Transparency and Secrecy

Reviews / Votes

This is a very important and necessary book. Democratic governments require transparency-and, in some contexts, secrecy as well. Professor Piotrowski, a leading researcher on transparency issues and author of Governmental Transparency in the Path of Administrative Reform, has put together an excellent, highly readable, and balanced collection of materials that will enable students and scholars alike to analyze clearly questions of governmental transparency and secrecy from the municipal to multi-national governmental levels. The book fills a major void in the extant literature and is eminently appropriate for courses in public administration, political science, and journalism. -- David H. Rosenbloom, City University of Hong Kong; American University This new volume edited by Suzanne Piotrowski is more than the 'reader' modestly claimed by the title. Piotrowski has brought together a collection of key materials dealing with the tension between transparency and secrecy and provided her own interpretive comments, discussion questions, suggested classroom assignments, cases, and additional readings. Piotrowski develops the meanings of the key terms, historical contexts, and ethical quandaries that surround this extremely important area of concern in modern democratic government. This much-needed work fills a major gap in our literature for engaging students and will also be appreciated by scholars, practitioners, and thoughtful members of the public. -- Terry L. Cooper, University of Southern California Transparency is one of the most important topics in contemporary debates about good governance. This is the first reader that canvasses the subject thoroughly. This volume is an outstanding resource for teachers and students. -- Alasdair S. Roberts, Suffolk University Law School