Hardly any other topic leads to so much agreement across party lines in terms of more transparency in politics: The work of the government is already sufficiently transparent, say representatives: from left to right across Germany – provided that their parties are in the State governments sit. If their parties are in opposition, they usually demand a transparency law and improved information rules for the public.

Free information is a Prerequisite for democracy. Hence: The “Best of Freedom of Information”, every two weeks, by Arne Semsrott. He is the project manager of FragDenStaat and a freelance journalist. He works on the subjects of freedom of information, transparency, lobbying and migration policy.

No clear line This is how the SPD prevents For example, in the government of Lower Saxony for decades that there is only one freedom of information law, according to which the state would have to release information to citizens. In Hamburg she recently had the transparency law cut in such a way that the Hanseatic city can hardly be considered a pioneer in matters of transparency. The Bavarian SPD, on the other hand, has been calling for a progressive freedom of information law for the Free State from the opposition for ages.

Even the Greens do not have a clear line: while the Saxon Greens are fighting for a transparency law in the government, those of The Greens co-drafted freedom of information laws in Hesse and Baden-Württemberg, the worst nationwide. The CDU, at least, appears quite uniformly, it has not appeared anywhere as a serious advocate of state transparency. Left and FDP, on the other hand, are lucky enough to be barely represented in state governments, so that their state associations can hardly contradict each other.

Transparency Elan So far, there does not seem to be a large, genuine transparency party. Much more decisive for the success of transparency laws than the party color is the motivation behind more transparency anyway: Does a party want transparency because it wants to make democracy better? Or does it demand more openness because its representatives themselves have so far been isolated from the flow of information?

Experience has shown that the enthusiasm for transparency of new government parties fades when they have made themselves comfortable in their new positions. If transparency laws are to be effective, they have to be introduced at the beginning of a legislative period, if possible. The British Freedom of Information Act, for example, has only existed since the beginning of the millennium because the Labor government under Tony Blair declared it one of their first political projects after taking over government – Blair later cursed his exemplary law.

Toothless compromise work Are projects put on the back burner, like For example, from the red-red-green governments in Thuringia and currently in Berlin, the end result is only a toothless compromise that does not bother anyone, but also does not help anyone.

The most effective means for more transparency is That’s why there is pressure from outside anyway: The once exemplary Hamburg Transparency Act only exists because of a referendum, and even in Berlin the government would have put its hands on its lap without the referendum there for a transparency law.

(bme)