The role of access to information in enabling transparency and public participation in governance : a case study of access to policy consultation records in South Africa
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Date
Authors
Marais, D.L.
Quayle, M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Consortium of Public Administration
Abstract
The operationalisation of good governance principles such as transparency and
public participation depends largely on the degree of access that citizens have to
government information. This article is based on the notion that citizens should
be informed about what government is or does (transparency) and provided with
sufficient opportunities to influence this (public participation). Both of these
depend on the provision of reliable information before, during and after policy
consultation. The article explores how transparency may be operationalised through
access to information and how this is implemented in South Africa through the
Promotion of Access to Information Act. It then focuses on policy consultation as
a mechanism for government transparency that can only function adequately if the
public has access to information concerning both the policy and the consultation
Description
Keywords
Policy Consultation Records, Good governance, Transparency, Promotion of Access to Information Act
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Marais, D.L. and Quayle, M. 2017. The role of access to information in enabling transparency and public participation in governance : a case study of access to policy consultation records in South Africa. African Journal of Public Affairs, 9(6): 36-49.