The Influence of the Transparency Agenda on Open Government Data in Chile

Abstract

Open government data (OGD) can promote transparency and accountability. While OGD intervenes in political spaces and interests related to transparency agendas, little attention has been paid to the influence of existing transparency initiatives on the way OGD initiatives are designed and implemented. This paper analyzes the influence of the transparency agenda on OGD in order to understand how past decisions in transparency shape current OGD implementation. Based on the case of Chile, the paper follows a historical institutionalism approach: recent transparency-related institutions are analyzed through the lens of path dependence. The paper concludes that existing cultures around the transparency agenda in Chile have both an ideological and operational influence on the development of OGD, which have limited its institutionalization and appropriateness within the public sector to date.