| dc.description.abstract | International organizations and NGOs promote transparency as a necessary condition
for enhancing accountability and curbing corruption. Transparency is predicted to
deter corruption in part by increasing the opportunities for inter-institutional oversight
and formal accountability, but also by expanding the possibilities for societal
accountability, i.e. for citizens to monitor, scrutinize and hold public office holders
accountable. While the societal accountability mechanism linking transparency and
good government is often implied, it contains a number of assumptions seldom
examined empirically. This study theoretically unpacks and explores empirically how
transparency may influence good government via the mechanism of societal
accountability, that is, by inciting reactions and responses from citizens. Using data
compiled by the Quality of Government Institute, we show that increased
transparency prompts different public reactions in countries with comparatively
higher levels of corruption than in low corrupt countries. The data indicate that in
corrupt countries, transparency, counter to many predictions, erodes political trust but
stimulates civic engagement. The findings suggest that transparency may incite
discontent and civic mobilization in the short term, contributing to greater
accountability and better government in the long term. | sv |
