Transparency and Access to Public Information in Chile, Peru, and Uruguay [pre-analysis plan]

Abstract

This project studies the differences in the implementation and operation of freedom-ofinformation (FOI) laws in three Latin American countries (Chile, Peru, and Uruguay), each with its own institutional setting. In Chile, there is a strong state agency with high autonomy and the capacity to monitor compliance. In Peru and Uruguay, these agencies have very low levels of autonomy and a weak monitoring capacity. This project seeks to develop two methodological strategies: randomized field experiments and three case studies. A field experiment will assess the effect of the successful use of FOI law on citizens' perceptions of transparency and trust in institutions. In each case study, we analyze the processes of public information exchange in each country. Using a processtracing approach, we test four main explanations—institutional capacity and legacies, diffusion, political coalitions, and political calculation—of why these three countries developed different right-to-information (RTI) regimes. The inclusion of these three countries in our study helps identify the effect of institutional setting on these processes and also helps increase the external validity of the results of the field experiment.