On
the horizon, it would seem to be only a matter of time before a majority of
the more than two-hundred nations of the world will have formal openness-in-government
regimes. The most recent such nation to join the "FOIA club" is the
Dominican Republic, where freedom of information legislation was signed into
law just this past month. Right now, several other nations -- including Ecuador,
Germany, Nigeria, Russia, and El Salvador -- are actively considering such legislation.
Whether driven by the worldwide movement toward greater democracy or the desire
to use government openness as a tool for combating government corruption, or
both, more and more countries are seeing the value of FOIA-like laws and are
looking to the United States, foremost among other nations, as a model to be
followed. (posted 9/28/04)
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