The Effectiveness of Freedom of Information Legislation in East Europe
23 Pages Posted: 13 Aug 2009 Last revised: 21 Aug 2009
Date Written: 2009
Abstract
By 2006 all of the post-communist states of East and Central Europe (ECE) had adopted laws on Freedom of Information (FOI). This is intriguing considering that it took most “traditional” democracies much longer to pass such laws. The paper asks why the laws were adopted so quickly and, more importantly, whether they are effective. The study argues that the processes that led to the adoption of the laws have impacted their effectiveness. A set of plausibility probes are set up to test the main hypotheses across three states from the region: Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania.
Keywords: Freedom of Information, East Europe, Effectiveness, International Organizations
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