Freedom of Information Day
By: V-Dem Staff
Mar 16, 2018
On March 16, 1751, James Madison, the father of the US Constitution and foremost advocate for openness of government was born. Madison was an active voice at his time for ensuring that the government of the newly-formed nation would hold no secrets from its people. Honoring this very concept today is celebrated the Freedom of Information Day!
More transparency in government could be credited as leading to more government accountability, allowing citizens to perform effective oversight over their governments and to voice their opinions in the political sphere based on credible and official information. In this manner, V-Dem’s Deliberative Component Index measures the deliberative principle of democracy and the extent political elites are held accountable for their positions on matters of public policy. The graph presents Western Europe and North America scoring high on the index, both with consistent growth throughout the years, with the exception of a setback in Western Europe during the Second World War. Regions such as South America and MENA still score low, with the former presenting a rather erratic trajectory, and the latter lagging behind considerably.
To learn more about the Deliberative Component Index across the globe, use the V-Dem Online Analysis Tool on v-dem.net.
