Meaning of the concept Open Government in Spanish public administrations

Abstract

Over the past 15 years, the concept of open government has become one of the most important paradigms in the field of public administrations. To better understand its scope and implications, it is necessary to consider how it is communicated in different plans and strategies. By the use of CAQDAS software, this study provides a qualitative approach to the text of Spain's IV Open Government Plan, which was drawn up in compliance with the obligations of membership of the Open Government Partnership. The main results confirm how the definition of the concept of open government has evolved from its original idea, and how it is dependent on the different levels of competence of public administrations, because of their different obligations. Moreover, in the case of regional autonomous administrations, its definition varies considerably from one administration to another. Our approach is in line with the polysemy that several authors have attributed to the concept of open government and, therefore, to its practical implementation.