Does Transparency Reach Citizens? National Accountability Mechanisms and Public Perceptions in Europe

Abstract

Governments worldwide have introduced transparency and accountability regulations so that citizens can hold officials accountable for their actions and fulfill their role as “watchdogs” of the state. In the long term, this should legitimize government by mitigating information asymmetries between citizens and the government. Therefore, if adequate mechanisms that empower citizens to increase government transparency and the accountability of public officials are properly stipulated in the law, do citizens also perceive it that way? Understanding public perceptions of decision-making processes and government activities is crucial for policymaking because citizens are the ultimate evaluators of policy outcomes. Thus, this study examines whether such institutionalized regulations reach citizens and (positively) affect citizens' perceptions of government transparency. Using individual-level data from the European Social Survey (ESS) and country-level data from the European Public Accountability Mechanisms Dataset (EuroPAM), we analyze the impact of five accountability indicators on citizens' perceptions of transparency in 28 European countries. Using the large-N sample data from the ESS, we control for socio-demographic variables and thus also shed light on covariates of citizens' perceptions of transparency. Contrary to our hypotheses, we find that the scope of accountability mechanisms is not indicative of perceived transparency. Rather, our findings point toward a more complex relationship between national policies and citizens' perception, and underline the importance of distinguishing between de jure, de facto, and perceived transparency.