Unit, (Palgrave Macmillan).
Two summaries of the work area available at the links below:
Research Report http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitutionunit/files/research/foi/projects/ESRCResearchReportSep2009.pdf
Non-technical summary http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitutionunit/files/research/foi/projects/ESRCEndofAwardReportSep2009.pdf
Hazell, Robert. 1997. ‘Introducing Freedom of Information’. Available online http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/files/publications/unit-publications/9.pdf
Ben Worthy and Robert Hazell. 2010. ‘The Sword: How MPs and peers have used Freedom of Information in the UK’. Paper for Politicial Studies Association 2010 Conference, April
2010. Available online http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitutionunit/files/research/foi/projects/PSAConference2010_The%20sword_HowMPsAndPeersHave
UsedFOI.pdf
Eastern Europe
Grigorescu, Alexandru.2009. ‘The Effectiveness of Freedom of Information Legislation in
East Europe’ . APSA 2009 Toronto Meeting Paper. Available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1449172
FOI and the media
Access to Information Review Task Force [AIRTF]. 2002. How Journalists use the Federal
Access to Information Act. Accessed at http://www.atirtf-geai.gc.ca/paper-journalist1e.html
Bildstein, T. 2004. Journalists Use of Freedom of Information in Australia. M.A. Thesis.
Available online http://www.ricksnell.com.au/resources/Taylor%20Bildstein%20MJMS%20thesis.pd.pdf
Hayes Hayes, J. 2009. A Shock to the System: Journalism, Government and the Freedom
of Information Act 2000. Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Available online
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http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/Publications/Hayes_A_Shock
_to_the_System.pdf
Holsen, S. Glover, M. Macdonald, C. 2007. 'Journalists' use of the UK Freedom of
Information Act', Open Government Journal, Vol.3, No.1 (2007), Available online http://www.opengovjournal.org/article/view/771/791
Lidberg, Johann. 2002. For Your Information – The Impact of Freedom of Information
Legislation on Journalism Practice and Content in Western Australia and Sweden.
M.A.Thesis. Murdoch University.
Roberts, Alasdair S. 2005. ‘Spin Control and Freedom of Information: Lessons for the
United Kingdom from Canada’. Public Administration, Vol. 83, No. 1, pp. 1-25, Spring
2005. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1308145
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