(In)visible European Government - Critical Approaches to Transparency As an Ideal and a Practice

This book questions the theoretical premises and practical applications of transparency, showing both the promises and perils of transparency in a methodologically innovative way and in a cross-section of policy instruments.

List of contents

1. Introduction: European Government Transparency beyond the Slogans PART 1 2. Transparency as a Critical Research Agenda: Engaging with the EU Institutions on Access to Documents 3. What is the Purpose of Regulation 1049/2001? An Empirical Analysis of Member State Positions 4. Interpretive Approaches in Transparency Studies: Gaining New Perspectives on Old Problems 5. Learning Through Rejection: Studying the Informalisation of EU Readmission Policy with Access to Documents Requests PART 2 6. The Human Face of Legal Transparency? Performance in Action 7. Toward Radical Transparency 8. Escaping the Transparency Trap: In Defense of Playacting 9. Algorithms and the Open Society: New Approaches to Information, Transparency and Accountability 10. Government Transparency: Dispelling the Myth PART 3 11. "Off paper": The Transparency Dilemma in EU Institutions 12. Transparency as Enabling Citizen-participation: The Quality of Public Information on EU Decision-making Processes 13. Access to documents and the EU agency Frontex: Growing pains or outright obstruction? 14. The Council Presidency, brought to you by Coca-Cola: Transparency about Commercial Sponsoring 15. EU Agencies and Lobbying Transparency Rules: A Case Study on the Islandization of Transparency? 16. "Mediated Transparency": The Digital Services Act and the legitimization of platform power 17. Epilogue: Against transparency. For engaged publics

About the author

Maarten Hillebrandt is Assistant Professor of Public Management at the Department of Public Administration and Organisational Sciences, Utrecht University (Netherlands).
Päivi Leino-Sandberg is Professor of Transnational European Law at the University of Helsinki and Director of its Master's Programme in Global Governance Law (Finland).
Ida Koivisto is Associate Professor of Public Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki (Finland).

Product details

• Authors: Maarten (Utrecht University Hillebrandt
• Assisted by: Maarten Hillebrandt (Editor), Ida Koivisto (Editor), Päivi Leino-Sandberg (Editor)
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 06.05.2025
• EAN: 9781032191539
• ISBN: 978-1-0-3219153-9
• No. of pages: 338
• Series: Routledge/UACES Contemporary European Studies
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geography; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Miscellaneous; Europe, POLITICAL SCIENCE / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Affairs & Administration, Social & political philosophy, social and political philosophy, Political structures: democracy, Public Administration, Regional Studies, Regional / International studies, EU (European Union), Law & society, Law and society, sociology of law