Dynamic Transparency: A Test of Mexico’s Revolutionary FOI Law

• In Event: Democracy, Accountability and Transparency: The State of State Integrity in Mexico

Abstract

Freedom of information (or FOI) laws empower the public to access all documents held by the government with only a few and stated exceptions. These laws are widely believed to strengthen transparency and promote accountability, and yet the existence of a law does not guarantee its enforcement. This challenge is especially felt in Mexico, a nascent democracy facing entrenched corruption that only recently, in 2002, approved a FOI law. As a test of this law, in January of 2007 and 2013, we actively probed a random sample of approximately 120 government offices for information. Each agency received 14 questions (e.g., Does the head of this particular office have family members that work in the federal government?) as submitted by the same male civilian with a common last name. We then tallied whether agencies agreed or refused to respond. Among the agencies that responded, we measured their average response time, the number of questions answered, the quality of the answers provided, and the quantity of information afforded. Our measurement study benefits from qualitative information gathered through elite interviews, and reveals whether transparency has progressed or regressed in Mexico.

Authors

• Paul F Lagunes, Columbia University

• Oscar M Pocasangre Meneses, Columbia University