Conclusion

Summary

In this book’s introduction, I noted that the dominant view of transparency among politicians and policy wonks is that transparency is unequivocally a good thing and that more of it is always better. We now know that the true story is a far more complicated one. This book has analyzed the concept of publicity from a philosophical perspective. Of course, we found that there are compelling arguments for insisting on greater transparency in government. But there are reasons to avoid transparency as well, and these trade-offs must be carefully navigated before we come to an all-things-considered judgment of transparency’s role in government. In much of my analysis, navigating these trade-offs led me to come out in favor of greater opacity. Let me summarize my main findings.