ABSTRACT
Open government has become a hoorah term. Alongside other notions such as freedom, liberty, justice and democracy with which it is sometimes closely associated is seen by many as a fundamental 'good', a 'virtue' and a 'right', or entitlement. This chapter examines certain of the first principles associated with open government, including its morality. It then consists in establishing exactly what is meant by open government, its hallmarks, its implications, and its parameters. The chapter explores the case for open government, subjecting to critical scrutiny the main arguments that have been, or may be, employed for its justification. Many years ago, Ronald Wraith observed that open government was 'a fashionable expression whose general intention is reasonably clear but whose practical meaning awaits clarification'. John Stuart Mill said that one of the functions of a representative assembly is to throw 'the light of publicity' upon the activities of government.
