Sustaining Transparency?: Journalists, Government Officials, and the Minnesota Data Practices Act

Abstract

The Data Practices Act, the freedom of information framework for the State of Minnesota, offers an interesting alternative model for FOI laws. The statute attempts to detail all specific exemptions by legislative decree, rather than allowing a court or ombudsperson to elaborate on vague, general exemptions. In this research we ask what different pressure points such a system creates and what factors affect its performance. Many concerns identified here—such as funding and training for FOI implementation—are not unique to Minnesota’s approach, but we also examine the problem of accretion in Minnesota’s exemptions in light of the ability of the media and wider publics to prevent narrow interests from winning new exemptions. This study contributes to the limited research on state-level transparency statutes in American states.