Transparency and Freedom of Information in Latin America

November 17, 2021 12:00PM Zoom

WHO: A Canadian and naturalized Brazilian, Gregory Michener is Associate Professor of Government at the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Getulio Vargas Foundation, Rio de Janeiro (FGV-EBAPE). Michener is an expert on the politics, policy, and evaluation of freedom of information and transparency laws – focused principally on Latin America. At the FGV, he leads the Public Transparency Program (PTP-FGV) and a regional research project, the Transparency Evaluation Network. He is currently working on a book on transparency and freedom of information in Latin America, which he is completing on sabbatical leave as a visiting scholar at MIT’s Department of Political Science. His wife, Carolina Fonseca, an architect, construction manager, and now entrepreneur, is currently undertaking the mid-career, one-year Sloan Fellows MBA at MIT. Michener will be returning to Rio de Janeiro in July 2022.

WHAT: The Politics of Government Transparency in Latin America

From 2002 to 2021, transparency measures and freedom of information laws exploded across Latin America. What are their origins? How have these laws performed? And what are their prospects? Described as the oxygen of democracy, transparency serves as a basis for our information ecosystems and a precondition for accountability and participation. This presentation focuses on a book project on FOI and transparency in Latin America, examining the impact of transparency policies across the region, political factors that have affected the development of transparency, and a framework for how populists approach transparency policies.

WHEN: Wednesday, November 17rd, 12:00 – 1:30 PM ET.

Latin American Working Group