From Information to Interaction: Comprehensive Understanding of the Public Authorities Openness

Abstract

In modern world, characterized by increased demands on public administration due to globalization and greater interaction with society as a result of the growing capabilities of information and communication technologies, the issue of openness in public authorities has become one of the key issues in their activities. However, there is no single, universally accepted approach to this issue in the scientific literature. A number of researchers reduce the concept of openness to simple access to information, i.e. to information openness. Opposing them, another part of the scientific community notes the need to separate information openness and openness in general, justifying their differences as the relationship between the part and the whole. In this regard, the conceptualization of the concept of openness beyond information openness remains outside the focus of researchers. To this end, the article attempts to provide a comprehensive description of the phenomenon of openness by defining and substantiating the concept of political openness, which goes beyond simple information practices and covers the broader area of interaction between the authorities and civil society with a view to involving the latter in the decision-making process. The article identifies the content of political openness and outlines its main elements. In addition, attention is paid to the relationship between the openness of public authorities and the trust placed in them by citizens. On this basis, the complexity and multifaceted nature of the openness of public authorities is noted, and the advisability of further scientific research on the conceptualization of the main elements of openness in their interrelation with such related concepts as publicity, accessibility and transparency is indicated.