Vincent Mabillard

Université Libre de Bruxelles | ULB · Solvay Brussels School of Economics & Management

This study pioneers the use of citizen science in evaluating Freedom of Information laws, with a focus on Belgium, where since its 1994 enactment, Freedom of Information’s effectiveness has remained largely unexamined. Utilizing participatory methods, it engages citizens in assessing transparency policies, significantly contributing to public polic...

Freedom of information has gained attention all over the globe. While this principle has been embraced in most countries, previous studies showed that obstacles impede its full realization. This article adds to this strand of research by analyzing barriers that emerge in FOI implementation by Belgian municipalities. The results highlight a lack of...

This research evaluates the effectiveness of FOI policy implementation in Belgian municipalities, using citizen science methodologies for data collection and interpretation. The results reveal significant variations in compliance across regions, with larger municipalities demonstrating greater responsiveness to FOI requests from citizens. A critica...

Ce chapitre traite de l’évaluation des politiques de transparence et plus spécifiquement des lois d’accès à l’information. Il présente les différentes approches qui peuvent être mobilisées ainsi que les pistes encore à explorer en la matière. En effet, ces évaluations font l’objet de nombreuses discussions, tant au sein du secteur public que dans d...

This book results from a PhD workshop held in Aix-en-Provence in June 2023. The workshop was organized conjointly by Aix-Marseille Université (France), the Université de Lausanne (Switzerland), and the Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium). It provided PhD students from all over Europe with a great opportunity to present their thesis’ projects or...

Les médias sociaux exercent une influence croissante sur la communication des organisations, qu’elles soient privées ou publiques, ainsi que sur les échanges entre celles-ci et les individus dans l’environnement numérique. Dans ce contexte, il devient indispensable de mieux connaître ces outils, souvent devenus nécessaires dans lacommunication de...

Public authorities are expected to provide a salient infrastructure network, with only limited financial resources. However, many of these infrastructure projects go over budget and, therefore, research about these cost overruns is necessary to better understand the dynamics at work and provide solutions. We conclude that in Belgium, and broader, s...

Cet article s’appuie sur la littérature relative à l’adoption des nouvelles technologies et sur des études empiriques portant sur l’adoption des médias sociaux dans le secteur public pour analyser le cas des municipalités belges. Notre objectif est triple : (a) proposer une nouvelle approche pour évaluer l’adoption des plateformes de médias sociaux...

De nombreuses contributions académiques ont démontré que les réseaux sociaux permettent de diffuser des informations gouvernementales et de transformer les dynamiques d'engagement citoyen. Toutefois, le potentiel d'interactivité offert par ces plateformes reste le plus souvent inexploité, en particulier au sein des organisations publiques. Nous déc...

La recherche scientifique a exposé tout le potentiel des médias sociaux lorsqu'il s'agit de diffuser des informations gouvernementales et de transformer les dynamiques d'engagement citoyen. Toutefois, la pleine exploitation de ce potentiel reste difficile, en particulier dans les organisations publiques. Le succès et les effets relatifs aux nouvell...

Kommunikation wird für den ö!entlichen Sektor immer wichtiger. Unabhängig von der institutionellen Ebene haben die Behörden die Pflicht, die gesamte Bevölkerung zu informieren, und in einigen Fällen auch den Wunsch, ihr Verhalten zu beeinflussen. Mit der Vervielfachung der Kommunikationskanäle, insbesondere durch die neuen Technologien, bieten sich...

Recently, many organizations have identified social media influencers (SMIs) as relevant communication intermediaries, mostly because they provide access to and influence hard-to-reach stakeholders, for example teenage and young adult consumers. Research on SMIs has defined them as ‘third-party actors that have established a significant number of r...

Research has shown the potential of social media to disseminate important information as well as transforming citizen engagement with government. However, implementation remains difficult, especially in public sector organizations. The success, impact, and performance of these new forms of networked interactions are yet to be fully explored, especi...

La communication revêt une importance croissante pour le secteur public. Quel que soit le niveau institutionnel, les collectivités ont le devoir d’informer l’ensemble de la population et, parfois, le souhait d’influencer son comportement. Avec la multiplication des canaux de communication, notamment par le biais des nouvelles technologies, de nouve...

Transport infrastructure agencies are increasingly coping with strong budget constraints, while being highly under pressure to manage and upgrade an infrastructure network that meets the increasing service level expectations of all its stakeholders. Sound infrastructure management therefore includes tight cost control, a long-term vision and budget...

This article relies on the literature on public sector communication to analyse the activity of local governments on social media. We aim to describe the adoption patterns of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in Belgian municipalities over 10,000 inhabitants. To achieve this objective, we gathered information manually and through a data retrieving so...

Inspiré par la littérature sur la communication publique, cet article étudie l’activité des municipalités sur les médias sociaux. L’analyse porte sur l’adoption de Facebook, Twitter et Instagram dans les communes belges de plus de 10 000 habitants. Les données ont été collectées manuellement et à l’aide d’un logiciel, ce qui nous a permis d’étudier...

This article relies on the literature on technology adoption and empirical studies on social media adoption in the public sector to analyze the case of Belgian municipalities. Our objective is threefold as we aim to: (a) provide a new approach to assess the adoption of social media platforms by governments, (b) describe the current situation in Bel...

Sommaire Il est attendu du fonctionnement plus ouvert des administrations un regain de confiance citoyenne et de légitimité. Toutefois, les effets produits par la transparence alimentent de nombreux débats. D'abord, la relation entre transparence et confiance peut être multidirectionnelle. Ensuite, elle correspond à un équilibre fragile dans la mes...

The concepts of accountability and responsibility are widely used key principles of public governance and manifest themselves in different ways. For example, they can promote transparency, structure relationships between the state and decentralized administrative units, and ensure that third parties provide public services in ways that align with t...

La transparence est aujourd’hui considérée par de nombreux organismes internationaux ainsi que par une majorité d’États comme un pilier de la bonne gouvernance, aussi bien dans le secteur marchand que non-marchand. Depuis 2008, elle est intégrée aux douze principes clé de « bonne gouvernance » développés par le Conseil de l’Europe. Elle est aussi m...

Social media are extending the information and communication technology landscape in the public sector. These platforms are used increasingly as a common organizational resource by public bodies. Measuring the activity of cities on social media is thus a recurrent topic of interest among scholars and practitioners. So far, few measurement models ha...

Research has shown the potential of social media to disseminate important information as well as transforming citizen engagement with government. However, implementation remains difficult, especially in public sector organizations. The success, impact, and performance of these new forms of networked interactions are yet to be fully explored, especi...

Purpose This paper aims to explain the impacts of the ongoing digitization reform in Benin. It demonstrates that a well-conducted reform can reduce corruption, improve performance and bring citizens closer to the administration. It also highlights the elements needed to ensure the success of such a reform. Design/methodology/approach The impacts o...

Government transparency has been widely commented through the adoption of freedom of information laws. Several studies have shown a positive effect of access to information on government transparency. This contribution, based on a quantitative analysis of 2,222 Swiss municipalities, adds to the literature by combining disclosure of information on m...

Comment les anciens élus suisses ont‐ils concilié leurs engagements professionnels et politiques et comment vivent‐ils la transition de la fin de leur mandat politique vers la poursuite de leurs activités professionnelles ? Au cours des dernières années, l’attention de l’opinion publique et des médias s’est régulièrement portée sur la situation d’a...

Lien fondamental entre gouvernants et gouvernés, la communication publique assure la diffusion de l’information auprès de la population. Elle vise à accroître à la fois la légitimité des organisations publiques et la cohésion sociale. Cette contribution se penche spécifiquement sur la composante numérique de la communication publique, les supports...

Although they often remain active on other traditional and digital channels, such as newsletters, public sector organisations are increasingly active on social media to communicate with the public. While the usage of these social media platforms has gained attention from many scholars and practitioners, the articulation of diverse channels in citie...

Increasingly described in the literature and international reports as a key factor in business decisions, transparent economic policies have become central to investment and the establishment of foreign companies in a specific area. In this sense, a plethora of rankings consider transparency—almost always linked with stability—as one of the most im...

In public management and administration, co-creation, co-design and co-production of public services are a very significant trend, both theoretically and practically. These efforts aim at simultaneously improving service delivery and legitimacy. At the same time, digitization is extending in public services. Beyond using information technologies fo...

While a vast majority of local governments in Europe are communicating on social media, the situation differs in few states. Although Switzerland is often depicted as a technological advanced and innovative country, cities are still largely resisting the temptation to share information on social media platforms. In this study, we rely on a survey d...

Nation branding is a widely commented topic and has been increasingly addressed by scholars and practitioners alike. Facing intense competition, states have deployed promotional strategies and rely on certain strengths, which go beyond the “comparative advantages” emphasized in the literature. Our contribution addresses an eluded aspect of nations,...

Digitization is a core feature of our societies, and the last few decades have been influenced by the strong development of new information and communication technologies (ICTs). These technologies are directly affecting our lives, through a wide range of activities now dependent on them; companies are increasingly relying on ICTs to grow their bus...

Policies designed to attract and retain residents, tourists and companies form one of the ultimate goals of place branding. These policies are of vital importance for public sector organizations because of their added value to the economy and quality of life of a given area. Consequently, a careful assessment is needed to better understand the issu...

Although emblematic cases such as Amsterdam, Berlin or Lyon are often praised for their best practices and have been analyzed in several studies, the case of Europe's administrative capital remains undercommented in the literature on place branding and attractiveness. This may be a surprise to scholars and practitioners alike given Brussels' positi...

This article assesses the links between accountability and transparency in the case of the public procurement system in Switzerland. It focuses on the relationship between the two concepts through the prism of the theoretical frameworks developed by previous authors, using data gathered through experts’ interviews. Findings demonstrate that the rel...

While it remains a complex and diffuse notion, trust is highly valued by public authorities. Due to their proximity with citizens and their central role in service delivery, local governments often aim at establishing a relation of trust with the population. Several mechanisms have been conceived to improve the current situation, mainly involving “...

This article addresses transparency in the current era of digital co-creation between healthcare professionals and patients. The concept of reasoned transparency is presented as a potential tool to guide the development of digital co-creation that is rapidly growing. The aim was to reflect on how doctors can apply transparency in their daily practi...

La demande croissante de transparence a récemment favorisé une ouverture plus grande des administrations publiques. Considérée comme un outil incontournable de bonne gouvernance, la transparence permet de renforcer la légitimité perçue des autorités. Dans le même temps, l'autonomie locale a été toujours plus valorisée au cours des dernières décenni...

The increasing demand for transparency has recently fostered greater openness within public administrations. Considered as an essential tool of good governance, transparency helps reinforce the perceived legitimacy of authorities. At the same time, local autonomy has been increasingly embraced in recent decades and recommended by many international...

Social accountability reforms emphasize expanding performance information disclosure and incorporating citizen feedback into performance evaluations of public organizations.However, social accountability scholarship has largely ignored possible discriminatory implications of performance information use despite calls for more social equity research....

Regarded as a core principle of good governance, transparent government communication has been discussed at the national level in particular. This article aims to extend this reflection by assessing the transparency practices of all Swiss municipalities in 2018, using an index of the volume of information published online (LTI). The results show th...

Access to information in Benin : a case study Transparency is nowadays at the top of the agenda for most governments. The number of countries that have adopted a law on access to administrative documents is on the rise. Access to information laws do not provide a substitute for transparency, but they may signal the willingness of a government to in...

The "Local Transparency Index Switzerland" (LTI) is a comprehensive index of online transparency in all municipalities of Switzerland in 2018 (N=2222), based on 6 dimensions. Please quote as: Keuffer, N. & Mabillard, V. (2019) Administrative openness and diversity in Swiss municipalities: how does local autonomy influence transparency practices? In...

Transparency is today considered as a key feature of good governance. Almost undisputed, the concept has gained importance in both academic and practitioners’ circles due to its strong intrinsic and/or instrumental value. Recent years have seen the emergence of the open-data movement and its growing impact on government policies. Nevertheless, evid...

Soutenue par de nombreux acteurs nationaux, internationaux et de la société civile, motivée par la volonté de réduire l’asymétrie informationnelle entre les autorités et la population, et considérée de manière croissante comme un droit fondamental, la transparence administrative ne rencontre presque plus d’opposition, tant le concept est positiveme...

Transparency and accountability, both considered as pillars of good governance, are often associated in contemporary research and practice. They are praised by a wide range of international institutions and non-governmental organizations. This normative perspective relies mainly on the strong intrinsic value of both concepts. Their instrumental val...

Transparency is nowadays at the top of the agenda for most governments. The number of countries that have adopted a law on access to administrative documents is on the rise. Access to information laws do not provide a substitute for transparency, but they may signal the willingness of a government to increase openness. So far, most studies have foc...

La loi fédérale sur les jeux d’argent (LJar), votée le 27 septembre 2017 par l’Assemblée fédérale a été attaquée par voie de référendum le 18 janvier 2018. La Loterie romande (LoRo) a confié à l’unité "Communication publique" de l’IDHEAP un mandat ayant pour objet l’analyse de l’activité médiatique au cours de la campagne référendaire. L’objectif d...

Almost undisputedly, transparency is now considered as a core component of good governance and a prerequisite to a lively democracy. One of the main features of this development is the global explosion of freedom of information laws, which provide citizens with the opportunity to request official information from administrations, excluding document...

Wie haben die ehemaligen Abgeordneten ihr berufliches und politisches Engagement unter einen Hut gebracht und wie erleben sie beim Ausscheiden aus dem politischen Amt den Übergang in die Erwerbsarbeit? In den letzten Jahren stand die berufliche Situation von Abgeordneten nach Ablauf ihres Mandats wiederholt im Fokus der Medien und der Öffentlichkei...

Comment les ancien·ne·s élu·e·s ont-ils concilié leurs engagements professionnel et politique? Comment vivent-ils la transition de la fin de leur mandat vers la poursuite de leurs activités professionnelles? Ces dernières années, l’attention de la presse et de l’opinion publique s’est régulièrement portée sur la situation d’anciens membres de l’Ass...

Ce travail interroge le lien entre la transparence perçue par les citoyens et la confiance qu'ils placent dans le secteur public. Ainsi, la mise à disposition d'information et la qualité de celle-ci exercent-elles un effet bénéfique sur la confiance des citoyens ? Cette interrogation constitue le coeur de cette thèse de doctorat. Une opérationnalis...

Adoption of social media platforms by Swiss towns and cities remains timid for the moment. Facebook has by far the greatest success, doubtless because it was the first platform available and because its format lends itself well to public communication. Surprisingly, Twitter is used far less, although its format also is well-suited to certain commun...

La demande croissante de transparence a récemment favorisé une ouverture plus grande des administrations publiques. Considérée comme un outil incontournable de bonne gouvernance, la transparence permet de renforcer la légitimité perçue des autorités. Dans le même temps, l'autonomie locale a été toujours plus valorisée au cours des dernières décenni...

CONFERENCE PAPER PROPOSAL - COMMENTS ARE WELCOME ! Following an initial article on transparency and place branding (Mabillard & Vuignier, 2017), this contribution aims to address the relationship between the two concepts from a quantitative perspective. Therefore, we focus here on the perceptions of companies and economic development agencies rega...

Transparency is now among almost all governments’ priorities, with a growing number of countries that have recently adopted a law on access to administrative documents. In 2014, Paraguay even became the 100th state to pass a legislation on access to information (ATI). These laws do not provide a substitute for transparency; however, they may signal...

This article provides a list of all countries where a Freedom of Information (FOI) law has been enacted so far. Several contributions have addressed this issue but most of them have not been updated. Moreover, data about the methodology or systematic references are missing in most works. Indicator 16.10.2 from the United Nations’ Sustainable Develo...

Longtemps reléguée dans l'ombre par le principe antagoniste du secret, la transparence constitue aujourd'hui l'un des fondements de toute démocratie. Au-delà d'une norme, elle est devenue un idéal poursuivi par de nombreuses organisations et gouvernements dans la conduite des affaires publiques. Elle se pose donc progressivement comme une évidence,...

Lien fondamental entre l’État et ses citoyens, la communication publique permet aux représentants gouvernementaux et aux membres de l’administration de transmettre les informations propres à leurs actions et à leurs décisions. Dans son chapitre, Daniel J. Caron analyse la production documentaire dans l’administration publique. Pour notre part, nous...

According to recent surveys, transparency has become a key issue in business decisions. Foreign firms increasingly view transparent economic policies as crucial in their investment planning. Evidence has shown that clear and predictable environments play an important role in companies’ decisions to develop their activities in a specific place. Nowa...

Résumé Selon de récentes études d’opinion, la transparence est devenue un enjeu majeur dans les choix d’implantation opérés par les entreprises étrangères. En effet, les plans d’investissement dépendent de plus en plus de politiques économiques transparentes propres à un État ou à une région. Un environnement prévisible et une législation claire jo...

This article exposes contemporary approaches to transparency and trust. It explores the links between the two concepts in 10 countries between 2007 and 2014, using open-data indexes and access-to-information requests as proxies for transparency. So far, most studies have focused on conceptual models, specific aspects of transparency in particular c...

Report published by: - the Global Investigative Journalism Network - the Resource Centre on Media Freedom in Europe - the freedominfo.org blog

Accountability and transparency are of growing importance in contemporary governance. The academic literature has broadly studied the two concepts separately, defining and redefining them, putting them into various frameworks, and sometimes mistakenly using them as synonyms. Curiously, the relationship between the two concepts has been studied only...

This paper investigates the complex relationship between transparency and trust. If trust in government is most of the time regarded as a positive effect of transparency, it should also be considered as a factor influencing citizens’ perceptions of transparency, and not only as a result of transparency measures. Moreover, the principles underpinnin...

This paper investigates the complex relationship between transparency and trust. If trust in government is most of the time regarded as a positive effect of transparency , it should also be considered as a factor influencing citizens' perceptions of transparency, and not only as a result of transparency measures. Moreover, the principles underpinni...

Accountability and transparency are of growing importance in contemporary governance. The academic literature have broadly studied the two concepts separately, defining and redefining them, and including them into various framework, sometimes mistakenly using them as synonyms. The relationship between the two concepts has, curiously, only been stud...

Cet article se concentre avant tout sur la capacité du sport à mobiliser et à intégrer certains groupes, notamment les populations immigrées et les individus subissant une exclusion sociale (genre, niveau socio-culturel, revenu, handicap) à l’intérieur d’une même société. Les valeurs diffusées par le sport, comme le fair-play, l’esprit d’équipe, la...

In this presentation, we aim to highlight past and present sports diplomacy events. Sports diplomacy can be defined in many ways, but three main perspectives will be used here: • Firstly, the use of sports as a national tool of soft power. This is related to how countries use sport to enhance their image and prestige, but also how the can use it to...

Dans cette présentation, nous mettons en évidence des événements présents et passés ayant trait à la diplomatie du sport. La diplomatie du sport peut être définie de diverses manières. Trois perspectives sont retenues ici : • Toutd’abord,l’usagedusportauservicedusoftpowernational,oucomment les Etats mobilisent le sport afin de renforcer leur image...

Sport as a tool for cultural diplomacy has already recorded many successes, both at the regional and international level. In fact, the link between sport and peace may be traced back to the Ancient Olympic Games, when the latter was used to establish a temporary peace between belligerent states. More examples will be provided later. Nevertheless, o...

Que ce soit au niveau régional ou international, le sport en tant qu’outil ou moyen de diplomatie culturelle a déjà enregistré de nombreux succès. Le lien entre la paix et le sport remonte aux Jeux Olympiques de l’Antiquité, lorsqu’ils étaient utilisés pour établir une paix temporaire entre des Etats belligérants. D’autres illustrations suivront. C...