Articulo_3_EN_Doxa_31_Open_political_parties

Thus, open government goes beyond transparency and it must be differentiated from e-government, which refers to the adaptation of institutions to new technologies. Open government, on the other hand, is linked to the renewal of democracy and is based on the principles of transparency, participation and collaboration (Abu-Shamab, 2015). According to McDermott (2012), an open government must do the following:

Offer transparency and provide information to citizens on measures being taken by institutions, and promote accountability. A distinction must also be made between active transparency (Rubio, 2011), which involves the voluntary publication of data, and passive transparency, which involves the dissemination of information resulting from a request. Moreover, the latter must be properly regulated (Grimmelikhuijsen, 2012).

Encourage citizen participation, as administrations can benefit from people’s knowledge, and commitment from citizens improves the effectiveness and quality of decisions as well.

Develop innovative initiatives and tools in order for citizens to cooperate with institutions

While it is true that all three values are indispensable for an open government to function properly, it must be acknowledged that transparency is the foundational principle, and the most important for opening up institutions. If administrations expect to understand the needs of citizens and allow them to participate and collaborate, it absolutely essential that effective communication with citizens be established (Abu-Shamab, 2015). This is also the reason why an open government is so strongly linked to the development of technology, as the success of such governments depends on effective communication with citizens, so they must take advantage of digital tools for this purpose.

Abu-Shamab (2015) points out that certain dilemmas arise in the development of open governments, such as information privacy as well as the quality and accessibility of data, among others. Nevertheless, the beneficial consequences should be highlighted as well. Along these lines, Janssen, Charalabidis, and Zuiderwijk (2012) stress the use of collective intelligence, as deliberation allows for the exploitation of citizen knowledge, and the resulting decisions legitimise the measures implemented. Communication between institutions also improves, resulting in more efficient services and enhanced competitiveness. All of this can increase and restore citizen confidence in administrations and empower the population.

The same authors also affirm that open data as a consequence of open government procedures entails the development of innovative initiatives, the re-use of information, the introduction of new points of view among administrations, and economic growth.

In Spain, which is the focus of this research, the central government has been promoting various initiatives within the framework of the open government action plans since it became a member of the international body known as the Open Government Partnership in 2011. To date, Action Plan I was carried out between 2014 and 2016; the Action Plan II was implemented between 2012 and 2014; and the Action Plan III was executed between 2015 and 2018.

The IV Spanish Open Government Action Plan is being developed, and will continue to be developed, between 2019 and 2021. Its main objectives are to promote citizen participation in decision-making, to continue developing transparency