Public Access to Information - Essay Sample

Introduction

Information is an essential tool that is used in decision making as well as making judgments based on the prevailing financial and business environment. The government business and finances are highly secretive and not released to the public which is a question of classification of government programs such as defense, but this has long been viewed as an approach to promote bias and fraud in government (Al-Maghrebi, Ahmad, & Palil, 2016). This paper will assess the implications of government financial information transparency and the role of the entrepreneur in such cases as a motivator towards transparency.

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Government Financial Information Transparency

Government transparency refers to the sharing of its finances and plans with the public which is not a normal aspect because many governments seek to maintain some projects as classified. The government revenues and expenditures are not exposed to the public which aims at hiding the mechanism of financing and prevents unnecessary tension from the public due to concern on government budget appropriation. In most cases, the government budgets are made incomprehensible to the public which has been a significant block towards the public participation in shaping a national economic policy (Harrington & Carter, 2009).

Entrepreneur as Motivation for Government Transparency

Entrepreneurs motivate governments to improve financial transparency because the government wants to maximize taxation and businesses contribute to nation building. The lack of equal transparency on the budgets of the government projects as well as the revenues motivates the entrepreneurs to conceal important budgetary information which reduces the overall taxable incomes which is detrimental to the government revenue collection initiatives (Burton & Stewart, 2011). Therefore, high government transparency increases total transparency of the businesses in its jurisdiction which improves the overall government revenues and shapes the economy based on accountability which is enhanced by high transparency by both the entrepreneurs and the government.

Conclusion

Government lack of financial transparency is a common phenomenon which is tailored to protect vital government projects but also causes corruption and an equal lack of openness by business organizations. As such, public participation in government budgets and economic policy is limited. However, to be able to collect the required revenue to run government businesses the government is motivated by entrepreneurs to promote financial transparency which increases reciprocal transparency by businesses and prevents tax evasion.

References

Al-Maghrebi, M. S., Ahmad, R., & Palil, M. R. (2016). Budget transparency and tax awareness towards tax compliance: a conceptual approach. South East Asia Journal of Contemporary Business, Economics, and Law, 10(1), 95-101.

Burton, M., & Stewart, M. (2011). Promoting budget transparency through tax expenditure management: A Report on Country Experience for Civil Society Advocates.

Harrington, C. B., & Carter, L. H. (2009). Administrative Law and Politics: Cases and Comments (4th ed.). Washington, DC: CQ Press.