The right to know: Access to government information in Britain and America

Each country has statuses governing this access to national executive branch records. In the United States the law is the federal Freedom of Information Act; in Britain it is the Official Secrets Act. But it is not only the statutes that control the press in the process of gathering information and presenting it. The roles of the courts and civil services are considerable in this process. The interrelationship between these groups determines the kind of the political process in each country. An open political process is one that encourages the flow of information, while a closed one inhibits it. The study limits discussion of the national legislatures to their roles in passing these Acts. Outside of their lawmaking function, they do not have a significant role in the daily process of gathering information. The thesis begins with a study of the legal status of the right to know. The status reflects the nature of each country's political process. It will then consider and compare the Acts' relationship to the right to know. These Acts reflect the nature of each society's political process, and the attitude those societies have toward this right. This reflection demonstrates the right of the individual to contribute to the democratic process.