Transparency of Transparency: The pro-active disclosure of the rules governing Access to Information as a gauge of organisational cultural transformation. The case of the Swiss transparency regime

• We develop the concept of 'Transparency of Transparency'.
• We evaluate, for 2008 and 2011, the transparency of Swiss federal web sites.
• The ATI law's goal of 'cultural transformation' was not achieved in either year.
• Organisations with the highest managerial autonomy scored lower.
• Organisations linked with defence or foreign affairs received the lowest scores.
• The results deteriorated from 2008 to 2011.

Transparency has become a fundamental aspect of organisational life in the public sector. In this context, the spread of Access to Information legislations has been central. This trend has been studied from a number of angles, from the theoretical implications to the inputs and outputs of transparency. This contribution looks at an underdeveloped aspect that is the proactive Transparency of Transparency; the open and unobstructed communication of the processes aimed at generating this transparency.This study looks at the Transparency of Transparency of Swiss Federal websites relating to the rules and regulations framing the 2006 Access to Information Law. This study was first completed in 2008 and replicated in 2011. The study shows that the objective of the law, mainly to create a cultural transformation from secrecy to transparency as an organisational norm, has not been realised. It also questions and positions the Transparency of Transparency as one of the key elements in the managerial cycle of transparency.