The right to information: Strengthening democracy, good governance & development

Pippa NorrisDemocratic Governance Group/UNDPwww.und.org/governance/

Structure

I. Claims for the right to information II. Comparing freedom of the pressIII. The impact of the free pressIV. Conclusions

The right to information

“Freedom of Information is a fundamental human right and the touchstone for all freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated”

» UN General Assembly, (1946) Resolution 59(1), 65th Plenary Meeting, December 14.

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”

» Universal Declaration of Human Rights Art 19

Why a right to information?

Intrinsic value of freedom of information• Promotes other human rights

Instrumental value of freedom of information for achieving the Millennium Development Goals

• Open government generates accountability of decision-making process• Transparency reduces corruption• Promotes responsive government by highlighting issues of public

concern and human need• Empowers participation by the poor• Promotes public deliberation and informed electoral choices• May possibly bolster trust and confidence in government

Rights implemented by direct access of individual citizens and indirect information through freedom of the press

II:Comparing freedom of the press

Indicators

Measures of press freedom

– Freedom House

• Press Freedom Index (1992-2005)

– Reporters Without Borders

• Press Freedom Index, 2004

FH Index of Press Freedom

Freedom House Press Freedom Index (100 points) in 191 nations 1. The structure of the news-delivery system:

• The laws and administrative decisions and their influence on the content of the news media. (0-15)

2. The degree of political influence• Control over the content of the news systems. (0-15)

3. The economic influences on news content by the government or private entrepreneurs.

• Governmental control of newsprint, official advertising, or other financial relationships; or from pressure on media content from market competition in the private sector. (0-15)

4. Actual violations against the media • Including murder, physical attack, harassment, and censorship. (0-5).

Source: Freedom House 1992-2005 www.freedomhouse.org

Measures of press freedom

100.080.060.040.020.00.0

Press freedom 2004 (Freedom House)

100.0

80.0

60.0

40.0

20.0

0.0

-20.0

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Fre

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20

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Bo

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Zam

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Uga

Tanz

SLeo

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Rwan

Pak

Nigeria

Niger

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Maur

Mali

Mala

Hait

Guin G-Biss

Ethi

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CD'Ivo

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Burun

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Viet

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Turkm

Togo

Sol

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STom

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Les

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Iran

IndiaEqu

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Cuba

Col

China

BotsBos

Arm

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Sp

Sing NZNeth

Jap

Fr Belg

Bela

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Fit line for Total

low development

moderate development

high development

undp classification of society (undp 2003)

R Sq Cubic =0.617

Press freedom by global region85

6258

51

4440 39

29

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

FH

Pre

ss F

reed

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dex,

2005

Source: Freedom House Index of Press Freedom, 2005 www.freedomhouse.org

Global Press Freedom

Press freedom 2004 (FH)

72 to 92 (65)38 to 72 (57)2 to 38 (66)

Source: Freedom House Index of Press Freedom, 2005 www.freedomhouse.org

Press freedom by income

Source: Freedom House Index of Press Freedom, 2005 www.freedomhouse.org

What is the impact of the free press on good governance and democracy?

Global comparisons

– Kaufmann et al/ World bank indicators of good governance

– Democratic indicators by Polity IV, Vanhanen, and Cheibub

Conditions

– GDP, colonial heritage, regional diffusion, ethnic fractionalization

Free press & democracyTable 1: The free press and democracy

Constitutional democracy

Participatory democracy

Contested democracy

Polity IV Vanhanen Przeworski et al/ Cheibub and Gandhi

b se p b se p b (se) p Press Freedom 1.23 .102 *** .436 .066 *** .073 .013 *** CONTROLS Log GDP/Capita .000 .000 N/s .000 .000 *** .000 .000 N/s Ex-British colony -6.13 4.62 N/s -6.69 2.59 ** -.362 .497 N/s Middle East -10.68 6.88 N/s -1.48 4.91 N/s -1.68 .969 * Ethnic fractionalization -22.2 8.41 *** -21.1 5.08 *** -1.08 .893 N/s Population size .000 .000 N/s .000 .000 N/s .000 .000 N/s Constant 3.10 2.1 -2.57 N. of countries 142 150 181 Adjusted R2 .673 .558 .568

Note: Entries for Constitutional Democracy and Participatory Democracy 100-pointscales are unstandardized OLS regression coefficients (with their standard errors in parenthesis) for the cross-national analysis in 2002. The entries for Contested Democracy are logistic regression. For details of all the variables, see Technical Appendix A. Significant at * the 0.10 level, ** the 0.05 level, and *** the 0.01 level.

Press Freedom by democracy

Source: Freedom House Index of Press Freedom, 2005 www.freedomhouse.org

Free press & good governanceTable 2: The free press and good governance

Political stability Government effectiveness

Regulatory quality

b se p b se p b (se) p Press Freedom .013 .003 *** .013 .002 *** .017 .002 *** CONTROLS Log GDP/Capita .000 .000 *** .000 .000 *** .000 .000 *** Ex-British colony .010 .128 N/s .115 .083 N/s .059 .088 N/s Middle East .164 .211 N/s .360 .144 ** .276 .153 N/s Ethnic fractionalization -.948 .243 *** -.428 .157 *** -.347 .167 * Population size .000 .000 N/s .000 .000 N/s .000 .000 N/s Constant -.475 -.982 N. of countries 163 172 Adjusted R2 .45 .74 .689

Rule of Law Corruption b se p b se p Press Freedom .014 .002 *** .012 .002 *** CONTROLS Log GDP/Capita .000 .000 *** .000 .000 *** Ex-British colony .169 .078 * .073 .089 N/s Middle East .536 .135 *** .296 .153 * Ethnic fractionalization -.551 .147 *** -.466 .168 *** Population size .000 .000 N/s .000 .000 N/s Constant -1.01 N. of countries 172 170 Adjusted R2 .77 .73 Note: The indicators of good governance are from Daniel Kaufmann, Daniel, Aart Kraay, and M. Mastruzzi. May 2003. ‘Governance Matters III: Governance Indicators 1996-2002.’ http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/governance/pubs/govmatters3.html

Entries are unstandardized OLS regression coefficients (with their standard errors in parenthesis) for the cross-national analysis. For details of all the variables, see Technical Appendix A. Significant at * the 0.10 level, ** the 0.05 level, and *** the 0.01 level.

Conclusions

Key findings:• Press freedom is directly related to

democratization • Press freedom matters for many aspects of

good governance• Is freedom of information indirectly linked to

human development: next steps in research

Next steps

If important, how is freedom of information best achieved?– Freedom of information legislation– An enabling policy framework for regulating the

media– Public demands for access to official information– Liberalization of media ownership