@article{2017:riegner:access_to_,
title = {Access to Information as a Human Right and Constitutional Guarantee. A Comparative Perspective},
year = {2017},
note = {Since the 1990s, there has been a “global explosion of freedom of
information” as new constitutions have enshrined the right to
information, legislators have enacted access to information acts, and
courts have enforced and expanded individual guarantees to seek
information from public authorities. Activists, journalists and
citizens have welcomed access to state-held information (ATI) as a
leverage right that empowers the powerless and improves democracy. The
burgeoning scholarly literature on ATI culminates in the claim that
freedom of information is part of a fourth wave of rights, equivalent
to civil, political and social rights. This overview article takes
stock of the existing ATI scholarship, identifies gaps and
methodological weaknesses in extant literature, and lays out an
approach for future research. It argues for a methodological approach
to ATI research that combines a context-sensitive comparison across
the North-South divide with socio-legal methods and a multi-level
perspective. This approach indicates that conceptually, ATI should be
understood as a multi-level and multi-functional guarantee, shaped by
an interplay of multiple levels of law and the multiple social
functions it performs. Theoretically and empirically, ATI has
emancipatory potential to shift power relations in individual cases
but is less effective in destabilizing entrenched power structures and
inequalities. Findings on ATI contribute to general debates among
constitutional lawyers, international law scholars and comparatists
about the globalization of law and the transformation of rights in the
information society.},
journal = {VRÜ Verfassung und Recht in Übersee},
pages = {332--366},
author = {Riegner, Michael},
volume = {50},
number = {4}
}