The limits of transparency in Brazilian foreign policy: a study on the implementation of the Access to Information Act by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

• Grant number: 14/21183-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2015
• End date: December 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Law - Public Law
• Principal Investigator: Deisy de Freitas Lima Ventura
• Grantee: Natália Lima de Araújo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Relações Internacionais (IRI). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

On 11th November 2011, the Access to Information Act was passed, stablishing the principle according to which the supplying of information is the rule, thus making the non-disclosure an exception that must be justified by the law. Hence, the discretion of the Public Administration instances has been significantly reduced, regarding the treatment of data and papers. However, the government agencies have been acting in a heterogeneous way towards the application of the law. The object of this study is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty), which is shown, by the specialized literature, as an agency which presents difficulties in the adaptation to democracy. The present research concentrates on a precise aspect of this debate, which is the resistance, by Itamaraty, to overcoming the culture of opacity of the public management which has begun with the passing of the Access to Information Act, once the access to information is essential to the health of a democratic agency. The implementation of the Access to Information Act by Itamaraty will be assessed through three case studies: the requests for information made by the non-governmental organization Conectas Human Rights.