Freedom of Information

At the dawn of the twenty‐first century, dozens of nations that had newly adopted democracy joined the world's established democracies in experiencing a sea change in governance with the rise of transparency. This global movement is grounded in the accountability principle that, in an open and free society, citizens have a right of access to government‐held information, so they can hold government responsible for its actions and make informed decisions pertaining to self‐rule. As of 2009, a public right of access to the vast stores of information gathered by governmental administrative bodies has been created in at least 72 nations under the general rubric of “freedom of information” (or FOI) laws. From 2000 to 2009 alone, 37 nations passed FOI laws (→ Communication and Law).