Many countries in Asia have recently been following the global trend by introducing the right to information (RTI) law to build open and accountable government systems. This article compares the implementation of such law in four countries in the Asian region (India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Thailand) to assess how they have produced outcomes supporting open government (OG) goals. Drawing on an extensive review of the conceptual literature, secondary sources and official publications, it shows that, notwithstanding many promising features, RTI laws have performed poorly within the overarching notion of OG. Implementation has suffered from numerous deficits and challenges implicating both the demand and supply-side actors—those who seek information and those who are mandated to provide information under the law. Such challenges, together with an inherent flaw, deviation from rules, technical blunders and bureaucratic indifference and non-compliance, have rendered the RTI law mostly ineffective. The paper highlights current deficits/snags and underscores the imperative of raising the awareness and capacity at both community and official levels and creating a culture where transparency and openness is valued over secrecy and confidentiality. This would require strong political commitment, selfless bureaucratic support and genuine citizen engagement.

中文翻译：

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开放政府和知情权：对亚洲透明度和问责制的影响

亚洲的许多国家最近都紧跟全球趋势，通过引入信息权 (RTI) 法来建立开放和负责的政府系统。本文比较了亚洲地区四个国家（印度、孟加拉国、印度尼西亚和泰国）实施此类法律的情况，以评估它们如何产生支持开放政府 (OG) 目标的成果。通过对概念文献、二手资料和官方出版物的广泛审查，它表明，尽管有许多有希望的特征，但 RTI 法律在 OG 的总体概念中表现不佳。实施过程中遇到了许多缺陷和挑战，这涉及到需求方和供应方的参与者——寻求信息的参与者和依法被授权提供信息的参与者。这样的挑战，加上固有的缺陷、偏离规则、技术失误和官僚主义的冷漠和不遵守，使得信息权法基本上无效。该文件强调了当前的不足/障碍，并强调必须提高社区和官方层面的意识和能力，并营造一种重视透明度和开放性而不是保密性和保密性的文化。这需要强有力的政治承诺、无私的官僚支持和真正的公民参与。该文件强调了当前的不足/障碍，并强调必须提高社区和官方层面的意识和能力，并营造一种重视透明度和开放性而不是保密性和保密性的文化。这需要强有力的政治承诺、无私的官僚支持和真正的公民参与。该文件强调了当前的不足/障碍，并强调必须提高社区和官方层面的意识和能力，并营造一种重视透明度和开放性而不是保密性和保密性的文化。这需要强有力的政治承诺、无私的官僚支持和真正的公民参与。