Transparency policy initiatives in Latin America: Understanding policy outcomes from an institutional perspective

Communication Law and Policy

Volumn 14, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 41-71

  Pinto, Juliet G ^a  

^a FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 58149184008     PISSN: 10811680     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10811680802577665     Document Type: Article

References (181)

1. See generally [the organization] Article 19, http://www.articlel9. org; Freedom House, http://www.freedomhouse.org; Freedominfo.org, http://www.freedominfo.org; Investigative Eeporters and Editors, http://www.ire.org; the National Security Archive, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv; Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, http://www.rcfp.org/about.html; the Society for Professional Journalists, http://www.spj.org/aboutspj.asp; Transparency International, http://www.transparency.org.
2. See, e.g., Piers Cain et al., Filing for Corruption: Transparency, Openness and Record- Keeping, 36 CRIME, L. & SOCIAL CHANGE 412 (2001).
3. See ERNESTO VILLANUEVA, EL DERECHO DE ACCESO A LA INFORMACIÓ N: REFLEXIONES SOBRE EL CASO DE MÉXICO [THE RIGHT TO ACCESS INFORMATION: REFLECTIONS OVER THE MEXICAN CASE] 95-101 (Ernesto Villanueva & Issa Pla eds., 2001);
4. Colin Bennett, From the Dark to the Light: The Open Government Debate in Britain, 5 J. PUB. POL'Y 196-97 (1985).
5. See Sallie Hughes & Chappel Lawson, The Barriers to Media Opening in Latin America, 22 POL. COMM. 9-25 (2005).
6. See also Javier Auyero, The Logic of Clientelism in Argentina: An Ethnographic Account, 35 LATIN AMERICAN RES. REV. 55 (2000);
7. Valeria Brusco et al., Vote Buying in Argentina, 39 LATIN AMERICAN RES. REV. 66 (2004);
8. Guillermo O'Donnell, Delegative Democracy, S J. DEMOCRACY 55 (1994);
9. Carolina Smulovitz & Enrique Peruzzotti, Societal Accountability in Latin America, 11 J. DEMOCRACY 147 (2000).
10. See David Banisar, The Freedominforg Global Survey: Freedom of Information and Access to Government Record Laws Around the World (report on access to information legislation in the world), http://www.freedominfo.org/ documents/global-survey2006.pdf (last visited Apr. 26, 2008).
11. See GRANT MCCEACKEN, the LONG INTERVIEW 9 (1988).
12. See Roberto Saba, El Derecho de la Persona a Acceder a la Informacion en Poder del Gobierno [The Right of a Person to Access State Information] (paper presented at the XXIV International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Dallas, Mar. 2003).
13. See id. at 10.
14. See also Nestor Baragli et al., Acceso a la Información en la República Argentina, [Access to Information in the Argentine Republic], 23 REVISTA PROBIDAD 1 (2003), available at http://www.revistaprobidad.info/23/004.html (last visited July 27, 2007).
15. See United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, The Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, (2002), available at http://www.unhchr. ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/E.CN.4.RES.2002.48.En? Opendocument(last visited Oct. 8, 2008).
16. For a discussion of international decisions regarding access to information, see Associacion de Derechos Civiles (ADC), Analisís de los Dos Proyectos de Ley de Acceso a la Información Actualmente en el Congreso (Analysis of the Two Projects of Access to Information Legislation Currently in Congress); Article 19, at www.adc.org.ar/recursos/532/ articulol91astversion (last visited Oct. 10, 2008);
17. David Banisar, The FreedomInfo.Org Global Survey: Freedom of Information and Access to Government Record Laws Around the World (2004), at http://www.freedominfo.org/documents/globaLsurvey2004.pdf (last visited Oct. 12, 2008).
18. See generally Thomas Blanton, The World's Right to Know, 131 FOREIGN POL'Y 50 (2002).
19. For case-specific studies, see Martha Farmelo, The Freedom of Information Campaign in Argentina, http://www.freedominfo.org/case/ argentina.htm (last visited May 1, 2008);
20. Juliet Gill & Sallie Hughes, Bureaucratic Compliance with Mexico's New Access to Information Law, 22 CRITICAL STUDIES IN MEDIA COMM. 121, 123 (2005);
21. VILLANUEVA, supra note 3, at 95;
22. Greg Michener, Engendering Political Commitment: the Grupo Oaxaca - Expertise, Media Projection - and the Elaboration of Mexico's Access to Information Law (paper presented at the Southern Political Science Association, New Orleans, Jan. 6, 2005). Alexander Grigorescu, Freedom of Information Laws: Lessons from Eastern and Central Europe, 50 PROBLEMS OF POST-COMMUNISM 34 (2003) presents conclusions from regional comparisons.
23. See also, Inter-American Dialogue, Information in the Americas, available at http://www.thedialogue.org (visited July 16, 2008).
24. See Grigorescu supra note 10, at 37;
25. Joel Kurtzman, Glenn Yago & Triphon Phumiwasana, The Global Costs of Opacity, 46 MIT SLOAN MGMT REV. 38 (2004).
26. See also Joseph Stiglitz, Transparency in Government, in THE ROLE OF THE MASS MEDIA IN ECO- NOMIC DEVELOPMENT 27-44 (2002) (discussing transparency mechanisms and their effects on economic development); Amartya Sen, Famines, 8 WORLD DEV. 613 (1980) (suggesting that a free press can help mitigate even famines by drawing attention to any food shortage or problem and engaging public outrage).
27. Various nations have enacted such laws, or are considering doing so. For a comparative world map of countries with existing laws and those debating such laws, see Privacy International's map at http://www.privacyinternational. org/issues/foia/foialaws.jpg (last visited July 27, 2007).
28. It is important to note that the passage of such legislation must be viewed as part of an entire process, including implementation and degree of consolidation.
29. See Pablo Bachelet, Latin America Keeps Public Data Secret, MIAMI HERALD, Aug. 8, 2005, at Al.
30. See also SALLIE HUGHES, NEWSROOMS IN CONFLICT: JOURNALISM AND the DEMOCRATIZATION of MEXICO 50 (2006);
31. CHAPPELL LAWSON, BUILDING the FOURTH ESTATE: DEMOCRATIZATION AND the RISE of a FREE PRESS in MEXICO 26 (2002);
32. SILVIO WAISBORD, WATCHDOG JOURNALISM in SOUTH AMERICA 23 (2000);
33. Daniel Hallin & Stylos Papathanassopoulos, Political Clientelism and the Media: Southern Europe and Latin America in Comparative Perspective, 24 MEDIA, CULTURE & SOC'Y 175 (2002);
34. Hughes & Lawson supra note 4, at 12;
35. Silvio Waisbord, The Challenges of Investigative Journalism, 57 U. MIAMI L. REV. 377 (2002);
36. Farmelo supra note 10;
37. Gill & Hughes supra note 10, at 123.
38. Alicia Adsera, Carles Boix & Mark Payne, Are You Being Served? Political Accountability and Quality of Government, 19 J. L. ECON. & ORG. 445, 446 (2003).
39. See Malcolm Byrne, Freedom of Information in the Post-Communist World, 50 PROBS. of POST-COMMUNISM 55 (2003).
40. Grigorescu, supra note 10, at 50;
41. Alex Grigorescu, International Organizations and Government Transparency: Linking the International and Domestic Realms, 47 INT'L STUDIES Q. 643 (2003).
42. See Colin Bennett, How States Utilize Foreign Evidence, 11 J. PUB. POL'Y 31, 38 (2001);
43. Colin Bennett, Understanding Ripple Effects: The Cross-National Adoption of Policy Instruments for Bureaucratic Accountability, 10 GOVERNANCE 213, 228 (1997).
44. Banisar, supra note 9, at 3.
45. See Hernan Galperín, Beyond Interests, Ideas and Technology: An Institutional Approach to Communication and Information Policy, 20 INFO. SOC'Y 159, 159-68 (2004).
46. Id. See also KEN SHEPSLE & MARK BONCHEK, ANALYZING POLITICS: RATIONALITY, BEHAVIOR, AND INSTITUTIONS (1997).
47. Galperín, supra, note 20, at 163.
48. W. RICHARD SCOTT, INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS 34-35 (1995).
49. Id. at 34.
50. Galperín, supra note 20, at 162, 163.
51. See DOUGLASS NORTH, INSTITUTIONS, INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE 73 (1990);
52. Douglass North, Five Propositions about Institutional Change, in EXPLAINING SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS 26 (J. Knight & I. Sened eds., 1995). For an in-depth discussion of the organizational influence in media performance, see Sallie Hughes, Explaining Press Performance in New Democracies: The Organizational Imperative, 3 TAIWAN J. DEMOCRACY 3, 79-97 (2007).
53. Most responses were obtained from face-to-face interviews. However, some responses could only be obtained via email due to scheduling. Responses in Spanish from face-toface interviews were professionally transcribed and then translated by the author. All responses were reviewed by the author in order to determine meaningful comparison using" the constant comparative method to look for common themes. For a discussion of this method,
54. see BARNEY GLASER & ANSELM STRAUSS, THE DISCOVERY OF GROUNDED THEORY 101 (1967). In order to facilitate freer discussion of a sensitive topic, respondents were promised confidentiality.
55. See HUGHES, supra note 14, at 52;
56. LAWSON, supra note 14;
57. Juan Escobedo, Movilizacion de Opinion Pública en Mexico: El Caso del Grupo Oaxaca y de la Ley Federal de Acceso a la Información Pública [Mobilization of Public Opinion in Mexico: The Case of Grupo Oaxaca and the Federal Access to Information Law], 52 SALA DE PRENSA 1 (2003);
58. Sallie Hughes, From the Inside Out: How "Institutional Entrepreneurs" Transformed Mexican Journalism, 8 HARV. INT'L J. PRESS/POLITICS 87 (2003).
59. Kate Doyle, "Forgetting is Not Justice": Mexico Bares Its Secret Past, 20 FOREIGN POL'Y 61, 64 (2003).
60. Interviews will not be cited individually; rather, common categories will be expressed and supported by excerpts. See supra note 27.
61. See Escobedo, supra note 28, at 4.
62. Michener, supra note 10, at 6.
63. A voluntary list was created in 1997, but Talli Nauman notes that less than 5% of industrial entities shared this information. TALLI NAUMAN, EL MOVIMIENTO MEXCIANO a FAVOR del DERECHO a LA INFORMACION [the MEXICAN MOVEMENT in FAVOR of the RIGHT to INFORMATION] 3 (2002).
64. See NAUMAN, supra note 33, at 2.
65. See HUGHES supra note 14, at 41;
66. LAWSON supra note 14, at 35.
67. See KATHLEEN BRUHN & DANIEL LEVY, the STRUGGLE for DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT (2002).
68. See HUGHES, supra note 14, at 72-76.
69. Id. at 108-28.
70. See id.; LAWSON, supra note 14, at 61-121.
71. Doyle, supra note 29, at 65;
72. Michener, supra note 10, at 6.
73. See Ginger Thompson, Mexicans Move to Pry Open Potentially Explosive Files, N.Y. TIMES, Oct. 12, 2001, available at http://www.nytimes.com (last visited Oct. 10, 2008).
74. See HUGHES, supra note 14, at 198.
75. See Kate Doyle, Freedom of Information in Mexico, National Security Archive, www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB68/index3.html (last visited Apr. 26, 2008).
76. See HUGHES supra note 14, at 199;
77. Escobedo supra note 28, at 4;
78. Michener supra note 10, at 14.
79. See Thompson, supra note 41.
80. See Escobedo, supra, note 28, at 4.
81. An article in the New York Times described how one publisher, Alejandro Junco, of La, Reforma, created an "alter-ego," Juan Ciudadano (roughly translated as John Doe) with a Web site: www.juanciudadano. org. According to the article, Junco offered $10,000 to anyone "who could find the answers to any of 10 simple questions about Mr. Fox's first federal budget, which was available on the Internet. The queries were fairly straightforward: How much does Mexico spend on government offices outside Mexico? How much is spent fighting drug traffickers?. . . only two questions came close to being answered." Anthony DePalma, In Mexico, Publisher Finds New Players But Old Secrecy, N.Y. TIMES, June 11, 2001, available at http://www.nytimes.com, (last visited July 16, 2008). One respondent indicated a perception that it was the press, rather than broadcasters, who were the more vocal media access advocates. That respondent said, "They told us that they hoped it would go well, God bless us.... No, they weren't against [the law], but neither in favor, it didn't matter to them." Others disagreed, with one broadcaster noting that while his program had not covered the law, he and colleagues had participated in "conversations, in ideas, in exchange of opinions" about the law.
82. See DePalma, supra note 47.
83. See Gill & Hughes, supra note 10, at 128. Kate Doyle noted that a third proposal had been presented earlier by a PRD legislator, Luis Miguel Barbosa, but that parts of it had been incorporated into the Grupo Oaxaca proposal. Kate Doyle, Comentarios Sohre la Ley Federal de Transparencia y Acceso a la, Información Pública Gubermental [Commentary About the Federal Transparency and Access to State Information Law], 2 DEEECHO COMPARADO de la INFORMACIÓ n 161 (2003).
84. See HUGHES, supra note 14, at 199.
85. See Julia Preston, Mexico's Governing Party Loses Control of Congress, Ending 7- Decade Monopoly, N.Y. TIMES, July 5, 1997, available at http://www.nytimes.com (last visited Oct. 10, 2008).
86. See Michener, supra note 10, at 22.
87. Gill & Hughes, supra note 10, at 134.
88. Doyle, supra note 43, at 2.
89. See HUGHES, supra note 14, at 199.
90. Michener, supra note 10, at 23.
91. D.O., 11 de Junio de 2002. Implementation included training and workshops for government employees.
92. See ERNESTO VILLANUEVA, DERECHO de ACCESO a la INFORMACIÓN PÚBLICA en LATINOAMÉRICA [RIGHT to ACCESS PUBLIC INFORMATION IN LATIN AMERICA] (2003);
93. Gill & Hughes, supra note 10, at 122;
94. Sergio Lopez-Ayllon, La Creadón de la Ley de Acceso a la Información en México: Una Perspectiva Desde el Ejecutivo Federal [The Creation o fan Access to Information Law in Mexico: A Perspectiva from the Federal Executive], in TRANSPARENTAR AL ESTADO: LA EXPERIENCIA MEXICANA DE ACCESO A LA INFORMACIÓN [MAKING the STATE TRANSPARENT: the MEXICAN EXPERIENCE of ACCESS TO INFORMATION] 27 (Hugo Concha-Cantü et al. eds., 2005).
95. see INSTITUTO FEDERAL de ACCESSO A la INFORMACIO PUBLICA [FEDERAL INSTITUTE for ACCESS to PUBLIC INFORMATION], ESTUDIO COMPARATIVO de LEYES de ACCESO a LA INFORMACION PUBLICA [COMPARATIVE STUDY of ACCESS TO PUBLIC INFORMATION LAWS] (2007), available at http://www.ifai.org.mx/OtrasInstituciones/#vinculacion (last visited Oct. 8, 2008).
96. See CONADEP [NATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE DISAPPEARED], NUNCA MAS [NEVER AGAIN] (1984), available at http://www.nuncamas.org (last visited Apr. 25, 2008).
97. See the POLITICS of INSTITUTIONAL WEAKNESS: ARGENTINE DEMOCRACY 2 (Steven Levitsky & María Victoria Murillo eds., 2005).
98. In terms of reorganizing economic institutions and currency valuation, Steven Levitsky and Maria Victoria Murillo wrote, "Carlos Menem's presidency was a critical juncture in Argentine politics." Id. at 27.
99. See JOHN SINCLAIR, LATIN AMERICAN TELEVISION 86 (1999).
100. See Argentina, in JON HEUVAL & E.E. DENNIS, CHANGING PATTERNS: LATIN AMER- ICA'S VITAL MEDIA 128 (1995);
101. WAISBORD, supra note 14, at 33;
102. Silvio Waisbord, Television and, Election Campaigns in Contemporary Argentina., 44 J. COMM. 126 (1994).
103. See HUGHES, supra note 14, at 220;
104. WAISBORD, supra note 14, at 33.
105. See Juliet Pinto, Muzzling the Watchdog: The Case of Disappearing Watchdog Journalism from Argentine Mainstream News, JOURNALISM: THEORY, PRACTICE & CRITI- CISM (forthcoming 2008).
106. See also ASOSACIÓN DE DERECHOS CLVILES, BUYING THE NEWS (2006);
107. FREEDOM HOUSE, FREEDOM of the PRESS (2007);
108. HUGHES supra note 14, at 231;
109. Darío Gallo, Amor Por Encargo [Love for Sale], REVISTA NOTICIAS, July 3, 2004, at 24-29;
110. Hughes, supra note 26, at 92;
111. Press Release, Inter-American Press Association, Informe Preliminar de la Misión de la SIP en Argentina [Report on State Compliance with Law of Access to public Information in Argentina] (2005). Another Argentine journalist association, the Forum for Argentine Journalism (FOPEA) published a survey of its members, who identified the Kirchner administration as being the most oppressive of the democratic presidents.
112. See FORUM FOR ARGENTINE JOURNALISM, ENCUESTA FO- pea: SOBRE los PERIODISTAS y su PROFESION [fopea SURVEY: ABOUT JOURNALISTS AND THEIR PROFESSION] (2005).
113. See FREEDOM HOUSE, FREEDOM of the PEESS: ARGENTINA (2007).
114. See also Pinto, supra note 66, at 752;
115. Jaime Eosenberg, Denuncio Contra, el Observatorio [Denouncing the Observatory], LA NACIÓN, Apr. 26, 2008, at http://www.lanacion.com.ar.
116. See Farmelo, supra note 10, at 3, discussing how the Argentine ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights affect transparency in Argentina, as does the report.
117. See also the Analysis de los Dos Proyectos, supra note 9, at 2;
118. Baragli et al., supra note 8;
119. Banisar, supra note 5. The 1994 ARG. CONST. art. 75, cl. 22 establishes that international treaties ratified by Argentina trump domestic legislation.
120. Law No. 25831, Jan. 6, 2004 [CXII] B.O. 30312. See Banisar, supra note 5.
121. See also the work of the Argentine Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales [Natural Resource and Environmental Foundation], at http://www.farn.org.ar.
122. Local and provincial laws exist. As of 2007, Buenos Aires and fewer than half of Argentina's twenty-three provinces had access legislation. Provincial laws have been widely criticized as not being enforceable, not known to the general public, nor having any sort of infrastructure to facilitate requests or mechanisms for appeal.
123. See Maria Baron, The Transparency Labyrinth in Argentina, at http://www.freedominfor.org/case/argentina (last visited Mar. 26, 2006);
124. Farmelo, supra, note 10, at 2.
125. See ARGENTINE ASSOCIATION of CIVIL RIGHTS, 2004 ACCESS to INFORMATION MONITORING REPORT (2004), at www.adc.org.ar (last visited July 17, 2008).
126. María Julia Perez Tort, Informe Sobre el Cumplimiento Del Estado Argentino en Materia de Acceso a la Información Publica [Report on State Compliance to Public Information] (2005), at http://poderciudadano.org/up-downloads/temas/75-l.DOC (last visited May 9, 2008).
127. See Miguel Julio Rodríguez Villafane, El Acceso a la Información Pública. en Argentina [Access to Public Information in Argentina], 2 DEEECHO COMPARADO DE LA INFORMACIÓN 111-143 (2003).
128. See also Luego de la. Polémica, Quedó Congelado en el Congreso Argentino el Proyecto Sobre Secretos de Estado [After the Controversy, the State Secrecy Project Remains Frozen in the Argentine Congress], LA NACIÓN, Sept. 20, 2005, available at http://www.lanacion.com.ar; Rigen Más de 120 Leyes Secretas [They Govern More Than 120 Secret Laws]; LA NACIÓN, June 7, 2004, available at http://www.lanacion.com.ar (last viewed June 9, 2004).
129. See Transparency International's Web site, at http://www.transparency.org/news-room/in-focus/2008/cpi2008/cpL2008-table
130. Farmelo, supra note 10, at 14;
131. Baragli et al., supra note 8, at 1;
132. Susana Vittadini- Andres, First Amendment Influence in Argentine Republic law and Jurisprudence, 4 COMM. LAW & POLY 149,160 (1999).
133. See Saba, supra note 7, at 1.
134. See Farmelo, supra note 10, at. 8.
135. See id. at 4.
136. See id. at 9, 17.
137. Daniel Santoro testified before Senate committees in support of the access measure, for example.
138. A 2005 study found that of Argentina's 26,000 laws, only 15% were applicable. Laura Serra, No Sirve el 85 Por Ciento de las Leyes que Hoy Rigen en el País [85 Percent of Active Laws in the Country Don't Work], LA NACIóN, June 12, 2005, available at http://www.lanacion.com.ar (last visited July 17, 2008).
139. See Steven Levitsky & María Victoria Murillo, Building Castles in the Sand? The Politics of Institutional Weakness in Argentina, in THE POLITICS OF INSTITUTIONAL WEAK- NESS: ARGENTINE DEMOCRACY 39 (Steven Levitsky & Maria V. Murillo eds., 2005).
140. See Farmelo, supra note 10, at 12.
141. Id.
142. Kadicals and other groups also formed coalitions or new parties, among them the Recrear and the Alternative for a Republic of Equals (ARI), Levitsky and Murillo note that the Peronist majority solidified with the collapse of the UCR, "leaving non-Peronist forces fragmented and disorganized." Levitsky & Murillo, supra note 61, at 42.
143. Farmelo, supra note 10, at 8.
144. See Daniel Santoro, Piden una Ley de Acceso a la Información [They Ask for an Access to Information Law], CLARIN, Dec. 15, 2002, at http://www.clarin.com/diario/2002/12/ 15/p-02004.htm (last visited Apr. 26, 2008).
145. See also Farmelo supra note 10, at 11-12
146. For a list of the participants, and transcriptions of the meetings, see http://www.accesoalainformacion.org (last visited July 30, 2007).
147. See Gustavo Ybarra, Duras Críticas a Cristina Kirchner por demorar una ley [Strong Criticism of Cristina Kirchner for Delaying a Law], LA NACIÓN, Dec. 5, 2005, at www.lanacion.com.ar (last visited Mar. 5, 2006).
148. See also Gustavo Ybarra, Acceso a la Informatión: Objetan el Proyecto del PJ [Access to Information: They Object to the PJ Project], LA NACIóN, Nov. 9, 2004, available at http://www.lanacion.com.ar; Press Release, Inter American Press Association, IAPA Criticizes Argentine Congress for Inaction Over Passage of Access to Information Law (Dec. 1, 2005), at http://sipiapa.org (last visited Feb. 20, 2006).
149. Press Eelease, Inter American Press Association, IAPA Delivers Recommendations on Press Freedom to Argentine Legislators (Nov. 3, 2005), at www.sipiapa.org (last visited Feb. 20, 2006);
150. Press Release, [Inter American Press Association, Preocupa la Situación de la Ley de Acceso a la Información en Argentina [The Situation With the Access to Information Law in Argentina is Worrying] (Oct. 17, 2005), at http://www.medioslatinos.com (last viewed Feb. 20, 2006).
151. See Gustavo Ybarra, Accesso a la Informatión: Objetan el Proyecto del PJ [Access to Information: Objections to the PJ Project], LA NACIÓN, Nov. 9, 2005, at www.lanacion.com.ar.
152. See El Senado Modificó el Proyecto de Ley de Acceso a la Información [Senate Modified the Access to Information Project], LA NACIÓN, Dec. 2, 2005, at http://www.lanacion. com.ar.
153. See Preocupación de ADEPA por la ley de acceso a la informatión pública [ADEPA's Worry About the Access to Information Law], CLARIN, June 27, 2004, at http://www.clarin.com/ diario/2004/06/27/sociedad/s-03802.htm (last viewed Apr. 26, 2008).
154. A 2003 comparative survey of the perceptions of media professionals regarding access to information undertaken by Buenos Aires-based lawyers yielded similar results, with respondents indicating several themes: that it was precisely the tremendous corruption in Argentina that would impede and overcome any sort of access law from actually functioning in the public interest; there was a lack of training and ethics in investigative journalism on the part of the media; that access was not on the media agenda; and a general cynicism regarding official compliance with the law.
155. See Proyecto Periodismo y Acceso a la Information Publica: Estudio de Casos México-Peru-Uruguay-Argentina [Journalism Project and, Access to Public Information: Case Studies Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Argentina], at http://www.kas.de/db-files/dokumente/7-dokument-dok-pdf-4410-4.pdf (last viewed July 27, 2007).
156. Gustavo Ybarra, Debate en el Senado por la Publicidad Oficial [Debate in the Senate over State Advertising], LA NACIÓN, June 23, 2004, at http://www.lanacion.com.ar (last visited July 17, 2008).
157. Id.
158. See Martha Farmelo & Mariela Belski, Case Study: Two Steps Forward, One Step Backwards: The Access to Information Campaign in Argentina, http://www.freedominfo.org/features/20060627.htm (last visited April 26, 2008).
159. See Farmelo, supra note 10, at 16.
160. Argentine Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernandez said that the secrecy initiative had not been sponsored by the executive, but from senators who were "friends of the government. See El Gobierno Se Distancia del Proyecto Sobre el Secreto de Estado [The Government Distances Itself from the State Secrecy Project], LA NACIÓN, Sept. 19, 2005, available at http://www.lanacion.com.ar (last visited July 17, 2008);
161. Secretos de Estado [State Secrets], LA NACIóN, Sept. 22, 2005, available at http://www.lanacion. com.ar (last visited July 17, 2008).
162. See Farmelo supra note 10, at 16.
163. Farmelo & Belski, supra note 97, at 1.
164. Id.
165. See id. See also Gustavo Ybarra, Debate en el Senado por la Publicidad Oficial [Debate in the Senate for state advertising], LA NACIÓN, June 9, 2004, available at http://www.lanacion. com.ar; El Senado Modificó el Proyecto de Ley de Acceso a la Informacion [The Senate Modified the Access to Information Project], LA NACIÓN, Dec. 2, 2004, available at http://www.lanacion.com.ar.
166. Doyle, supra note 29, at 64.
167. Farmelo, supra note 10, at 14.
168. See Gill & Hughes, supra note 10, at 128.
169. Farmelo, supra note 10, at 12.
170. Id. at 10.
171. Other nations in the Western Hemisphere with access laws have also seen the presence of these key actors in the push for passage. The Peruvian Press Council (Consejo de la Prensa Peruana, or CPP) promoted the theme of an access law to the public.
172. See http://www.consejoprensaperuana.org.pe (last visited July 27, 2007). In the United States, press organizations were instrumental in the process of pushing for more transparent governance. See generally HAROLD CROSS, THE PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW (1953);
173. HERBERT FOERSTEL, FREEDOM of INFORMATION AND the RIGHT to KNOW (1999). Consistent press coverage helped make "government secrecy a major political issue." FOERSTEL, at 23-27.
174. See FOPEA, supra note 66, at 1.
175. See Gill & Hughes, supra note 10, at 128.
176. Mark Jones and Wonjae Hwang describe Argentina's legislative agenda from 1989-2003 as being dominated by the majority party, both in terms of ensuring oppositional legislation not being passed as well as passage of favorable legislation. Mark Jones & Wonjae Hwang, Provincial Party Bosses: Keystone of the Argentina Congress, in POLITICS of INSTITUTIONAL WEAKNESS, supra note 61, at 115.
177. See the ADC Report, supra note 66;
178. Pinto, supra note 66, at 752;
179. IAPA, supra, note 66, at 1.
180. See David Arellano & Juan Pablo Guerrero, Stalled Administrative Reforms of the Mexican State, in REINVENTING LEVIATHAN: THE POLITICS OF ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM in DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 156 (Ben Ross Schneider & Blanca Heredia eds., 2003);
181. Issa Luna Pla, Mexico: The Rise of Social Participation, http://www.justiceinitiative.org/db/resource2/fs/?file-id=14235 (last visited July 27, 2007).