Abstract
This final chapter draws together our main conclusions, and puts them in a broader context. We start by assessing the extent to which FOI has achieved its objectives and changed the Whitehall model. The British experience of FOI is then compared with that of other Westminster systems: Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand, pointing up the similarities and differences. This leads into an analysis of the iron laws of FOI, hard facts which are common to all FOI regimes, and to a discussion of some of the enduring myths and paradoxes of FOI. The chapter concludes by looking ahead to the challenges which FOI faces in the future.
Some of the changes that Freedom of Information will bring will inevitably be gradual. It is over the medium to long term that we should evaluate Freedom of Information’s success. (Falconer 2004a)
Journalists … are the prism through which the public will look at open government. (Falconer 2004b)
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© 2010 Robert Hazell, Ben Worthy and Mark Glover
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Hazell, R., Worthy, B., Glover, M. (2010). How Well Does Freedom of Information Work?. In: The Impact of the Freedom of Information Act on Central Government in the UK. Understanding Governance Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230281998_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230281998_17
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-32124-7
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-28199-8
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