Overview

This book questions the theoretical premises and practical applications of transparency, showing both the promises and perils of transparency in a methodologically innovative way and in a cross-section of policy instruments. It scrutinizes transparency from three perspectives - methodologically, theoretically, and empirically - both in the specific context of the EU but also in the wider context of modern society in which transparency is embraced as an almost unquestionable virtue. This book examines the ways in which transparency practices can make institutions visible and stands out for its methodological self-reflection: to fully understand the irresistible call for transparency in our governing institutions, we must reflect on our own relationship with it. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of transparency studies, democratic legitimacy, global governance, governance law, EU studies and law and public policy more widely.

Full Product Details

Author:   Maarten Hillebrandt (Utrecht University, The Netherlands) ,  Päivi Leino-Sandberg (University of Helsinki, Finland) ,  Ida Koivisto (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.650kg
ISBN:  

9781032191539

ISBN 10:   1032191538
Pages:   338
Publication Date:   06 May 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

1. Introduction: European Government Transparency beyond the Slogans PART 1 2. Transparency as a Critical Research Agenda: Engaging with the EU Institutions on Access to Documents 3. What is the Purpose of Regulation 1049/2001? An Empirical Analysis of Member State Positions 4. Interpretive Approaches in Transparency Studies: Gaining New Perspectives on Old Problems 5. Learning Through Rejection: Studying the Informalisation of EU Readmission Policy with Access to Documents Requests PART 2 6. The Human Face of Legal Transparency? Performance in Action 7. Toward Radical Transparency 8. Escaping the Transparency Trap: In Defense of Playacting 9. Algorithms and the Open Society: New Approaches to Information, Transparency and Accountability 10. Government Transparency: Dispelling the Myth PART 3 11. “Off paper”: The Transparency Dilemma in EU Institutions 12. Transparency as Enabling Citizen-participation: The Quality of Public Information on EU Decision-making Processes 13. Access to documents and the EU agency Frontex: Growing pains or outright obstruction? 14. The Council Presidency, brought to you by Coca-Cola: Transparency about Commercial Sponsoring 15. EU Agencies and Lobbying Transparency Rules: A Case Study on the Islandization of Transparency? 16. ""Mediated Transparency"": The Digital Services Act and the legitimization of platform power 17. Epilogue: Against transparency. For engaged publics

Reviews

""...The volume greatly enriches academic debate by contributing to a more nuanced understanding of transparency. It lays groundwork and provides a valuable resource for future critical engagement with transparency in the EU."" Luca Knuth, Maastricht University, The Netherlands, and Kiel University, Germany. Review in Review of European Administrative Law (REALaw), 2025, 1 (april)/ 1 ""...This volume makes an important contribution to ongoing debates on government transparency in our democracies, taking into account the new challenges brought about by an age of expanding technologies and growing suspicion towards representative politics... The focus on European governance in the title of the volume should not discourage lawyers and scientists from other fields from picking it up..."" Rita Guerreiro Teixeira, University of Helsinki, Finland. Review in International and Comparative Law Quarterly. 2024;73(3):811-813. doi:10.1017/S002058932400023X

Author Information

Maarten Hillebrandt is Assistant Professor of Public Management at the Department of Public Administration and Organisational Sciences, Utrecht University (Netherlands). Päivi Leino-Sandberg is Professor of Transnational European Law at the University of Helsinki and Director of its Master's Programme in Global Governance Law (Finland). Ida Koivisto is Associate Professor of Public Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki (Finland).

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