Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

11-3-2012

SSRN Discipline

Legal Scholarship Network; PSN Subject Matter eJournals; Law School Research Papers - Legal Studies; Law & Society eJournals; Law & Society: Public Law eJournals; Administrative Law eJournals; LSN Subject Matter eJournals; Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence & Legal Philosophy eJournals; Political Institutions eJournals; Sustainability Research & Policy Network; Political Science Network

Abstract

This Essay a contribution to a symposium on the Obama Administration and the Administrative State considers in some detail the Obama Administration's transparency and opengovernment initiatives Since taking office the Obama Administration has worked assiduously to advance three general principles in the operation of executive departments and administrative agencies "transparency public participation and collaboration" Although process values are certainly important at the same time citizens want and expect a competent effective and reasonably efficient federal government Indeed in some important respects a focus on substance rather than process recommends itself as the primary metric for judging the performance of federal agencies To date however the Obama Administration seems more interested in and concerned with matters of process and particularly with initiatives aimed at making the business of the various agencies of the federal government more open to the general public in conjunction with efforts to encourage citizen engagement with the federal government in agency decisionmaking Whether these processbased goals will lead to better governance however remains a point open to debate The essay examines and critiques the successes and failures of the Obama Administration's transparency initiatives and also considers the potential utility "“ and limits "“ of transparency and open government to securing effective competent governance

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