Foreword
Open government is a powerful catalyst for driving democracy, public trust, and inclusive growth. In recognition of the growing demand by OECD Members to acknowledge and promote this role, the OECD Council adopted the Recommendation on Open Government in 2017. To date, it remains the first and only internationally recognised legal instrument on open government and has guided many countries in the design and implementation of their open government agendas. In 2020/2021, the OECD carried out a survey on the implementation of the Recommendation among all countries that adhered to it and other partner countries, with further data collected through a Perception Survey with delegates to the OECD Working Party on Open Government. Drawing on the insights gathered from these two surveys, and at the request of the OECD Council, this report takes stock of the implementation of the Recommendation, its dissemination, and its ongoing significance.
The concept of open government is based on the notion that citizens, civil society and other stakeholders should be enabled and empowered to oversee and actively participate in public decision making. As defined by the OECD, open government is “a culture of governance that promotes the principles of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholder participation in support of democracy and inclusive growth”. Open government policies and practices are widely recognised as important avenues to reinforcing democracy and strengthening trust in public institutions, as also highlighted in the OECD Reinforcing Democracy Initiative (“RDI”) and its pillar 2 on “Enhancing representation, participation and openness in public life”.
The present report shows that most countries that have adhered to the Recommendation have made progress in terms of open government in recent years, albeit at differing paces and with emphasis on distinct provisions of the Recommendation. Many countries are making higher-quality and larger quantities of information and data available and placing a greater focus on citizen and stakeholder participation. Most countries have also advanced in establishing laws, policies, and governance mechanisms for their open government agendas. The principles of open government are increasingly mainstreamed across public administrations and implemented at all levels of government and in different policy sectors.
Countries have been striving to implement the Recommendation in a continuously evolving context characterised by a multitude of crises, including the COVID-19 health emergency, economic instability and inflation and the Russian aggression against Ukraine. The global environment for open government reforms has become notably more challenging than at the time the Recommendation was approved. Democracy faces setbacks in several countries, and civic space – now widely recognised as a pre-condition for, and an integral element of, an open government – is shrinking in many countries across the world. Consequently, as political, economic and societal challenges remain, additional efforts are needed to ensure that open government policies and practices live up to their promises and breathe new life into policymaking.
This publication is based on the Report by the Public Governance Committee (PGC) on the implementation of the Recommendation of the Council on Open Government [OECD/LEGAL/0438] which was approved by the OECD Public Governance Committee via written procedure on 23 June 2023 and declassified by the OECD Council at its 1471st Session on 13 September 2023.