By Carlos Romero Mendoza
the XIX Summit of Heads of State and Government held in 2009 acknowledged through his final statement that public information should be of service to citizens so ensure the principle of transparency in governance and also highlights in its content, that this must be the principle that guides the relationship that exists between the Public Administration and Citizens.
The final document of the XIX Ibero American Summit titled Charter of Citizen Participation in Public Management and its content is recognized that access to information is a right that underpins the proper functioning of democracy as a condition for securing other rights and, in particular, that of citizen participation in governance. Accordingly, we present the principle of transparency in public administration as one of the prerequisites for citizen participation.
To ensure transparency in public administration Ibero-American States have been required in that official document to promote greater citizen participation through maximum disclosure of public information, for it is expressly committed to create systems of organization and production of basic information on management, well then, to facilitate such participation without forgetting that this strategy technology information and communication play an important supporting role.
Importantly, the public information system has certain criteria that were clearly identified in the Ibero-American Charter of Citizen Participation in Public Administration and requires that public information should be: accurate, timely, simple, current, comprehensive, complete and mass dissemination. Nuria Cunill in their paper titled: Transparency in Public Administration, How to build sustainability? (1), reminds us that "the more specialized is the information the less likely that it is affordable by the people concerned."
But
public information is not limited to public policy content but also the document includes a specific duty to the citizen, through legislation, sufficient information on the very right to citizen participation in governance, its content, forms and procedures for their exercise and bodies and bodies of the respective competent public authority which may relate to participate.
Also the government should ensure information about services and benefits they offer, their requirements, conditions, procedures and terms of administrative procedures, as well as the means to access them.
The content of the Ibero-American Charter of Citizen Participation in Public Management recognizes that the citizen to exercise their right of access to public information may:
1.-access information held by the Administration Public, and who do are required to demonstrate an interest in particular.
2.-Access files and records of the Public Administration.
3.-Be assisted in their search for information.
4.-Receive the information requested in the time limits established in the respective standards. 5.-
receive information in a manner or in a format accessible to whomever requests it. 6.-
know the reasons why not granted in full or partial information is required and in the proper format.
Legal protection of access to public information, to create rules clear play on the relationship between public administration and citizens in order to promote confidence in public administration and to create mechanisms that encourage citizens to learn and become more involved in public affairs. Public confidence in governance is essential to sustain democracy and build on it to assume a responsible citizen participation as an ongoing task.
The Ibero-American Charter of Citizen Participation in Public Management is an extraordinary political contribution of heads of state and government in Latin America because there have captured a number of officially approved guidelines states themselves which aims to strengthen public participation through the principle of transparency in governance. After this document is that both public administration and citizens from exercising their rights and duties to consolidate a participatory culture in which transparency is the cornerstone of that relationship.
Reference:
(1) Cunill, Nuria. Transparency in Public Administration, How to build sustainability?. In: State, government, public management Chilean Journal of Public Administration, N ยบ. 8, 2006, pp. 22-44. Retrieved January 20, 2011 at: http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2315250
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