ABSTRACT
Descendants of the McCarthy-era Freedom of Information (FOI) Committee presently celebrate the birthday of James Madison as Freedom of Information Day. Madison clearly explained that such a right is inherent in a representative democracy, where sovereignty resides not with a monarch, but with the people themselves. American government leaders frequently trumpet the message that promoting democracy is a primary objective of American foreign policy. The US Freedom of Information Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson on July 4, 1966. Thirty years before the Cancun event, a handful of elite Japanese scholars and activists had already discovered the American freedom of information model and fallen under its sway. Any description of the global FOI movement must make special reference to the contribution of Article 19, an international NGO founded in 1987 'which defends and promotes freedom of expression and freedom of information all over the world'.
