Vision, Voice, and Technology: Is There a Global “Open Government” Trend?

The article examines changes in the meaning and practice of government openness around the world and identifies three trends. First, the technological meaning of openness is increasingly supplanting rights-based interpretations. Second, although more countries are joining global openness initiatives, on average, governments are not becoming more transparent about their budgets or their data. Third, although more governments are using online tools to inform and consult citizens, space for civil society is shrinking. The article concludes that technological tools for openness are not by themselves sufficient for ensuring systemic government openness to genuine societal inputs.