Research Handbook on Transparency

In recent years the concept of transparency has received much attention, but few have approached the topic from a critical standpoint. This Handbook explores the different meanings and applications of transparency and their many implications.The expert contributors identify the goals, purposes and ramifications of transparency while presenting both its advantages and shortcomings. Through this framework, they explore transparency from a number of international and comparative perspectives. Some chapters emphasize cultural and national aspects of the issue, with country-specific examples from China, Mexico, the US and the UK, while others focus on transparency within global organizations such as the World Bank and the WTO. A number of relevant legal considerations are also discussed, including freedom of information laws, financial disclosure of public officials and whistleblower protection. A diverse and unique volume, the Research Handbook on Transparency will prove an essential reference for scholars, policy makers, practitioners and legal reform advocates. Contributors: Padideh Ala'i, J. Ackerman, A.J. Brown, K. Clark, M. D'Orsi, S. Dreyfus, C. Embree, E. Fisher, H.P. Glenn, H. Ala Hamoudi, J.W. Head, D.B. Hunter, W. Liu, J.S. Lubbers, D.J. Metcalfe, S. Routray, I.E. Sandoval, W. Vandekerckhove, R.G. Vaughn

Table of Contents:
CONTENTS: INTRODUCTION PART I FRAMEWORKS FOR TRANSPARENCY 1. Transparency and Closure H. Patrick Glenn 2. The Relationship between Transparency, Whistleblowing and Public Trust A. J. Brown, Wim Vandekerckhove and Suelette Dreyfus 3. Exploring the Legal Architecture of Transparency Elizabeth Fisher 4. The Associations of Judicial Transparency with Administrative Transparency Robert G. Vaughn PART II CULTURAL AND NATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON TRANSPARENCY 5. Opposing Legal Transparency in Dynastic China: The Persuasive Logic of Confucianist Views on Legal Opaqueness John W. Head 6. Transparency and the Shi’i Clerical Elite Haider Al Hamoudi 7. Transparency under Dispute: Public Relations, Bureaucracy, and Democracy in Mexico Irma Eréndira Sandoval 8. When Transparency Meets Politics: The Case of Mexico’s Electoral Ballots John Mill Ackerman 9. The Role of the Courts in China’s Progress Toward Transparency Liu Wenjing PART III. LEGAL APPROACHES TO TRANSPARENCY 10. The History of Government Transparency Daniel J. Metcalfe 11. The Long and Winding Road to Transparency in the UK Shonali Routray 12. Transparency in Policymaking—The (Mostly) Laudable Example of the U.S. Rulemaking System Jeffrey S. Lubbers 13. Faux Transparency: Ethics, Privacy, and the Demise of the STOCK Act’s Massive Online Disclosure of Employees’ Finances Kathleen Clark and Cheryl Embree PART IV. GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND TRANSPARENCY 14. Transparency at the World Bank Daniel J. Metcalfe 15. The Emerging Norm of Transparency in International Environmental Governance David B. Hunter 16. Transparency in International Economic Relations and the Role of the WTO Padideh Ala'i & Matthew D'Orsi Index