Transparency and Quality of Information on Local Administration WebsitesStudy of the Spanish Case

  1. Núria Simelio i Solà 1
  2. Francisco Javier Herrero Gutiérrez 2
  3. Pedro Molina Rodríguez-Navas 1
  1. 1 Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
    info

    Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

    Barcelona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/052g8jq94

  2. 2 Universidad de Salamanca
    info

    Universidad de Salamanca

    Salamanca, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02f40zc51

Revista:
Observatorio (OBS*)

ISSN: 1646-5954

Año de publicación: 2020

Volumen: 14

Número: 4

Páginas: 1-20

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.15847/OBSOBS14420201588 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso abierto editor

Otras publicaciones en: Observatorio (OBS*)

Objetivos de desarrollo sostenible

Resumen

This article analyses the information and content of Spanish local administration websites following the application of the Law of Transparency. The aim is to analyze in depth issues related to the information available on political representatives, the management of economic resources, information on the municipality and the tools citizens have at their disposal for their participation. The quantitative method analyses the transparency of the city councils individually from a table of widely compared 52 variables (indicators), validating their compliance or not with each during the period February to November 2018. The sample analyzed in this study consists of 605 Spanish municipalities. Although within academic literature debate already exists that focuses primarily on theoretical abstractions, this study allows us to empirically determine whether after the national approval of transparency regulation there really has been an improvement in public information for citizens to be able to hold their local governments accountable. The results indicate that, based on regional and national transparency policies, the situation is better than in the years prior to the law, although there is still much room for improvement, especially in issues related to information regarding the management of economic resources such as budgets, salaries, hiring and subsidies.

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