The role of Ombudsman Institutions in Open Government

Katharina Zuegel, Emma Cantera and Alessandro Bellantoni

No 29, OECD Working Papers on Public Governance from OECD Publishing

Abstract: Ombudsman institutions (OIs) act as the guardians of citizens’ rights and as a mediator between citizens and the public administration. While the very existence of such institutions is rooted in the notion of open government, the role they can play in promoting openness throughout the public administration has not been adequately recognized or exploited. Based on a survey of 94 OIs, this report examines the role they play in open government policies and practices. It also provides recommendations on how, given their privileged contact with both people and governments, OIs can better promote transparency, integrity, accountability, and stakeholder participation; how their role in national open government strategies and initiatives can be strengthened; and how they can be at the heart of a truly open state.

Keywords: access to information; accountability; ombudsman; open government; open state; participation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H4 H7 H83 K38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-12-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pub
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oec:govaaa:29-en

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