The democratization of information : freedom of information and the Irish political system

Abstract

Grounded in democratic theory, the thesis presents an argument for the design and reform of political institutions in order to maximise public access to policy-relevant information and to strengthen Irish democracy. The thesis presents freedom of information as a normative political theory/ideology. This ideology challenges the orthodox assumption that the right of all citizens to free speech is a sufficient basis for democracy. The theoretical underpinnings of freedom of information as a political theory are explored to demonstrate that the ideology is viable. These assumptions include the belief that institutions can transmit policy-relevant information in a way that is critical, communicatively-rational and autonomy-supportive.