Openness, transparency, participation

Administrative transparency

The research group has gotten involved in this field starting with 2007, when four of the group members (Dacian C. Dragos, Bogdana Neamtu, Bianca Cobarzan, Marton Balogh) implemented a national research grant entitled ‘The evaluation of the implementation of national legislation in the field of administrative transparency’.

As a follow up to this research effort, the group has continued to research topics integrated under the umbrella concept of transparency such as free access to public sector information. These research efforts have had as an outcome an edited book, several articles published in ISI ranked journals and a monographic study.

The book THE LAWS OF TRANSPARENCY IN ACTION examines the issue of free access to information as part of the openness and transparency principles. The free access to public information has become one of the most hotly contested aspects of contemporary government and public administration. Many countries in Europe have well-established Freedom of Information laws (FOIA), while others have adopted them more recently. The problems that occur in the implementation of FOIAs are different due to the legal and institutional context; nevertheless, patterns of best practices and malfunctioning are comparable. The book analyses in comparative and empirical perspective the respective main challenges. Whilst the existing literature focusses on the legal provisions, this book offers practical insights through 13 national profiles and the EU level, on how effective the legal provisions of FOIAs really prove to be.

The research ‘Transparency, accountability and civic involvement: the role of the Ombudsman institution in the development of good administration principles’ was designed as to represent the national dimension of a broader research, conducted under the coordination of Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute, Florence and of European Group of Public Administration, with the goal of studying the Ombudsman institution at the EU and the member states level. The network is actively supported by the European Ombudsman as well as by national Ombudsmen from the Netherlands, Greece, Denmark, and Great Britain. The following members of the research group are involved in this research: Dacian C. Dragos, Bogdana Neamtu and Dan Balica, who have worked together with faculty members from the University of Bucharest, Law Faculty (professor PhD Dana Tofan) and Political Sciences Faculty (professor, PhD Radu Carp, PhD Candidate Laura Hossu)

In the framework of the same topic, Assistant professor, PhD Candidate Ana Elena Ranta develops a research on “Practices of inter-institutional communication in local administrations”, focusing on the implementation of Transparency Laws – FOIA, Sunshine Law, Law on petitions. The research is part of the PhD thesis which will result in a monograph.

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