ABSTRACT

Although neo-liberal notions of transparency and good governance do not necessarily pose a fundamental threat to authoritarianism in general, they can challenge particular types of authoritarian regimes. Regimes that lack regularised decision-making processes and are subject to unpredictable influences by privileged private interests are certainly not compatible with the contemporary neo-liberal agenda. But even for regimes that have a sharper separation between regulatory and public administration systems and private interests, the transition to routine disclosures of politically sensitive state commercial activities and economic data is problematic. In any case, for all authoritarian regimes it is imperative that the discourse about transparency is kept within certain bounds, lest expectations are raised of reforms towards political openness well beyond the neo-liberal agenda.