Blacked Out Government Secrecy in the Information Age [Hardcover]

This 2006 book examines the evolution of the move toward openness in government.Nearly forty years ago the U.S. Congress passed the landmark Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) giving the public the right to government documents. This book examines the evolution of the move toward openness in government. It looks at how technology has aided the disclosure and dissemination of information.Nearly forty years ago the U.S. Congress passed the landmark Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) giving the public the right to government documents. This book examines the evolution of the move toward openness in government. It looks at how technology has aided the disclosure and dissemination of information.In 1966 the United States Congress passed the landmark Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) giving the public the right to access government documents. This right to know has been used over the intervening years to challenge overreaching Presidents and secretive government agencies. This example of governmental transparency has served as an inspiring case in point to nations around the world, spawning similar statutes in fifty-nine countries. Yet, despite these global efforts to foster openness in government, secrecy still persists--and in many cases--sometimes thrives. Alasdair Roberts, a prominent lawyer, public policy expert, and international authority on transparency in government, examines the evolution of the trend toward governmental openness and how technological developments have assisted the disclosure and dissemination of information. In the process he offers a comprehensive look at the global efforts to restrict secrecy and provides readers with a clearly written guide to those areas where the battle over secrecy is most intense. Drawing on cases from many different countries, Roberts goes further than the popular view that secrecy is simply a problem of selfish bureaucrats trying to hide embarrassing information by showing how such powerful trends as privatizationló#