Access to information in Benin: a case study
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852318762039 |
| Published date | 01 March 2020 |
| Date | 01 March 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
Access to information
in Benin: a case study
Vincent Mabillard
University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Bellarminus G. Kakpovi
Ministry of Sports, Benin
Bertil Cottier
Universita
`della Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland
Abstract
Transparency is nowadays at the top of the agenda for most governments. The number
of countries that have adopted a law on access to administrative documents is on the
rise. Access to information laws do not provide a substitute for transparency, but they
may signal the willingness of a government to increase openness. So far, most studies
have focused on states where such laws exist, especially in Europe and North America,
while very little research has been conducted in Africa. This contribution is intended to
capitalise on previous research to present the case of Benin. Research questions focus
on the development of access to information, barriers to an introduction of a stronger
law in that country and the administration’s expectations regarding transparency. Data
are based on interviews with civil society organisations, an official in charge of access to
administrative documents in Benin and several employees of the national administra-
tion. Findings show how contextual and institutional differences shape transparency
reforms, the importance of the issue of global awareness and access, and how current
practices influence the approach towards access to administrative documents in Benin.
Points for practitioners
The case of Benin shows how openness can be fostered by the media, members of the
parliament and civil society organisations. The combined action of these diverse stake-
holders, also supported by regional and international partners, can lead to increased
Corresponding author:
Vincent Mabillard, Universite de Lausanne, Ba
ˆtiment l’IDHEAP, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland.
Email: vincent.mabillard@unil.ch
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
2020, Vol. 86(1) 134–151
!The Author(s) 2018
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852318762039
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administrative transparency. This article highlights the commitment of public sector
employees to create a more open administration, although they are still facing central
implementation issues, such as undertrained staff, lack of resources or the dissemina-
tion and understanding of information among the population.
Keywords
access to information, Benin, freedom of information laws, transparency, West Africa
Introduction
The call for greater transparency within administrations is not particularly new.
However, its current development worldwide shows that transparency is increas-
ingly considered as a core component of good governance. According to Hood
(2006a: 19), the notion has even reached ‘quasi-religious’ status. Access to infor-
mation (ATI) laws have flourished across all continents and numerous initiatives,
emerging from both governments and civil society, and have attracted a growing
number of participants. Depending on the cultural context, the concept may be
either perceived as an intrinsic value or positively regarded as a mechanism to
ensure a strong instrumental value. The latter perspective assumes that transpar-
ency is needed to fulfil objectives such as increased citizen participation (Welch,
2012: 99) and trust in government (Mabillard and Pasquier, 2016: 75).
Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to Latin American, Asian and
African contexts. In this sense, there is a considerable deficit in transparency
research in these regions; more than half of all studies identified in the literature
review of Cucciniello et al. (2016: 37) were conducted in North America and
Europe. The observation of this gap and the growing call for comparative research
in Public Administration (PA) (Welch and Wong, 1998: 42) should lead scholars to
increase their interest in other contexts. This study aims to move in this
direction by exploring an under-commented case in the literature: few studies
have investigated the situation in Western Africa. In our view, Benin, a state
with a well-established democracy in the region, deserves particular attention.
Therefore, the goal of this article is twofold. On the one hand, it aims to
put forward crucial aspects of access to information in the country and, on
the other hand, it sets out to reduce a significant gap in the literature from a
geographical perspective.
This article starts with a panorama of ATI laws in the world, describing how
they are classified, what the main factors of emergence are and how implementa-
tion can be evaluated. It continues with an overview of the context in Benin. In this
second part, the evolution of access to information in the country and existing laws
will be presented. The methodology section will show how interviews have served
to illustrate and enrich our case study. Finally, its findings will help to identify the
Mabillard et al. 135
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