FU Berlin Digitale Dissertation
Christoph Bruch : Right-to-Know in the USA: Claiming A Civil Right History of the political conflicts concerning the Freedom of Information Act until its first amendment 1974 Akteneinsichtsrecht in den USA: Ein Bürgerrecht wird durchgesetzt
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Abstract In this thesis the decision making processes which led to the passing of the FOIA 1966 and its amendment in 1974 are analyzed. The most important bills for the FOIA and its precursors as well as all amendments to the law until 1996 are compiled in the appendix. The analysis is pursued from a power theoretical perspective. The rhetoric, i.e., problem analysis, which was used to legitimize the demand for a right to know law, did not change during the time span (1930-1974) that is covered in this study. In contrast the FOIA protagonist's chances for success varied considerably. These variations are explained with power shifts. Furthermore it is shown that the ostensible legitimization of the demand for a right to know law, the encouragement of participation and hope that public discussion will help reason to succeed in decision making, were not at the center of the motivation of its early protagonists. Throughout the analyzed period the motivation of the FOI-community remained heterogeneous. Before WWII the American Bar Association was the first lobby group that demanded more government. After the War this argument combined with claims for freedom of the press was exploited by Journalist, editor, and publisher associations to open international markets. Only in the late forties, when the paranoid mood of the Cold War led to threatening restrictions of civil rights including freedom of the press did the "true" protagonists of FOI gain weight within the FOI-community. From the mid fifties on the problematic was used for party politics. 1955 a subcommittee, which remained active throughout the analyzed period, was instituted in the House of Representatives to study the executive's information policy. Parallel the conflict concerning a right to know law was heavily influenced by the struggle between the executive an the legislative power for informational rights. The 1966 passed FOIA and its amendments of 1974 explicitly reflect the distribution of power relevant to these acts in Congress. Growing opposition against restrictions to government transparency made it continuously harder to reject a right to know law. The passing of the FOIA 1966 was an indication of a power shift. But the Johnson administration still had the power to mitigate the bill so that in practice the law brought little change to bureaucratic secrecy. The Watergate scandal and public protests against secrecy in the context of the Vietnam shifted power further in favor of FOIA-protagonists so that in 1974 the FOIA could be decisively strengthened by its first amendment. The passing of the FOIA and its amendment 1974 did not result from a change in the stance of the political class toward government transparency. In fact both decisions were a scarification of a pawn by the executive in order to regain credibility. In addition the passing of the 1974 amendments was a assertion of power by congress who tried to restore lost influence on the executive. The development of the FOIA after 1974 including its amendment in 1996 is discussed in the summary chapter.

Table of Contents Download the whole PhDthesis as a zip-tar file or as zip-File For download in PDF format click the chapter title Titelblatt 1. Einleitung 2. Argumente zur Legitimation und Begrenzung eines Anspruches auf Akteneinsicht 3. Fallbeispiel USA: Geschichte der Diskussion der Informationsrechte der Bürger gegenüber ihrem Regierungssystem und der Regierungsgewalten untereinander 4. Diskussion des zu verabschiedenden Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetzes vor dem Eintritt der USA in den Zweiten Weltkrieg 5. Informationspolitik während der Truman-Administration 6. Informationspolitik während der Eisenhower-Administration 7. Informationspolitik während der Kennedy-Administration 8. Informationspolitik während der Johnson-Administration I: Informationen über den Vietnamkrieg 9. Informationspolitik während der Johnson-Administration II: Durchsetzung des Freedom of Information Act 10. Bewertung der neuen Rechtslage 11. Der Freedom of Information Act von 1967 bis 1974: der Weg zu seiner ersten Novellierung 12. Der Freedom of Information Act nach seiner ersten Novellierung 13. Ergebnis Anhang: Gesetzestexte I. Das Akteneinsichtsrecht im Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz von 1946 II. Wichtigste Gesetze, die 1953 den Zugang zu und die Geheimhaltung von Informationen im Besitz der Bundesverwaltung regelten III. Der Freedom of Information Act von 1966 IV. Version des Freedom of Information Act von 1967 V. Version des Freedom of Information Act von 1974 VI. Version des Freedom of Information Act von 1976 VII. Version des Freedom of Information Act von 1978 VIII. Version des Freedom of Information Act von 1984 IX. Version des Freedom of Information Act von 1986 Literaturverzeichnis

More Information:
Online available:	http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/2002/17/indexe.html
Language of PhDThesis:	german
Keywords:	United States of America; administrative law; freedom of information act; right to know; government transparency; separation of powers; executive privilege
DNB-Sachgruppe:	16 Politik
Date of disputation:	06-Nov-2000
PhDThesis from:	Fachbereich Politik- u. Sozialwissenschaft, Freie Universität Berlin
First Referee:	Prof. Dr. Wolf-Dieter Narr
Second Referee:	Prof Dr. Martin Kutscha
Contact (Author):	bruch@zedat.fu-berlin.de
Date created:	06-Feb-2002
Date available:	01-Mar-2002

 

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