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'This rich, carefully researched, well balanced, and readily accessible study shows us that good governance, with legislators at the local, state or national levels in the lead, is surely difficult but far from unattainable. This hard nosed scholarship demonstrating, as the authors themselves discovered, that pragmatism about both policy expectations and policy results should prevail among political leaders and citizens alike.' Perspectives on Politics
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Governments in recent decades have employed public disclosure strategies to reduce risks, improve public and private goods and services, and reduce injustice. In the United States, these targeted transparency policies include financial securities disclosures, nutritional labels, school report cards, automobile rollover rankings, and sexual offender registries. They constitute a light-handed approach to governance that empowers citizens. However, as Full Disclosure shows these policies are frequently ineffective or counterproductive. Based on a comparative analysis of eighteen major policies, the authors suggest that transparency policies often produce information that is incomplete, incomprehensible, or irrelevant to the consumers, investors, workers, and community residents who could benefit from them. Sometimes transparency fails because those who are threatened by it form political coalitions to limit or distort information. To be successful, transparency policies must place the needs of ordinary citizens at centre stage and produce information that informs their everyday choices.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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3 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Win-win book for ordinary citizens and policymakers
7 Jun 2007
Format:Hardcover
"Full Disclosure: Perils and Promise of Transparency" (Fung, Graham, and Weil 2007) is undoubtedly a first-rate book on a regulatory tool that is dynamic in nature. The authors acknowledge the promising, but sometimes perilous transparency(information disclosure) tool as a complement to the existing standards and market based policies in order to redress certain policy problems. The authors nicely interplay the factors of politics, economics, and cognitive powers of varying stakeholders to analyze the development and sustainability of existing and future domestic and global transparency policies. This book is not only a page turner, but a power analytical framework for analyzing the effectiveness and efficiency of a given transparency policy, the likes of financial disclosure laws and the global reporting of infectious diseases.
The authors present their arguments and evidence in a concise and understandable format which will allow ordinary citizens with little or no understanding of economics and governance to find this book a powerful guide and hopefully; after reading, become active participants in the movement for greater transparency in both the public and private sectors. Thus, this is a win-win book for both citizens and policymakers alike.
Lastly, the authors critically examine the advances in information technology like that of the Internet and related technologies such as instant messaging, online blogs, and online book reviews (here), which led to the rise of a third generation transparency systems that differs from the right-to-know and targeted transparency policies, the first and second generation transparency policies, respectively, because of the collaborative information sharing aspects of the new system.
On a side note, this book is right in time as there is a current debate on the medical care quality and cost disparity in the state of Massachusetts, US, which underscores the importance of transparency policies to improve a service quality that have might long term health care impacts for patients. All in all, this one of a kind book will serve as a guide for many generations to come.
With regards to Joel M. Kaufman May 8th, 2007's comment on the authors' limited awareness of corruption at different government agencies, it is possible that the previous commenter did not take into account the multi-layered definition of the politically correct term: "diverging interests of policymakers and other stakeholders of information disclosure," which the authors have reiterated on numerous occasions using similar phrases.
The authors present their arguments and evidence in a concise and understandable format which will allow ordinary citizens with little or no understanding of economics and governance to find this book a powerful guide and hopefully; after reading, become active participants in the movement for greater transparency in both the public and private sectors. Thus, this is a win-win book for both citizens and policymakers alike.
Lastly, the authors critically examine the advances in information technology like that of the Internet and related technologies such as instant messaging, online blogs, and online book reviews (here), which led to the rise of a third generation transparency systems that differs from the right-to-know and targeted transparency policies, the first and second generation transparency policies, respectively, because of the collaborative information sharing aspects of the new system.
On a side note, this book is right in time as there is a current debate on the medical care quality and cost disparity in the state of Massachusetts, US, which underscores the importance of transparency policies to improve a service quality that have might long term health care impacts for patients. All in all, this one of a kind book will serve as a guide for many generations to come.
With regards to Joel M. Kaufman May 8th, 2007's comment on the authors' limited awareness of corruption at different government agencies, it is possible that the previous commenter did not take into account the multi-layered definition of the politically correct term: "diverging interests of policymakers and other stakeholders of information disclosure," which the authors have reiterated on numerous occasions using similar phrases.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
clear signals, not noise
22 May 2007
Format:Hardcover
What information sends clear signals to consumers and voters so they can make good decisions, and what is just more noise? Fung, Graham and Weil have carefully analyzed a range of what they call "targeted transparency" systems - from orange terror alerts to school performance ratings to soup labels - to identify the features of the systems that work. Although generally written for governmental policy makers, it's important reading for anyone who cares about a local, state, or federal issue and wants government to do a better job of informing citizens.
2 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Good topic, some problems
8 May 2007
Format:Hardcover
Good discussion of how hard it is to find data on the safety of things from cars to food to investments. Goes into great detail about how to make interpretable ratings or labels, and what organizations should coperate to do them.
Authors prove own point by missing out on key data on several topics, and merely quote dogma. For example, the supposed dangers of "sodium" meaning sodium ion or salt (pp21,84,111) ignore key data that salt intake affects people both ways, and 10g/day is not that dangerous. See Elliott P et al. (1988). Intersalt: an international study of electrolyte excretion and blood pressure. Results for 24 hour urinary sodium and potassium excretion. British Medical Journal 297:319-328.
Authors quote dogma on high-fat foods and the supposed dangers of saturated fat (p33,53,84,111). See Enig M, Know Your Fats, 1999; Allan & Lutz, Life Without Bread, 2000; Ravnskov U, The Cholesterol Myths, Colpo A, The Great Cholesterol Con.
Authors cite fiber as a good thing (p88), but studies show some forms are beneficial for some conditions in some people, not nearly all, and many people are worse off with higher fiber intake. See Montonen J, Knekt P, Järvinen R, Aromaa A, Reunanen A (2003). Whole-grain and fiber intake and the incidence of type 2 diabetes. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 77:622-629; Fuchs CS, Giovannucci EL, Colditz GA, Hunter DJ, Stampfer MJ, Rosner B, Speizer FE, Willett WC (1999). Dietary Fiber and the Risk of Colorectal Cancer and Adenoma in Women. New England Journal of Medicine 348(3):169-176.
Authors treat Material Safety Data Sheets descriptions of chemical hazards seriously. Try looking up salt, sugar powder and toluene MSDSs. You will see how hazardous these valuable substances are made to look. Then look up the sheet for bromine, which is really dangerous, and see that it is presented in much the same manner as toluene.
Authors call "speeding" a major cause of traffic crashes. Using the definition that "speeding" is driving faster than a posted speed limit, it is obvious that doing so on a road with light traffic in daylight is not dangerous and may prevent boredom. The definitive work was done from 1958-63 where the P. I. was Dr. Alfred L. Moseley working from the Harvard School of Public Health under a USPHS grant, found that fatal and serious crashes had multiple causes, including vehicle failure, weather, road hazards, driver error, but "speeding" was not one of them.
The authors seem unaware of the corruption at many of the government agencies. Just to pick on the FDA see Cohen JS, Overdose, 2001; Haley D, Politics in Healing, 2000; Moore TJ, Prescription for Disaster, 1998; DeGrandpre R, The Cult of Pharmacology, 2006.
Minor fussing over formats and inputs will not give us the clear disclosure we need because of the overwhelming corruption of responsible agencies as well as vendors.
Authors prove own point by missing out on key data on several topics, and merely quote dogma. For example, the supposed dangers of "sodium" meaning sodium ion or salt (pp21,84,111) ignore key data that salt intake affects people both ways, and 10g/day is not that dangerous. See Elliott P et al. (1988). Intersalt: an international study of electrolyte excretion and blood pressure. Results for 24 hour urinary sodium and potassium excretion. British Medical Journal 297:319-328.
Authors quote dogma on high-fat foods and the supposed dangers of saturated fat (p33,53,84,111). See Enig M, Know Your Fats, 1999; Allan & Lutz, Life Without Bread, 2000; Ravnskov U, The Cholesterol Myths, Colpo A, The Great Cholesterol Con.
Authors cite fiber as a good thing (p88), but studies show some forms are beneficial for some conditions in some people, not nearly all, and many people are worse off with higher fiber intake. See Montonen J, Knekt P, Järvinen R, Aromaa A, Reunanen A (2003). Whole-grain and fiber intake and the incidence of type 2 diabetes. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 77:622-629; Fuchs CS, Giovannucci EL, Colditz GA, Hunter DJ, Stampfer MJ, Rosner B, Speizer FE, Willett WC (1999). Dietary Fiber and the Risk of Colorectal Cancer and Adenoma in Women. New England Journal of Medicine 348(3):169-176.
Authors treat Material Safety Data Sheets descriptions of chemical hazards seriously. Try looking up salt, sugar powder and toluene MSDSs. You will see how hazardous these valuable substances are made to look. Then look up the sheet for bromine, which is really dangerous, and see that it is presented in much the same manner as toluene.
Authors call "speeding" a major cause of traffic crashes. Using the definition that "speeding" is driving faster than a posted speed limit, it is obvious that doing so on a road with light traffic in daylight is not dangerous and may prevent boredom. The definitive work was done from 1958-63 where the P. I. was Dr. Alfred L. Moseley working from the Harvard School of Public Health under a USPHS grant, found that fatal and serious crashes had multiple causes, including vehicle failure, weather, road hazards, driver error, but "speeding" was not one of them.
The authors seem unaware of the corruption at many of the government agencies. Just to pick on the FDA see Cohen JS, Overdose, 2001; Haley D, Politics in Healing, 2000; Moore TJ, Prescription for Disaster, 1998; DeGrandpre R, The Cult of Pharmacology, 2006.
Minor fussing over formats and inputs will not give us the clear disclosure we need because of the overwhelming corruption of responsible agencies as well as vendors.
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