Whose Public Virtue? Exploring Freedom of Information Efficacy and Support

• Author: A. Jay Wagner
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00953997221113223
• Published date: 01 January 2023
• Date: 01 January 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/00953997221113223

Administration & Society

2023, Vol. 55(1) 93 –121

© The Author(s) 2022

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/00953997221113223

journals.sagepub.com/home/aas

Article

Whose Public Virtue?

Exploring Freedom of

Information Efficacy

and Support

A. Jay Wagner1

Abstract

Little is known about public perceptions of how FOI laws influence

government operations or impact citizens’ daily lives. A large representative

sample of U.S. adults was surveyed for support of FOI laws and perceptions

of FOI efficacy. Findings showed advanced education and higher perceptions

of general government efficacy to be strongly significant in predicting both

support for FOI and greater FOI efficacy. Males and liberal respondents

also demonstrated significance in predicting support for FOI and higher FOI

efficacy, while individuals identifying as Black race was a significant negative

predictor in support for FOI and whether FOI improved government

operations and accountability.

Keywords

freedom of information, access to government information, government

transparency, FOI efficacy, government efficacy, external efficacy

Introduction

Government transparency has reached the status of public virtue. Fenster

(2021) called the idea of a thoroughly visible, accountable state “a preeminent

administrative norm with an unimpeachable status as a pillar of democracy”

1Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA

Corresponding Author:

A. Jay Wagner, Marquette University, P.O. Box 1881, Johnston Hall, Room 339, Milwaukee,

WI 53201-1881, USA.

Email: ajay.wagner@marquette.edu

1113223AAS0010.1177/00953997221113223Administration & SocietyWagner

research-article2022

94 Administration & Society 55(1)

(p. 286). Fenster cited Fish (2019) and Hood (2006) in suggesting that access

to government information has achieved an almost religious certainty and

devotion. Nonetheless, many have criticized government transparency laws

and their administration (Kwoka & DuPey, 2021; Peters, 2021; Pozen, 2017;

Stewart & Davis, 2016). Freedom of information (FOI) laws are both vener-

ated by legislators and judges as a democratic imperative—called a “struc-

tural necessity in a real democracy” by the U.S. Supreme Court (NARA v.

Favish, 2004, p. 172)—and critiqued by scholars, journalists, and requesters

for falling well short of the laws’ objectives. Implementing and administer-

ing FOI laws is costly—nearly $600 million in 2020 federal FOIA operating

costs alone—yet there is little understanding of whether the general public

believes FOI laws have any impact on their daily lives or influence on gov-

ernment operations.

Public opinion on access to government information and government

transparency has documented sustained support for the people’s right to

know about public officials and their activities. The support though has not

been monolithic. Research has shown varied support for access to different

types of records (Driscoll et al., 2000), differing beliefs about who should

have access to records (i.e., private individuals, commercial entities, and

journalists; Cuillier & Piotrowski, 2009; Phelps & Bunker, 2001), different

demands for transparency across dimensions (e.g., safety transparency, fis-

cal transparency, etc.; Piotrowski & Van Ryzin, 2007). Support for access

to government information has also shown significant relationships with a

wide and fluc tuating range of demographic variables (Cuillier, 2008; Cuillier

& Pinkleton, 2011).

Surveys on public opinion of government transparency have also focused

on transparency’s relationship with concepts such as trust in government,

political efficacy, and civic engagement. Examining these relationships is

important and valuable research, but it stops short of addressing the more

direct relationship of whether the public believes FOI laws meaningfully

influence the actions of government or favorably impact their own lives. The

public regularly demonstrates support for the concept of transparent and

accountable governance, but there are interesting unresolved questions about

who believes the present legal mechanisms for establishing a transparent and

accountable government are functioning as designed. Further, are certain

sociopolitical factors correlated to perceptions of an efficacious FOI? If an

almost religious fervor for government transparency exists, as scholars have

suggested, the study seeks to help identify these congregants. Discovering

the believers can lead to a stronger understanding of not only who but per-

haps why some social factions feel as zealously as they do, and, just as con-

sequently, why some are agnostic or disengaged with transparency efforts.