The transparency fix : secrets, leaks, and uncontrollable government information / Mark Fenster.
2017
KF5753 .F46 2017 (Mapit)
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Author
Title
The transparency fix : secrets, leaks, and uncontrollable government information / Mark Fenster.
Imprint
Stanford, California : Stanford Law Books, an imprint of Stanford University Press, [2017]
Description
286 pages ; 23 cm
Formatted Contents Note
Introduction : the transparent state we want but can't have
Liberating the family jewels : "free" information and "open" government in the post-war legal imaginary
Supplementing the transparency fix : innovations in the wake of law's inadequacies
Transparency's limits : balancing the open and secret state
The uncontrollable state
The impossible archive of government information
Disclosure's effects?
The implausibility of information control
The disappointments of megaleaks
Conclusion : the West Wing, the West Wing, and abandoning the informational fix.
Liberating the family jewels : "free" information and "open" government in the post-war legal imaginary
Supplementing the transparency fix : innovations in the wake of law's inadequacies
Transparency's limits : balancing the open and secret state
The uncontrollable state
The impossible archive of government information
Disclosure's effects?
The implausibility of information control
The disappointments of megaleaks
Conclusion : the West Wing, the West Wing, and abandoning the informational fix.
Summary
Is the government too secret or not secret enough? Why is there simultaneously too much government secrecy and a seemingly endless procession of government leaks? Mark Fenster asserts that we incorrectly assume that government information can be controlled. The same impulse that drives transparency movements also drives secrecy advocates. They all hold the mistaken belief that government information can either be released or kept secure on command. Fenster argues for a reformation in our assumptions about secrecy and transparency. The world did not end because Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, and Edward Snowden released classified information. But nor was there a significant political change. "Transparency" has become a buzzword, while secrecy is anathema. Using a variety of real-life examples to examine how government information actually flows, Fenster describes how the legal regime's tenuous control over state information belies both the promise and peril of transparency. He challenges us to confront the implausibility of controlling government information and shows us how the contemporary obsession surrounding transparency and secrecy cannot radically change a state that is defined by so much more than information.
Note
Is the government too secret or not secret enough? Why is there simultaneously too much government secrecy and a seemingly endless procession of government leaks? Mark Fenster asserts that we incorrectly assume that government information can be controlled. The same impulse that drives transparency movements also drives secrecy advocates. They all hold the mistaken belief that government information can either be released or kept secure on command. Fenster argues for a reformation in our assumptions about secrecy and transparency. The world did not end because Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, and Edward Snowden released classified information. But nor was there a significant political change. "Transparency" has become a buzzword, while secrecy is anathema. Using a variety of real-life examples to examine how government information actually flows, Fenster describes how the legal regime's tenuous control over state information belies both the promise and peril of transparency. He challenges us to confront the implausibility of controlling government information and shows us how the contemporary obsession surrounding transparency and secrecy cannot radically change a state that is defined by so much more than information.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Location
STA
Available in Other Form
Online version: Fenster, Mark. Transparency fix. Stanford, California : Stanford Law Books, an imprint of Stanford University Press, 2017
Call Number
KF5753 .F46 2017
Language
English
ISBN
9781503601710 hardcover ; alkaline paper
1503601714 hardcover ; alkaline paper
9781503602663 paperback ; alkaline paper
1503602664 paperback ; alkaline paper
1503601714 hardcover ; alkaline paper
9781503602663 paperback ; alkaline paper
1503602664 paperback ; alkaline paper
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