Governmental transparency and the National Performance Review: Implementing the Freedom of Information Act

This dissertation analyzes the impacts of federal results-oriented administrative reforms on implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Transparency of government, which promotes democratic-accountability, is embodied in FOIA. The National Performance Review (NPR) supported initiatives that affected FOIA implementation in a variety of ways. These initiatives include (1) a push for performance management that at times comes at the expense of nonmission-based values, including governmental transparency; (2) an increased attention to customers and, possibly, FOIA requestors; (3) the encouragement of privatizing functions, which subsequently are not covered under FOIA; and (4) the empowerment of employees to make decisions within the implementation phase of the policy process. The unintended and unforeseen consequences of these initiatives on FOIA activities are highlighted.; The research draws on a number of different data sources including key performance indicators pulled from federal agencies' Annual FOIA Reports submitted to Congress over a twenty-five year period (1976–2001); interviews of federal FOIA officers and FOIA requestors; a content analysis of historical documents; and a survey of the access community. Relying on a triangulation of data and methods, the project identifies how FOIA activities have adapted to management initiatives. This study is important to our understanding of how mission-based management reforms can affect fundamental democratic values and governmental functions such as freedom of information.