Transparency With(out) Accountability: Open Government in the United States

The administration of Barack Obama has been marked by its stated quest for transparency. On his first full day in office, President Obama signed the Open Government Memorandum, declaring that he was committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government and that he aimed to promot[e] accountability and provid[e] information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Following this ambitious commitment, the Obama Administration engaged in a frenzy of transparency-related activities, bringing to light thousands of data sets that contained previously unavailable information in a wide variety of regulatory domains. Dozens of other countries have enthusiastically followed the American example, vowing to release unprecedented amounts of regulatory information to the Internet

A Global Panopticon - The Changing Role of International Organizations in the Information Age

The outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003 and Swine Flu (H1N1) in 2009 captured a great deal of global attention. The swift spread of these diseases wreaked havoc, generated public hysteria, disrupted global trade and travel, and inflicted severe economic losses to countries, corporations, and individuals. Although affected states were required to report to the World Health Organization (WHO) events that may have constituted a public health emergency, many failed to do so. The WHO and the rest of the international community were therefore desperate for accurate, up-to-date information as to the nature of the pandemics, their spread in different countries, and treatment possibilities. The solution came from a somewhat surprising source-the internet. The first signs of both diseases were discovered by automated web crawlers that screened local media sources in multiple languages, looking for specific keywords. In the case of SARS, a web crawler reported to the WHO about the early signs of the disease more than three months before the international community became aware of it. In the case of Swine Flu, a web crawler was similarly responsible for unearthing early reports on the disease and triggering further inquiry by the WHO. Information that flew from the internet impelled the WHO to approach local health agencies and demand that they conduct thorough investigations into the outbreaks. The role played by the internet expanded even further after the initial discovery of the diseases. The worldwide spread of SARS and, in particular, Swine Flu was closely monitored online by global networks of scientists and volunteers who shared their experiences and tagged relevant data on interactive maps. As the Director-General of the WHO declared, [f]or the first time in history, the international community could watch a pandemic unfold, and chart its evolution, in real time. This Article argues that these technological developments are not just helpful for better disease detection and surveillance, but rather, they reflect a deeper, broader conceptual shift in state compliance with international law. Information technologies allow international organizations (IOs) to play an unprecedented, and so far overlooked, role in this respect. In particular, they transform one of the core functions of IOs in international relations: compliance monitoring

A Global Panopticon - The Changing Role of International Organizations in the Information Age

The outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003 and Swine Flu (H1N1) in 2009 captured a great deal of global attention. The swift spread of these diseases wreaked havoc, generated public hysteria, disrupted global trade and travel, and inflicted severe economic losses to countries, corporations, and individuals. Although affected states were required to report to the World Health Organization (WHO) events that may have constituted a public health emergency, many failed to do so. The WHO and the rest of the international community were therefore desperate for accurate, up-to-date information as to the nature of the pandemics, their spread in different countries, and treatment possibilities. The solution came from a somewhat surprising source-the internet. The first signs of both diseases were discovered by automated web crawlers that screened local media sources in multiple languages, looking for specific keywords. In the case of SARS, a web crawler reported to the WHO about the early signs of the disease more than three months before the international community became aware of it. In the case of Swine Flu, a web crawler was similarly responsible for unearthing early reports on the disease and triggering further inquiry by the WHO. Information that flew from the internet impelled the WHO to approach local health agencies and demand that they conduct thorough investigations into the outbreaks. The role played by the internet expanded even further after the initial discovery of the diseases. The worldwide spread of SARS and, in particular, Swine Flu was closely monitored online by global networks of scientists and volunteers who shared their experiences and tagged relevant data on interactive maps. As the Director-General of the WHO declared, [f]or the first time in history, the international community could watch a pandemic unfold, and chart its evolution, in real time. This Article argues that these technological developments are not just helpful for better disease detection and surveillance, but rather, they reflect a deeper, broader conceptual shift in state compliance with international law. Information technologies allow international organizations (IOs) to play an unprecedented, and so far overlooked, role in this respect. In particular, they transform one of the core functions of IOs in international relations: compliance monitoring

Check My School : A Case Study on Citizens’ Monitoring of the Education Sector in the Philippines

Check My School (CMS) is a community monitoring project that aims to promote transparency and social accountability in the Philippine education sector by tracking the provision of services in public schools. The project uses a blended approach, which combines on-the-ground community monitoring with the use of information and communication technology (ICT). CMS had been initiated and designed by the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific (ANSA-EAP) and jointly supported by the World Bank Institute and the Open Society Institute. Although CMS is a young project (the pilot began in early 2011), it has already attracted worldwide attention of governments, civil society organizations, and international donors. CMS is often cited as a ‘good practice’ in the field, and the governments of several countries, including Indonesia, Kenya, and Moldova, are interested in adapting the CMS model to their country contexts. This case study sheds light on the design and implementation features of the first pilot cycle of CMS in public schools across the Philippines. The case study discusses the general political background and operating environment of the CMS project, its concept and operating principles, the roles and incentives of the major stakeholders involved in its design and implementation, and the ways in which CMS aims to use ICTs. In addition, the case study provides a step-by-step analysis of the first CMS project cycle in 2011, examines its accomplishments and challenges, and provides lessons from the first pilot year of the project’s operation. The case study concludes with recommendations for projects that aim to follow the footsteps of CMS

Viral engagement : fast, cheap, and broad, but good for democracy ?

The lecture was delivered on 17 April 2013.In 2011 and 2012, several high profile campaigns spread with unexpected speed and potency. These “viral engagements” include the mobilization that scuttled the Stop Online Piracy Act, popular protest against the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood, 100 million views of the KONY 2012 video on YouTube and its subsequent criticism and defense, and on-line activism around the shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. This paper examines three aspects of these viral campaigns as a form of political engagement. First, is there a common structure of mobilization and spread? Some have argued that these viral campaigns synthesize conventional social and political networks but amplify the messages that spread through those networks through the speed of digital communication. Second, what are the potential contributions of this fast, cheap, and thin mode of engagement to democracy? We examine the implications of viral engagement for four critical democratic values: inclusion, public deliberation, political equality, and civic education