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"Packed with ideas and information, Full Disclosure is, by far, the best book to date on the problem of public transparency. The authors offer a host of indispensable lessons for citizens and policymakers in diverse domains, including education, pollution, nationalsecurity, and health care. At the same time, Full Disclosure is animportant contribution to democratic theory —and a great read to boot."

Cass Sunstein, University of Chicago Law School

"Sunshine may indeed be the best disinfectant, in Louis Brandeis' words, but only if we know when, where, and how to shine the light. That is exactly the task that Full Disclosure sets itself. This is an important book at an important time, for everyone from mayors to
senators to secretary generals."

Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University

THE BOOK

New, from Cambridge University Press in March 2007

FULL DISCLOSURE:
The Perils and Promise of Transparency
By Archon Fung, Mary Graham, and David Weil

Public disclosure laws designed to benefit citizens are the focus of this new book by Harvard researchers. The authors discover that the reality is, many times, the complete opposite of what legislators intended. Based on analysis of 18 major policies—both national and international—Full Disclosure is the first book that offers a comparative analysis and explains why some approaches succeed while others fail.

Offers a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of a range of policies—from school report cards and nutrition labels to corporate financial reports.
Discusses how cutting edge developments in information and communication technology—by Google, Wikipedia, and others—foreshadow a new generation of collaborative transparency policies.
Breaks new ground with its insistence that disclosure policies are a coherent and legimate government action equal to other legally required standards and market-based regulatory mechanisms.

For more information on the contents of this book, please see the table of contents and index on this site.