Abstract

SALAZAR REBOLLEDO, Grisel. The Toughness of the Glass: The Significance of Time in Explaining the Quality of Laws on Access to Information. Foro int [online]. 2016, vol.56, n.3, pp.684-723. ISSN 0185-013X.

The quality of laws on access to information can be explained by traditional static indicators as well as by dynamic variables such as the effects of time. The "traces of time" affect the quality of these laws. The moment at which a law on access to information is adopted has an impact on its quality, due to the process of learning and dissemination it involves; and in countries undergoing a transition to democracy, with a history of lack of transparency, the enactment of such a law is seen as a step that can reverse the perception of secrecy. Explanations based on static indicators, such as levels of political rights and civil liberties, fail to allow understanding of the diversity of content of transparency laws, nor their capacity for compliance.

Keywords : transparency; access to information; accountability; time variable; administrative reforms.