Transparency in Europe: A Quantitative Study

In recent years, European pharmaceutical regulators have increasingly committed to heightening access to raw safety‐related data as part of a wave of transparency initiatives (e.g., providing public Internet‐mediated access to clinical trials data). Yet, the regulators—who are under significant pressure—have not yet benefited from a systematic review of this new policy. In seeking to inject much needed evidence, this article explores the effects of new transparency policies designed to promote meaningful communication of risks and benefits to patients. Results of a cross‐national European survey with respondents from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany, and Sweden (N = 5,648) shed light on how patients and the public are likely to react to the regulators’ new transparency policies. The findings demonstrate clear national variations in how European citizens are likely to react and emphasize the need to develop evidence‐based, reasoned transparency policies that integrate benefit‐risk communication. The authors conclude by providing six specific recommendations, informed by the study, that seek to improve the European transparency model both within the medical field and across health, safety, and environmental policy domains.     

Fiscal transparency and tax ethics: does better information lead to greater compliance?

By relying on WVS data and using multilevel mixed modeling, the paper tests the hypothesis that access to larger flows of information about government fiscal accounts and financial transactions increases citizens’ willingness to pay taxes. By supporting such an hypothesis, our analysis suggests that in the presence of more information, the implicit contract between the government and taxpayers displays less stringent incentives and participation constraints and causes part of the contract, namely tax morale, to be enhanced. This finding supports the implementation of fiscal transparency policies, whose possible design is discussed.     

Improving and measuring transparency in NGOs: A disclosure index for activities and projects

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are established not with the aim of making profits but rather to provide social values by implementing different projects and activities. Transmitting complete information about these projects to society is a key element of transparency, as they operate within an atmosphere of public trust. Although there is a large body of literature on transparency in NGOs from a global perspective, very little research has been conducted on transparency within the area of projects and activities. This study takes a deeper look at this line and contributes to the literature on transparency in NGOs by proposing an index to measure the information transparency of the projects implemented by these organizations. The index captures three dimensions of the information about the projects (technical, financial, and scope) and makes it possible to: analyze the level of transparency of the portfolio of projects, detect the specific aspects that could be improved in each organization, and carry out comparisons among organizations.     

Open Data on a Closed Shop? Assessing the potential of transparency initiatives with a focus on efforts to strengthen capacity development support

Despite strong political commitment, actual gains in improving accountability in development co‐operation have been limited. Main reasons for this include the low level of transparency and high number of actors, as well as the limitations of the self‐reported and input‐oriented OECD reporting system. Efforts through the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) and related transparency initiatives are ill‐equipped to change this given their decision to adhere to the same system. This article uses the specific area of support to capacity development to illustrate this. While further disaggregation of reporting on technical co‐operation could respond to a transparency gap, overcoming the accountability gap requires moving beyond promoting ‘supply‐side’ reform and re‐engaging in efforts to promote collective action.     

依法治校视域下的高校二级学院院务公开

依法治校是规范高校管理工作的应有之道,文章紧扣教育部《全面推进依法治校实施纲要》对依法治校的总体要求展开,将依法治校总要求落实到高校办学基层单位二级学院,阐述院务公开工作与依法治校的相关性,分析存在差距,从制度、管理、民主和权利四个层面探索推进院务公开的途径,以期提高高校依法管理的能力和水平。     

司法透明指数评估指标探讨

在中国全面深化司法公开改革背景下,司法公开广度和深度不断拓展,司法公开评估应运而生。司法透明指数吴兴实验、浙江法院阳光司法指数、河北法院阳光司法指数三个代表性指标体系既有共性,也有差异。当下司法透明指数评估的目标应定位于持续推进司法公开,督促法院保障公民获得公正裁判权与知情监督权;指标设计的前提在于明确司法公开的内容、性质、范围、对象和载体;还要适应评估实效性要求,调整评估维度,优化、完善具体指标设计。调整、优化后的司法透明指标体系具有普遍适用性和推广应用价值。     

TRIMs协定与我国的应对

《与贸易有关的投资措施协定》(TRIMs协定)内容完整,具有独立性,但在WTO的争端解决过程中,TRIMs协定既可独立适用,也可与其他规定同时适用,因此不应仅根据TRIMs协定的具体规定来审查和判断我国现有的或将来的投资措施.该协定禁止采取影响企业(不限于外国投资企业)投资决策的对贸易产生扭曲效应的措施,我国立法和政策的调整就不应局限在外资立法和政策上,还应涉及产业政策;在经济管理权限的合理分配问题上,我国现行的贸易和投资管理制度相互混淆的状况要进一步厘清;积极参加有关TRIMs的讨论以及游戏规则的制定,充分利用我国作为发展中国家的地位所享受的优惠待遇.最根本的措施应该是使政府行为科学化和合理化,充分利用市场机制培育国内企业的国际竞争力.     

完善高校校务公开的思考

校务公开被称为高校“阳光工程”,已成为民主的窗口、参与的平台。如何进一步完善和推进校务公开工作,有待认真探讨与研究。文章从加强校务公开的思想认识、组织建设、制度建设以及公开的形式、内容、途径等方面进行了探讨。     

党务公开在党的生活中的定位

党务公开是马克思主义政党的本质要求，是工人阶级政党开放性品格的重要体现。推进党务公开是我党对历史方位的深刻认识和正确把握提出的新要求，是顺应时代发展潮流的必然选择，是坚持和实践科学、民主、依法执政的现实路径，是增强党的先进性和活力，有效预防和惩治腐败的重要手段。