Transparent Government - Developing Public Access to Government Information

This paper, part of the NDI/USAID/RIGHTS Consortium Rule of Law Series, considers citizen access to government information, primarily through Freedom of Information (FOIs) or Access to Information Acts. The paper reviews common elements of FOIs and suggests best practices based on experiences in over 50 countries, provides details on implementation of FOIs, and outlines long-term issues for countries adopting FOIs.