Open Government Partnership Research Articles

E-governance under the framework of open governance in Georgia: current situation, problems and opportunities

PurposeThe paper explores how local authorities, particularly under the Open Government Partnership (OGP), respond to e-governance challenges in Georgia.Design/methodology/approachA weighted scoring system is adopted to assess e-governance in six OGP local authorities (Akhaltsikhe, Khoni, Kutaisi, Ozurgeti, Rustavi, and Tbilisi) in four areas, including access to information, digital service delivery, data management, and citizen engagement. Moreover, website analysis with a focus on transparency and citizen engagement supplements the evaluation.FindingsThe findings illustrate that the six local authorities have made certain accomplishments in e-governance and taken steps towards open government; however, these efforts lack coordination and systematic planning. Tbilisi embraces open governance principles with comprehensive action plans, strong transparency commitment, and engaging digital platforms. Kutaisi demonstrates notable progress with user-friendly digital platforms and a streamlined open data portal, emphasizing transparency. Rustavi shows significant development in digital service delivery and citizen engagement and a reputation as a transparent local government. Akhaltsikhe faces challenges in electronic service delivery and citizen engagement. Ozurgeti also encounters obstacles in information disclosure and electronic service delivery, while Khoni lags in information accessibility and citizen engagement.Originality/valueThis research is novel in studying the level of e-government among OGP local members in Georgia by a scoring system. The analysis will empower the government to proactively modify and adjust the situation on a regional scale, aligning with the challenges inherent in the country’s unique experiences.

Open Government Policy Making by Popular Voting: Comparing Canada and New Zealand

The connection between open government policy and popular voting is understudied, yet it can reveal interesting patterns of policymaking that blend agenda setting, policy formulation, and decision-making in semiformalized fluid forms. This inquiry investigates the link between policy voting and open government by comparing the case studies of cocreating open government partnership national action plans in Canada and New Zealand. It examines the role of voting within the policy cycle of open government as a system of governance comprised of transparency, participation, accountability, and civic education. It further employs an exploratory mixed-methods approach of analyzing applied reports, official documents, social media campaigns, and expert interviews. It was found that not the voting format but the government’s approach to interaction with stakeholders is associated with the diverging patterns of open government in the two countries.

Internet Voting for Policy Proposals: Amplifying Open Government in Chile and Colombia

This paper investigates the impact of internet voting for draft policy proposals in the framework of Open Government Partnership, on the whole ecosystem of open government in Chile and Colombia. The research objective is, to identify the impact of i-voting for policy proposals on voters, civil society organizations, government authorities and open government overall, taking into account public transparency, civic participation and public accountability. Methodologically, this international comparison of case studies has employed a mixed methods approach including the analysis of applied reports, legislation, social media and expert interviews. It was found that in Chile and Colombia, the i-voting for policy proposals helped bridge remote parts of the countries and thus, make democratic participation more inclusive. Ultimately, the non-binding consultative i-voting for draft open government policies in both countries empowered civil society, working in the open government domain to advocate sectoral policies to be introduced by the government.

Tax evasion and governance quality: The moderating role of adopting open government

One of the reasons why many developing countries struggle to provide basic public services to citizens is a lack of tax revenue owing to corruption and illicit financial outflow transfers. Trade misinvoicing is one of the main channels taxpayers use to evade taxes and transfer money abroad, particularly in developing countries. Although scholars have been cognizant of the gravity of corruption, little empirical evidence exists on tax evasion through trade, which is mostly related to the decline of tax revenues in developing countries. To bridge this research gap, this study examines the impact of governance quality and adoption of the Open Government Partnership on trade-related tax evasion in developing countries. Governance quality and open government initiatives are expected to reduce tax evasion by increasing moral cost and transparency, improving the legitimacy of tax burden and tax expenditure. The results show that government effectiveness, regulatory quality, control of corruption, and adoption of open government contribute to combating trade-related tax evasion. Moreover, the government's adoption of an open government moderates the association between governance quality (regulatory quality) and trade-related tax evasion; that is, governance quality significantly impacts reducing tax evasion in countries where open government initiatives are more prevalent. This study holds several implications for leveraging the nationwide adoption of open government, which may directly and indirectly help governments reduce trade-related tax fraud and improve tax revenue. Points for practitioners Governance quality and the adoption of open government initiatives effectively reduce trade-related tax evasion. The impact of governance quality on reducing tax evasion can be enforced by adopting open government partnership.

Bibliometric Analysis of Open Government: A Study on the Open Government Partnership

This study aims to analyze the Open Government Partnership (OGP) bibliometrics. The OGP is a global effort to realize open government. In the Google Scholar database, in the span of the last decade, there have been 117 OGP articles that have been cited 486 times. From the article, there are 15 keyword clusters, 1196 total link strengths, and 428 occurrences. Open government partnership, national government, action plans, local government, and multilateral institutions are the keywords with the highest scores. Currently, 73 countries and 110 local governments have joined the OGP. To achieve open government, OGP is committed to increasing the availability of information on government activities, supporting citizen participation, applying the highest standards of professional integrity, and increasing access to new technologies. As a follow-up, OGP established ten policy areas, namely: anti-corruption and integrity, civic space, digital governance, fiscal openness, inclusion, justice, natural resources, open parliaments, public service delivery, and the right to information. OGP has also forged partnerships with leading multilateral institutions to promote and support open government

REGIONAL LEVEL ANALYSIS OF OPEN GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT IN GEORGIA ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE AUTONOMY OF AJARA

Georgia has been a member of the "Open Government Partnership" since 2011 and from the day of joining, has been a leading and active member of the international platform with achievements at the governmental, parliamentary, and local self-government levels. The next logical step is the membership of Ajara as a region in the partnership, so it was considered necessary to study the current situation in the executive branches of Ajara in the direction of open governance and gather the information that would further help us prepare recommendations in terms of strengthening open governance in the Ajara region.Depending on the purpose of the research problem and research questions, the research included several methods of data collection: In particular, the official websites of the executive agencies of the region were studied, the social network platforms of agencies were monitored, an analysis of the completeness and quality of published data sets, information requests in different forms and thoughtful evaluation of responses to requests. The paper is also based on all the materials received and used by the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara within the framework of the thematic research.

THE PRINCIPLE OF TRANSPARENCY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AS AN ELEMENT OF THE RIGHT TO GOOD GOVERNENCE

Article 18 of the Constitution of Georgia defines good governance as the right to fair administrative proceedings, the right to access public information, the right to informational self-determination, and compensation for damages caused by public authorities. The right to “Good Governance” means an impartial, fair, and timely decision-making process. Also, it implies transparency and full involvement of the interested party in the decision-making process. In 2011 Georgia joined the Open Government Partnership’s (OGP) initiative. The Government of Georgia undertook to ensure the openness of governance, transparency, and accountability to the public, as fundamental values for a democratic society, as well as to continue establishing the founding principles of open governance partnership in public administration. This article presents the whole range of issues of public administration transparency, considering the forms of its implementation

Joining the open government partnership initiative: An empirical analysis of diffusion effects

Prior empirical studies of the Open Government Partnership have failed to take into account possible diffusion mechanisms contributing to the expansion in the number of countries joining the partnership since its beginning in 2010. Notwithstanding the increase in the study of open government policies over the past decade across multiple levels of government, the factors influencing the decision to join multilateral initiatives like the Open Government Partnership are still under-researched. Using data from 175 countries and covering a period that goes from the year prior to the establishment of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) until the year when the latest current members have joined the partnership (2010–2018), this article examines the diffusion mechanisms affecting a country's decision to participate in the OGP. Based on binary response logit regression models, this study analyses the effects of key diffusion variables while controlling for the countries' internal determinants of participation. The findings indicate that diffusion of the OGP takes place through regional proximity, common cultural and system of government traits, and membership in international organization. While democratic countries are more likely to join, autocracies also join conditional on other countries in the same group joining. This suggests further research is needed to uncover the way countries with different regime traits design and implement transparency and open government policies under the banner of this multilateral initiative.

ОЦІНКА ПРОЗОРОСТІ ТА ВІДКРИТОСТІ УКРАЇНСЬКИХ МІСТ

A democratic society has to have an access to the public information because it wants to influence the decision of issues directly related to their interests. The issues of openness and transparency have become very relevant for Ukrainian cities due to Ukraine joining the international Open Government Partnership Initiative. This determines the need for constant analytical research and evaluation in order to improve activities in this context. The purpose of the article is to highlight the results of the evaluation of the openness and transparency of the cities of Ukraine before the war. Methods used in the research: survey, quantification, ranking, scoring, etc. The hypothesis of the study was the assumption that the assessment of the openness and transparency of the cities of Ukraine before the war will be significantly different from the assessment in the post-war period, therefore, it is necessary to carry out analytical studies in order to fix it. Presenting main material. The conducted studies of the results of the evaluation of the openness and transparency of the cities of Ukraine before the war allowed us to come to the conclusion that according to the transparency rating, which evaluates the transparency of the activity of city councils in the 100 largest cities of Ukraine and demonstrates the level of implementation of best practices, Mariupol was the leader in 2021. The accountability rating (to what extent the declared obligations of the city authorities are commensurate with practice) also shows that Mariupol was the best in 2021. According to the results of the ranking of Ukrainian cities according to the level of transparency and openness of data within the City Competitiveness Index, Bakhmut became the best. It has been established that representatives of small businesses demonstrate better awareness of data openness issues than representatives of medium and large businesses. The average assessment of the availability of information about the budget, regulatory acts and public procurement (by size) in points shows that all organizational and legal forms of business have almost equal access to this information, and the best informed about the issues of data openness in Ukrainian cities are representatives of the construction and real estate transactions. The modern time fragment of the "Open Government Partnership" Initiative is defined. The originality and practical significance of the study lies in fixing the evaluation of the openness and transparency of Ukrainian cities in 2021 for comparison with the evaluation after the war. Conclusions. The analysis of the results of the evaluation of the openness and transparency of Ukrainian cities shows that Ukraine has achieved positive results in the context of providing public information to society. Further research consists in evaluating the openness and transparency of Ukrainian cities in the post-war period.

Principle of Transparency as reflected in OGP National Action Plans in Romania

Transparency and open government are closely linked to each other and both are essential ingredients that have the potential for transforming a society. More and more citizens are expecting accountability and openness from their governments. As they look for ways to actively participate in creating policies that improve their lives, new forms or methods of participation arise. Considering that last year Romania celebrated 10 years since its intention to take part in the international Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative, the purpose of this paper is to reveal some of the lessons learnt from the National Action Plans adopted until now. Particular emphasis is placed on the commitments related to the principle of transparency and its significant role in fostering accountability and legitimacy in order to create more trusted institutions and provide meaningful public knowledge.

An Ethnographic Account on Transparency and Participation in Civil-Public Cooperation: Enablers and Constraints in Iaşi, the First Romanian City Admitted to Open Government Partnership - Local Program

The purpose of this research is to pioneer ethnographic research on enablers and constraints in transparency and participation building at the local level. The case study is focused on Iași’s experience as the first Romanian city admitted to Open Government Partnership - Local Program and highlights how the relative trust of local authorities in civil actors translated into maximal inclusion and freedom for drafting the city action plan on transparency and open governance. However, trust was also fueled by local authorities’ disengagement with OGP mechanisms, which translated into watercolor local democracy. Particular emphasis is placed on the dynamics of friendliness as a soft pressure mechanism securing collaboration between civil actors and public servants, to counterbalance the lack of political will in designing participatory structures. The authors come to the conclusion that toe-holds bridging civil society pioneers and friendly technical staff of the City Hall have cornerstone value for enabling democracy innovation at the local level when political will is weak. However, it is not enough to ensure continuity and there is a need for both civil society capacity building and political reframing to build sustainable transparency that converts into genuine public participation.

How ‘Local’ are Action Plans submitted by Open Government Partnership Local Participants?

How ‘Local’ are Action Plans submitted by Open Government Partnership Local Participants?

Nigerian government and management of news and information on the coronavirus pandemic

This research is conducted to ascertain informed public’s views on Nigerian government’s management of news and information during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Nigeria. Purposively selected participants were engaged in a WhatsApp conference to investigate how they perceive government’s management of news and information on the pandemic; expose government’s efforts in disseminating news and information, and its influence on the overall management and control of the disease in Nigeria. Using framing theory in its analysis, the article argues that government’s nepotistic, secretive management of news and information on COVID adversely affected public trust, which is read as a form of censorship through silence designed to obstruct transparency, accountability and citizenship participation on national issues, contrary to the principles of Open Government Partnership (OGP) which Nigeria, is member to. The article reiterates on the need for government to build the confidence of Nigerians and boost its overall image.

Exploring the Effects of the Adoption of the Open Government Partnership: A Cross-Country Panel Data Analysis

Over the past decade, scholars have paid attention to the importance of open government, which aims to make public administration more transparent, democratic, and effective by using information and communication technologies. However, there is a lack of empirical research that examines the effects of open government. Therefore, this study intends to rigorously test the democratic and administrative effects of open government, focusing on a global initiative known as the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Specifically, this study examines whether OGP adoption in national governments has reduced government corruption and improved government effectiveness across countries. For this purpose, this study collected longitudinal data from the Center for Systemic Peace, the United Nations, and the World Bank. Then, it employed a panel data analysis based on a fixed effects model. As a result, there was no direct effect of OGP adoption on government corruption and government effectiveness, respectively. However, legal and economic factors were likely to moderate the effects of OGP adoption on curbing government corruption and enhancing government effectiveness. This study can make a theoretical and practical contribution to open government, e-government, and collaborative governance.

Effects of Predictors of Citizens' Attitudes and Intention to Use Open Government Data and Government 2.0

This research proposes a holistic and integrative theoretical model to discuss the effects of eight predictors of citizens' attitudes towards open government and Government 2.0, and whether these attitudes influence their intention to use open government data in Brazil, one of the founding countries of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Findings show the effects of six predictors of citizens' attitudes towards open government and government 2.0. In essence, these predictors are ease of use, usefulness, intrinsic motivation, political satisfaction, government trust, and intensity of internet use. This study also indicates that education, income, and region influence the ease of use and usefulness of open data. These findings also mean that public managers and political parties still have “homework’ to do to stimulate citizens' behavior towards open government and government 2.0. These initiatives encompass the government portals quality and data transparency improvement through less restrictive laws. Also, improve politicians' job performance.

Open Government Policies in Ibero-America. Exploring a Decade of Changes in the Context of the Open Government Partnership (2011-2021)

This paper aims to carry out an analysis and critical reflection on the progress of open government policies in Ibero-American members of the Open Government Partnership, exploring findings over a period of ten years. The methodology used consisted of collecting, exploring, systematizing, and analyzing 63 national open government action plans implemented by 18 Ibero-American countries; reviewing in detail a database of 1298 commitments between the years 2011 and 2021; and considering another 63 initiatives linked to 12 subnational action plans in 7 local governments in the region. The open government approach has been an important tool for the transformation of the Ibero-American public sector in the last decade, with the regulatory and technology use as key areas in the process, as well as the efforts to promote public integrity and the improvement of public services in the processes of co-creation and implementation of commitments to institutional openness in the comparative regional agenda. Open government is presented as the main axis in a transition towards a model of collaborative and smart governance of public affairs, which will allow an adequate response to the challenges of the 21st century. The main conclusions are that Open Government Partnership has been a platform that has contributed to institutionalizing openness processes in all Ibero-American countries, with visible results and impacts in various areas of public policy. However, on the path to the construction and implementation of an open State, a greater integration effort is required to generate broader and more sustainable strategies that promote capacity building, especially in the territorial space.

Toward a Transparent and Responsible Public Action ? The Case of Open Government Partnership.

Toward a Transparent and Responsible Public Action ? The Case of Open Government Partnership.

Accessible or Illusory Transparency? COVID-19 and Philippine Open Government Data

Abstract A little over a month after the coronavirus (COVID-19) was declared as a pandemic, the World Health Organization expressed the need for open data to support policies that seek to address COVID-19, even as governments were called upon to facilitate access to data and information. Adopting the transparency framework developed by Fung, Graham and Weil (2007), this study examines ‘laginghanda.gov.ph,’ the official Philippine government website for COVID-19 data, to determine if it serves the open government data (OGD) goals as outlined and identified by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and as agreed under the Open Government Partnership. Using an exploratory research approach, a documentary analysis and content audit of the laginghanda.gov.ph showed that the website did not provide timely data even as the website contained mostly static, general information. Health statistical data could be accessed but it was neither machine readable nor timely; while, financial and economic data were lacking. In other words, the website does not contribute to government transparency and cannot be used to determine the accountability of government agencies. Thus, the author concludes that it fails as a tool for democratization.

Desirable and Usefulness Aspects Analysis of Web-based Data Portal using UX Honeycomb

The implementation of e-government in Indonesia, one of which is supported by Indonesia's involvement in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in supporting the disclosure of public information. Satu Data Pandeglang web portal system is a manifestation of the implementation of e-government at the presence stage, where technology plays a role in providing basic information that is easily accessible to the public. This study aims to implement the user-centered design process by conducting an initial evaluation of the Satu Data Pandeglang web portal system based on two priority aspects of UX Honeycomb, namely the desirable and usefulness aspects. Based on the research results, the overall mean value of the eight variables from both desirable and usefulness aspects is 3.63 which is still below the value of 4. These results indicate that these two aspects of UX Honeycomb still need to be improved and redesigned at the next development stage

Process effects of multistakeholder institutions: Theory and evidence from the Open Government Partnership

AbstractHow does membership in transnational multistakeholder institutions shape states' domestic governance? We complement traditional compliance‐based approaches by developing a process model, focusing on the independent effects of processes associated with institutional membership, but separate from commitments and compliance themselves. These effects can be driven by iterative and participatory institutional features, which are increasingly prevalent in global governance. We apply this model to the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a transnational multistakeholder initiative with nearly 80 member countries, featuring highly flexible commitments and weak enforcement. Although commitments and compliance have generally been limited, a compliance‐focused approach alone cannot account for myriad other consequences globally and domestically, driven by the iterative and participatory features associated with membership. We demonstrate these at work in a case study of Mexico's OGP membership, which contributed to the spread of new norms and policy models, new political resources and opportunities for reformers, and new linkages and coalitions.