Working Group One Politics and Economy

1
Working Group OnePolitics and Economy shifting
the balance toward openness The group
considered the politics of policy of access to
information, including how to incentivize the
various political and social actors that support
transparency and accountability. It weighed the
experiences offered by various states in the
region in their efforts to promote transparency.
Finally, participants discussed the role of
external actors and donors, such as the World
Bank and regional organizations.
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• Issue Statement
• The experience in the region thus far has shown
  that a law alone is not sufficient to guarantee
  the right of access to information.
• Therefore we must think about a more integrated
  and clear public policy approach to securing
  transparency.

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• Considerations
• Is Access to Information a human right or an
  instrument for other ends?
• ATI must not be considered a dichotomy
• Are there intrinsic differences between the right
  of access to information and other political
  rights? If there are differences, what are they?
• The policies behind Access to Information
• How has the promotion of the transparency agenda
  come about?
• How has the agenda of access to information
  emerged?

4

• Considerations
• Economy of Access to Information
• Systems of privileges and the extraction of rents
• Opportunities
• Policies and laws are reactions to political
  crises, i.e. corruption in Mexico, Peru,
  Argentina
• How can we take advantage of these opportunities?
• Transparency and Access to Information
• Transparency is distinct from Access to
  Information
• It is not just about a law, we must consider
• Policies to implement the law
• Political culture
• Leadership to push this culture
• Social demand for information
• Archiving and the production of information

5

• Regional Findings
• There are opportunities to be created and to be
  anticipated with regard to advance and deepen
  access to information. Crises of public trust
  represent such an opportunity to move forward.
• There is a need to identify what parties are
  interested in the politics of the policy of
  transparency, as well as where there is
  resistance
• It is necessary to strengthen states in terms of
  improving the capacities of public officials and
  improved administrative practices.
• In the region, other strategies to achieve
  transparency can be explored when political
  efforts fail.
• There is a need to improve the capacity to link
  access to information to the quality of life,
  citizen participation, and the exercise of other
  rights.

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• Recommendations Action Points
• REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 
• Involve international organizations that demand
  conditionality to affect the best practices in
  the topic of right of access to information.
• STATES
• Congress must not avoid its duty to monitor
  implementation of ATI laws.
• Guarantee resources to implement the right to
  information, especially at the local and
  municipal levels.  
• An independent implementation authority must be
  appointed, with the participation of civil
  society.
• Offer awards to municipalities for their
  transparency regimes based on indicators for best
  performance
• Share experiences between municipalities about
  political successes

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• Recommendations Action Points
• NON-STATE ACTORS (Civil Society, Corporate and
  Professional Organizations)
• Generate sophisticated and evidence-based
  research
• Evaluation of implementation should be done with
  information produced by CSOs and universities.
• Capacitate journalists in the knowledge and
  function of public administration
• Pursue litigation in the public interest to
  advance ATI jurisprudence
• Improve the knowledge of the value of access to
  information among political leaders, political
  parties, and unions to produce greater support
• Make better use of constitutions and
  international treaties to put more pressure on
  governments to comply with their promises
• Universities work systematically on how
  transparency can be addressed by different
  professional programs
• NGOS implement robust internal mechanisms to
  build a culture of transparency