Municipalities in Spain hold the political status of basic and public organizations. Given the importance of this type of organization to citizens, achieving a system of transparency requires involving citizens in the management of public services provided by municipal institutions. Cases of corruption, embezzlement, fraud, and abuse of power in governments have prompted growing demand from society to access public information. In response, governments have been forced to be more transparent in their activities (Ferraz Esteves de Araujo and Tejedo-Romero, 2016).
Transparency is a critical condition for accountability, good governance, and democracy (Erlingsson and Wittberg, 2018). The public must be able to evaluate its government's performance and depends on the access to information to do so (Mendel, 2006). Access requires an intensive system of Right-to-Information laws through the encouragement, assistance, or insistence of the international community. Such legislation is especially needed in the European Union (EU) countries’ accession process (Trapnell and Lemieux, 2014) because public authorities deny transparency by withholding the required pertinent information more often than they should (Nigam, 2015).
Literature on transparency determinants is evolving but incipient. So far, it has typically focused on national governments, neglecting the local level (Albalate del Sol, 2013). The demand for transparency is currently more evident in citizens’ search for important and valuable information to make decisions, their need to know the level of efficiency and efficacy with which resources have been managed, and their desire to know how resources are allocated to public services. Transparency mechanisms are also needed to improve public managers’ decision making and optimize the information then disclosed to citizens. The concept of transparency is based precisely on citizens’ ability to access the information that municipalities provide through their websites.
The paper's goals are, firstly, to highlight the importance of a transparency culture, specifically in municipality-level management of social services; secondly, to develop the most suitable theoretical framework to analyze this issue; thirdly, to design and propose a “Transparency Evaluation Model” for social services (MTSS); and finally, to test the viability of and variables influencing the proposed model.
Regardless of the concept of transparency adopted or the goals transparency development seeks to achieve, it is essential to determine both the benefits transparency provides and the difficulties involved in achieving an acceptable level of transparency. Transparency benefits citizens by enabling rectification of improper behavior and abuses of power, encouraging honesty among managers, improving participation and responsibility at all levels, and increasing efficiency and effectiveness in resource management. Difficulties encountered in applying systems to improve transparency fall into three categories: (1) from an economic point of view, high investment (economic, human, and ethical) to achieve global change through personnel training and technological tools; (2) from a political perspective, resistance among some public managers to transparency, since the concept may go against their personal interests; and (3) from an administrative perspective, the challenge of implementing innovative processes, new procedures, routines, and paperwork. Transparency in public administrations makes political and economic decisions more open and promotes organizations’ accountability. The key to enhancing transparency is to motivate officials to disclose basic information where managers’ behavior can be adjusted to adopt best practices (Del Campo et al., 2020). Along the same lines, Barbosa and Hortale (2016) argue that transparency and social control are important elements in improving processes of municipal management.
The Model of Transparency of Social Services (MTSS) was developed in stages to permit us to answer the research questions posed. The first stage was a bibliographic review of the concept of transparency and of prior studies of transparency at the municipal level. The next stage analyzed the legal framework of transparency. The third and final stage identified the role of social services in the Spanish context, as well as leading models that have measured accessibility in information searches.
After completing the initial documentation stage, we proposed a model to evaluate transparency (MTSS). We then applied the model to the data sample, analyzing the data using SPSS software. This analysis enabled us to draw a series of conclusions from the statistical results obtained from the application of the model.
This paper contributes to the literature on government transparency by analyzing the transparency level of local social services, generating a new measure of transparency, and developing an MTSS based on the postulates of agency and legitimacy theory. The results obtained from applying the MTSS indicate that Spanish local governments must stop following their public managers’ interests in providing only compulsory financial information and deliver all necessary information. This study also contributes to the debate around transparency by developing a municipal transparency index based on the information available on local government official websites, along the lines of Da Cruz et al.'s (2016) development of this index in Portuguese local government. Finally, our study defines and tests a model that facilitates and improves comparison among municipalities to establish benchmarks and re-engineer practice to improve control and quality of the information to which citizens have access. Our study thus not only enhances transparency and citizen interaction but also contributes to constructing a theoretical and empirical framework to aid both academics and practitioners in measuring transparency and advancing accountability.
The definition of transparency used here was developed through analysis of prior definitions by multiple authors. When defining the concept of transparency in the Spanish context, we gave special attention to Spain's current legal framework regulating transparency.
The study by Muñoz Machado (1977) constitutes a significant starting point for conceptualizing transparency in the Spanish context. The study states that “the transformation of the Administration cannot be limited to a simple perspective, but also requires a comprehensive, multidirectional and all-inclusive approach to materialize the principles of citizen participation, encompassing the constitutional text in Article 9.2 of the Spanish Constitution, thus strengthening the democratic legitimacy of the Administration.” Access to public information is meaningless without citizen involvement, since access to information is already a form of participation in the public sphere. Following Muñoz Machado's study, many researchers became interested in defining the meaning of the term “transparency in public services.”
After analyzing and developing the most fitting notion of transparency for this study, we regrouped the theoretical approaches, authors, and definitions to provide a vision of the future based on the most salient trends and evolution of the concept of transparency.
Examination of these theoretical contributions showed no consensus on the concept of transparency. Not only does each author have a different point of view, but some arguments depart from a single theoretical approach, combining multiple frameworks to produce their definition.
Several factors have influenced the trends shaping evolution of the concept of transparency. The first is the modernization of societies and changing relationships between citizens and public administrations. The second is the development of legislation as the legal foundation for application and development of transparency measures. The last is the introduction of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) that facilitate many transparency processes, such as publication and accessibility of information on the Internet through web pages.
Within the specific characteristics of the concept of transparency, our study's theoretical approach defines transparency as
Theoretical Lines of the Concept of Transparency
Source: Own elaboration
Table 1 presents the seven clear theoretical trends identified in the analyses to date of the theoretical framework on the concept of transparency: fundamental citizen rights, citizen participation or democratic reinforcement, information availability, citizen access to information, accountability or decision making, best practices or fight against corruption, and finally, transparency in both the public sector and the private sector market. We explain these trends in greater detail below.
In the first stage of this trend, authors such as Kaufmann and Kraay (2002) define the concept of transparency as “
López Ayllón and Ruiz (2005) represent a second stage in the evolution of transparency. They add a new dimension to the definition of transparency, understanding it as “the set of mechanisms that favor access to information.” Curtin and Meijer (2006) advance this line by defining transparency as “the obligation that governments have to give citizens access to information.” Despite the similarities in these positions, Curtin and Meijer (2006) further evolution of the concept by pointing out that governments already had the capacity to give citizens access to information. Piotrowski and Van Ryzin (2007) add to previous definitions by including not only accessibility but also “variables such as the degree of interest and the information demand of citizens.” For Naessens (2010), accessibility is “an essential requirement along with the right to receive information from citizens.” Grimmelikhuijsen (2013) states that transparency depends on many factors, such as legislation, culture, and training, and Magdaleno and García-García (2014) identify transparency with “the degree of public access to information.” In a final contribution to this stage, Fariña (2015) relates transparency to “the perception that the population has of the decisions taken by public officials.” For citizens even to have such a perception, they must have some degree of access to public information. Filgueras (2016) views the concept of transparency as the application to politics of a notion derived from economics. Communication is indispensable in enabling institutions to regain citizens’ trust and credibility, and transparency management and the promotion of citizen participation online are essential in this context (Rebolledo, Zamora-Medina, and Rodriguez-Virgili, 2017). Navarro-Galera, Alcaraz-Quiles, and Ortiz-Rodríguez (2018) assert that the Internet has become an instrument of good governance worldwide and that government entities in Europe have striven to promote e-government to improve transparency towards citizens. Along similar lines, Alcaraz-Quiles et al. (2018) conclude that information disclosure through websites is determined by citizens’ perception of the information's accessibility and usability. Accountability and transparency complement one another to produce countries’ good governance. Researchers cite transparency as a response to the accountability concerns of global actors and examine how disclosure and openness affect these actors’ behavior and the actions undertaken to be transparent (Hale, 2008; Hood, 2010). Transparency research supports the idea that greater access to government information results in greater accountability and better quality of government in the long term (Bauhr and Grimes, 2012). When formulating diagnostics in policy advice, it is necessary to analyze the causes and consequences of governance in order to develop (Rautiainen, Urquía-Grande, and Muñoz, 2017) and promote the evaluation of governance across countries and over time (Bushman and Smith, 2003; Heinrich, 2002; Propper and Wilson, 2003), since more specific aspects of governance may be problematic in a given country.
Three factors already mentioned in this analysis mark the conceptual differences between the two stages in the theoretical evolution of definitions of transparency: the evolution of society, the development of legislation, and the emergence of new information and communication technologies (ICTs).
Legislation is a determining factor in the development of transparency processes, regardless of the type, area, or body to which these processes are being applied. Analysis of the international legal framework regulating transparency shows, firstly, that transparency is recognized and regulated in all the protocols that safeguard the fundamental rights of people, such as the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen (1789), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1976), and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC, 2003). Secondly, examination of the specific transparency legislation in the other countries shows that many nations have legislated on this issue and that more and more are doing so. Among the countries that have regulated transparency are France, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Brazil, the United States, Canada, and the European Community. Thirdly, international discussions are occurring on how to measure the performance of “Freedom of Information (FOI)” to make transparency accepted in a democratic landscape (McLean, 2011; Hazell and Worthy, 2010).
Transparency has significant presence in Spanish national legislation, as shown by Spain's
In conclusion, analysis of the legal framework shows that Spanish regulatory development of transparency is in the very early stages. This framework is much less developed than frameworks in the other EU countries in a similar environment but no less important. Comparison aside, the process has begun and needs to be improved (Table 2).
Summary of the Regulations on Transparency and Right of Access in the International Sphere and their influence in Spain
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International organizations have anticipated the scope of public information in their statements and other manifestations, from which legislators in many States of the world have drawn inspiration. Since 1766, there has been an expanding international public interest and concern in developing regulations for transparency and access to public information in each of the branches of government. The right of the citizen to hold public officials accountable is defined. It also addresses freedom of expression and freedom to disseminate opinions. A new concept limiting all these rights also appears, which is having national security. And finally, the most recent one develops the principles with which corruption can be fought (legality, integrity, transparency and accountability). Each State gives priority to transparency, which often coincides with the quality of its legal system. Sometimes the right of access is framed in a fundamentalist or a politically correct category, ignoring the international premises to which it is subject. | |
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Sweden is now known as the State of Transparency, because it was the first country to develop direct state regulation, the other countries saw that this was important and started to develop their own laws. | |
This law has undergone four reforms and the last one in 1996, to include access to electronic information (e-FOIA). | ||
The purpose of this Act is to enhance the accountability and transparency of federal institutions in order to promote an open and democratic society and to enable public debate on the conduct of those institutions. | ||
This law helps New Zealand citizens, permanent residents and anyone in New Zealand to access information held by governments and government agencies. This promotes openness and transparency, and enables public participation in government. | ||
In Austria, on the other hand, transparency in politics and administration has no tradition. Official secrecy even has constitutional status. State information is in principle only classified as freely accessible and that official secrecy is only applied in exceptional cases to be justified. | ||
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All these countries surrounding Spain have greatly influenced the process and the elaboration of the Spanish transparency law, not only because of their proximity but also because of the Mediterranean cultural similarities they share. Furthermore, the Spanish law was the last to be approved and therefore this is another important reason for influence. | |
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The regulation in transparency that these European countries carry out, have great similarities since all of them are within the community legal environment of the European Union to which they all belong. | |
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Since the origin of the European Union, the founding treaties have contained statements on the transparency of the Community institutions. As it is consolidated, the Community regulations on transparency are being applied to other matters such as the environment, the press and equality. |
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The first Spanish law, which contains a reference to transparency and the right of access to information of citizens, is the Spanish Constitution of 1978, in Article 105. There is a gradual difference between Spain and contemporary and adjacent regulations with regard to the scope granted to its standards. Recent Spanish legislation is still reluctant to consider the right of access as a fundamental right, despite the powerful legal and institutional apparatus it has had in other regulations. Spain has received considerable impetus in this area because it is part of the European Union. It has benefited from the Community regulations that have been adopted on numerous occasions in relation to transparency. |
Source: Own elaboration based on the comparative study on transparency regulations carried out by Herrera (2017).
A strong concern for national legislation on transparency exists throughout the Spanish territory, despite large differences in the legislation in effect in the different Autonomous Communities (Table 3). The differences are significant even after fuller examination of the regulations on transparency to determine the guidelines developed by Spanish city councils.
Summary of the Regulations on Transparency and Right of Access in the Regulation of Spanish Transparency at Regional Level. Autonomous Communities in Spain
GALICIA
BALEARIC ISLANDS
FORAL COMMUNITY OF NAVARRE
EXTREMADURA
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ANDALUSIA
RIOJA
MADRID
REGION OF MURCIA
CATALONIA
VALENCIA
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ARAGÓN
CASTILLA Y LEÓN
ASTURIAS
CANTABRIA
AUTONOMOUS CITY OF MELILLA
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Source: Own elaboration based on the comparative study on transparency regulations carried out by Herrera (2017).
Total number of indicators of social services of the model MTSS (68)
Index of people served in social services | |
Index of people attended to in the service of autonomy and care of dependence | |
Index of interventions per person served in social services | |
Index of interventions per person attended to in the autonomy and dependency care service | |
Percentage of home care for people under 64 years | |
Percentage of home care for people over 64 and under 80 years | |
Percentage of home care for the elderly | |
Index of home help service coverage | |
Index of hours per recipient of home help (agreed plan) | |
Index of hours per beneficiary of home help (dependency) | |
Percentage of attention with tele-assistance | |
Index of perceptions of emergency economic aid | |
Percentage of immigrants served by social services | |
Index of emergency occupations for women suffering from gender-violence | |
Index of occupations in shelters for the homeless | |
Average resolution time for home help in social services | |
Average time for effective start of home help in social services | |
Average total waiting time for the provision of home help in social services | |
Index of human resources (social workers) in social services | |
Index of human resources (social workers and other technicians) in social services | |
Index of human resources (administrative staff) in social services | |
Index of workload of the service of autonomy and attention to dependence (recognition) | |
Index of workload of the service of autonomy and care of dependence (PIA in spanish) | |
Index of the workload of the home help service (dependence) | |
Current expenditure on social services per habitant | |
Capital expenditure on social services per habitant | |
Percentage of current expenditure on social services | |
Percentage of capital expenditure on social services | |
Percentage coverage of current expenditure on social services, with current transfers received | |
Percentage coverage of current expenditure on social services, financed by users | |
Average amount of emergency financial aid | |
Cost of information and individual counselling in basic care | |
Cost of home tele-assistance per assisted household | |
Cost of home care service: help provided at home (agreed plan) | |
Cost of home care service: help provided at home (dependency) | |
Cost of foster care for children, per child cared for | |
Cost per space in day centers for the elderly | |
Cost of daily accommodation of the immigrant population | |
Cost of an overnight stay in a homeless shelter | |
Cost of emergency floor accommodation (gender-based violence) | |
Cost of the service of autonomy and attention to the dependence by attended user | |
Degree of coverage of the autonomy and dependency care service, with current transfers received | |
Degree of coverage of the home help service (dependence), with current transfers received | |
Degree of coverage of the home help service (dependency), with user financing | |
Degree of coverage of the home help service (dependency), with current transfers received and financing from users | |
Childhood Index | |
Adolescent Index | |
Youth Index | |
Old Age Index (over 64 years old) | |
Old Age Index (80 or more years) | |
Index of over-aging | |
Population Dependency Index | |
Percentage of immigrant population | |
Annual population growth rate | |
Municipal tax revenues per capita | |
Current savings | |
Non-financial deficit or surplus | |
Annual and multiannual plans and programs for social services are published, setting out specific objectives, as well as the activities, means, and time frame for achieving them. | |
An updated Organizational Chart is published to identify those responsible for social services, as well as their functions and dependency relationships. | |
All contracts concluded in the field of social services are published, indicating the subject matter, the amount of the tender and award, the procedure used, any instruments through which it was advertised, the number of tenderers participating in the procedure and the identity of the successful tenderers. | |
The modifications of the Contracts formalized in social services are published (through a direct and specific link on the web). | |
The minor contracts concluded in social services are published periodically (at least quarterly) with detailed information on their amounts and the people awarded them (through a direct and specific link on the website). | |
The list of the agreements signed in social services is published, mentioning the signatory parties, their purpose and, if applicable, the agreed economic obligations. | |
Subsidies and public aid granted in social services are published, with an indication of their amount, objective or purpose and beneficiaries. | |
The remuneration received by senior elected officials and, where appropriate, the General Directors and senior managers of social service entities is published. | |
The compensations received on the occasion of the abandonment of the positions in social services are made public (if there have not been any, it will be expressly indicated on the website). | |
The Register of Interest in the Activities and Assets of Senior Social Service Officers (provided for in the Law on the Basis of the Local System) is published. | |
The list of properties (offices, premises, etc.), both own and rented, occupied and/or assigned to social services is published. |
Source: Own elaboration from the indicators of social services (project SICIAL) and the indicators of law of transparency of the Indicator ITA (of Transparency International Spain) adapted to the area of social services.
Because social services are essential to guaranteeing minimum living conditions for citizens, transparency in these public services is extremely important. Citizens must thus have access to all the information related to any aspect of management of municipal social services.
The institutional concept of social services (understood as a fundamental part of the welfare state), refers to the area that manages the social services necessary to address seven fundamental issues for citizens’ well-being: gender violence and trafficking in women, equal opportunity, family and childhood, disability, drugs and other addictive behaviors, elderly and dependent people, and youth.
Multiple previous studies—Rosa (2012), Olaizola et al. (2008), Muñoz (2011), Arrizabalaga (2011), and Robleda (2009)—have analyzed social services. Within the field, all of these studies focus on management control and development of an indicator framework, but none has generated research on access to information and measurement of the amount of information that reaches citizens on this type of service management.
One of the most important works examining planning and management of public services is that of Bovair (2007), which argues the need to revise planning and management of services and to include the concept of co-production, understood as a shift from the idea that services are provided by professional staff and managers of public agencies to understanding these services as co-produced by users and their communities as an integrating mechanism and incentive to mobilize resources. Both transparency and citizen participation play a fundamental role in this redesign process.
The DEC Index (D for rights and political decision, E for economic relevance, C for coverage of services to citizens) has been used to analyze the importance of social services in Spain. Developed using data from Spanish social services, this Index is a document prepared by the State Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services (SADMSS) to assess three essential factors: rights and political decision, economic relevance, and the coverage of services to citizens. We draw three conclusions from the results of the 2014 DEC Index. First, the social services system is weak, increasing the risk of poverty and social exclusion. Second, extraordinary disparities exist in the configuration and evolution of social services across the Autonomous Regions. Third, the poor results reflected in the index are due to the poor quality of, delay in, and lack of information on social services.
The evolution of the concept of municipal transparency in social services and existing research on transparency raise a series of questions that this study seeks to answer through empirical analysis developed later, in this work. The research questions are:
There are currently three leading models for measuring transparency: Value for Money (VFM), Transparency International Spain (TI-Spain), and Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (Spanish acronym FEMP).
VFM is the philosophy of transparency implemented in the United Kingdom (culture, knowledge, and processes). Three agencies have adopted this concept: the Audit Commission, the Care Quality Commission, and Ofsted-Office.
TI-Spain is the Spanish Delegation for International Transparency, which seeks to create global awareness. It has developed several transparency indexes, such as the ITA (Index of Transparency of the Town Halls), which is based on 80 indicators.
FEMP developed the SICIAL (Spanish acronym: S for system, I for integrated, C for cost, I for indicators, A for administration, and L for local—Integrated System of Costs and Indicators for Local Administration) Project, an integrated cost and management indicator system for municipalities. It also defended this project's interests and represented each local entity. The project's founding goal was to implement a system of costs and management indicators in Spanish municipalities and to publish its results. The system applied principles and best practices in public management, following the example of other European countries such as England, Sweden, and Norway (among others). The SICIAL project manages development of indicators for the different areas of municipality management, including activity, budget, costs, coverage, and the environment (57 in total).
Now that we have established the theoretical framework of the concept of transparency, we can design the MTSS model in order to subsequently implement it to analyze an empirical sample. The two stages of this process are definition of the object of the study for construction of the model and real implementation of that model. No adaptations to the object of the study and the area of management to which this research is directed were necessary.
To apply the MTSS model, we selected 38 Spanish City Councils from the 110 analyzed by TI-Spain in the ITA. The information obtained by applying the model (approximately 5168 data items) was complemented by other variables external to calculation of the transparency indicator, such as total population, people over 65 years old, and outstanding debt.
Figure 1 shows the proposed model applied in this study. This model has two facets: first, indicators that determine the information sought (57 indicators on social services of the FEMP and 11 ITA indicators on transparency law); and second, selection of the 38 municipalities in which to search for these indicators (on the municipalities’ respective websites). Applying the indicators to the municipalities, we obtain results that enable us to perform the subsequent analysis.
MTSS Evaluation Model
Source: Own elaboration
Because many governments have promoted transparency and openness of their actions through Internet, we must currently promote and measure the transparency achieved through these websites, as proposed by Bertot, Jaeger, and Grimes (2010). The model proposed below is highly significant in this effort.
We adapt the concept of transparency to the MTSS model by understanding transparency as the citizen's ability to access the information that Spanish municipalities provide on their web pages (based on the theoretical references).
The following formula is used to calculate the MTSS indicator:
The calculations included two main variables:
First, we tracked the information on the websites of the 38 municipalities selected (see Table 5).
Total Time Distribution per Search Phase
Access to the website of the Town Hall | 3.040 | 50.7 |
Location of the department or section | 570 | 9.5 |
Location of MTSS indicators in social services / councils | 1.818 | 30.3 |
Locating indicators in other web documents | 420 | 7 |
Search for indicators in the web | 5.760 | 96 |
Source: Own elaboration
The variables were then measured as the
Configuration of the Variable, Degree of Ease in Locating the Information by Indicator
Source: Own elaboration
Beyond testing the MTSS model in this study, we followed Esteller-Moré and Polo Otero (2012), Sol (2013), Vila I Vila (2013), Camaño-Alegre et al. (2013) and Alcaraz Quiles et al. (2014) in comparing the MTSS model to other variables, such as total population, population over 65 years old, and debt using a linear regression equation. We chose age as a sign of public interest.
Table 7 summarizes the results obtained by applying this model to the websites of the 38 selected municipalities.
Summary of Results Obtained from the MTSS calculus*
The calculation of the MTSS indicator is based on the following formula (whose summary of results are reflected in this table):
Source: Own elaboration
The results obtained for the social service management areas are displayed in Figure 2. Note the great disparity in areas of social services, indicating the need to identify the factors influencing the MTSS results. Information is not provided on the internal factors from the city council itself, and there is reluctance to provide this information. Other types of factors include the presence of poor economic-financial results (such as indebtedness level).
Results data from the MTSS by Social Services Areas
Source: Own elaboration
The external factors that do not depend on the city council are total population and population over 65 years old. To find the relationship between the MTSS and the internal and external factors that can influence degree of transparency, we selected a sample composed of the following variables: MTSS by city council (values from 0 to 5), Total population, Population over 65 years old, and Indebtedness level (in thousands of euros) (Camaño-Alegre et al., 2013; Vila I Vila, 2013; Sol, 2013; Esteller-Moré and Polo Otero, 2012; Guillamón et al., 2011; López et al., 2011; Serrano-Cinca et al., 2009; García and García, 2008) (see Figure 2).
To answer the third research question, we first ran two multivariate regressions. The first analyzed the connection between the transparency variable and the sociodemographic and economic variables such as population, age, and debt level. The second analyzed the same variables but distinguished the population by gender. The results of both analyses are shown in Table 8.
Valuation of Model Coefficients (MTSS)
Constant | 5.557 | 0.000 | |
Population | −2.513 | −1.792 | 0.082 |
Over_65_years | 3.715 | 2.617 | 0.013 |
Debt | −0.69 | −1.864 | 0.071 |
Constant | 4.453 | 0.000 | |
Male | 11.952 | 1.978 | 0.056 |
Female | −17.014 | −2.39 | 0.023 |
Over_65_years | 5.627 | 3.225 | 0.003 |
R Square = 0.459 |
Dep vble: MTSS. The first model included the variables: Population, Over_65_years, and Debt. The second model included the variables: Male, Female, Over_65_years, and Debt.
The results obtained show that the MTSS index maintains an inversely proportional relationship to the total population (−2.513, 0.082) and indebtedness level (−0.69, 0.071). The results also show a direct relationship to the population over 65 years (3.715, 0.000). Moreover, by gender, we see that Male is directly related to the dependent variable (11.952, 0.056), whereas Female is inversely related (−17.014, 0.023). Finally, in both cases, the variable population over 65 years is significant.
To deepen this analysis, we ran another stepwise backward multivariate regression to obtain more evidence on transparency in municipalities according to the level of presence in the different areas of social services (see Table 9).
% of presence of municipalities in the different Social Services
(Constant) | −0.077 | 0.017 | −4.456 | 0.000 |
% total presence by activity_area | 0.038 | 0.002 | 16.21 | 0.000 |
% total presence by budget_area | 0.03 | 0.016 | 1.883 | 0.069 |
% total presence by coverage_area | 0.068 | 0.012 | 5.657 | 0.000 |
% total presence by environment_area | 0.022 | 0.002 | 9.863 | 0.000 |
% total presence by transparency law_area | 0.03 | 0.002 | 14.563 | 0.000 |
R square = 0.984 |
Dep vble: MTSS. The model included the variables: % total presence by activity_area, % total presence by budget_area, % total presence by coverage_area, % total presence by environment_area, % total presence by transparency law_area, and % total presence by cost_area.
With the exception of the area Cost (0.310, 0.759), the results show that the variable MTSS depends on all the areas: % total presence by activity_area (0.038, 0.000), % total presence by budget_area (0.03, 0.069), % total presence by coverage_area (0.068, 0.000), % total presence by environment_area (0.022, 0.000), and % total presence by transparency law_area (0.03, 0.000).
Finally, we ran another stepwise backward multivariate regression to gain more evidence on transparency in municipalities, this time to determine the ranking of social service areas according to the transparency level (see Table 10).
Level of Transparency by areas
(Constant) | 0.16 | 0.022 | 7.211 | 0.000 |
MTSS by budget_area | 0.42 | 0.245 | 1.718 | 0.095 |
MTSS by coverage_area | 0.228 | 0.077 | 2.94 | 0.006 |
MTSS by environment_area | 0.113 | 0.027 | 4.108 | 0.000 |
MTSS by activity_area | 0.541 | 0.08 | 6.767 | 0.000 |
R square = 0.867 |
Dep vble: MTSS. The model included the variables: MTSS by activity_area, MTSS by budget_area, MTSS by coverage_area, MTSS by environment_area, MTSS by transparency law_area, and MTSS by cost_area.
The results are similar to those from the previous regression. The variable MTSS depends on all the areas, with the exception of Costs: MTSS by activity_area (0.16, 0.000), MTSS by budget_area (0.42, 0.095), MTSS by coverage_area (0.228, 0.006), MTSS by environment_area (0.113, 0.000), and MTSS by transparency law_area (0.08, 0.000).
Bibliographic analysis and analysis of the quantitative results and the model constructed lead to some general and some more specific conclusions.
No consensus exists on the concept of transparency, perhaps due to the merely incipient legal initiative to promote all the issues related to transparency. Despite the complexity and cost involved, implementation of transparency systems is the way forward for modern societies.
Although municipal transparency must be assessed by evaluating overall management of the organization, transparency can also be measured for smaller management areas, such as social services. The fact that Spanish social services are in a period of recession (ADYGSS, 2014) is sufficient reason to seek or implement new initiatives that could contribute positively to managing this type of service.
In the Information Age, when public authorities should reveal useful and timely information proactively, these authorities often end up denying transparency by withholding the required information (Nigam, 2015). For Bonson, Torres, Royo, and Flores (2012), this information is not accessible to citizens because it is very difficult to locate. No homogeneous models exist for the publication of information or corporate dialogue, and the use of Internet tools to promote e-participation is still in the early stages at local level. The structure and organization of open government portals are currently unsuited to supporting transparency for accountability—a clear objective of open government efforts (Lourenço, 2015). To remedy this situation, an appeal could be made to the local authorities managing social services to establish homogeneous guidelines to structure the relevant information they should publish.
The results show different degrees of both accessibility between the municipalities and transparency by areas, the best being areas covered by the Law of Transparency and the worst the area of Costs and Budget.
We find no significant differences in transparency by areas and municipalities. This finding reinforces Moreno-Sarda, Molina-Rodriguez-Navas, and Simelio-Sola (2017), which shows that the information municipalities provide to citizens is still insufficient in many cases, despite the time granted to the municipalities to adjust to the law.
The results also show that population size influences transparency in some areas more than others, along the lines of Ortiz-Rodríguez, Navarro-Galera, and Alcaraz-Quiles (2018). Our results show an inverse relationship: a larger population does not imply more transparency. These results differ from those of Albalate del Sol (2013), who indicates that large municipalities report better transparency indexes. We find the worst results in provincial capitals, touristic cities, and mayors with absolute majority. Next, the population over 65 influences transparency; the higher the number of elderly, the greater the transparency. We argue two fundamental reasons for this result. First, the population over 65 represents a very high percentage of the Spanish population (around 19%), according to Pérez Díaz et al. (2020). Second, this group is especially interested in social services and therefore demands information about them.
Economic and financial resources are inversely related to transparency. That is, the higher the level of debt, the less information will be shown to citizens. The transparency index is also strongly linked to all of the transparency areas reviewed except cost. This situation may be caused by low levels of transparency regulation in this area, in other words, by high opacity—a challenge that suggests a direction for further study.
A major contribution of this study is its construction of a model that can be used to initiate a process of homogenization of information on these services at local level, as well as in other municipal areas beyond social services. The MTSS is much simpler than the other existing models and includes many conceptual elements of transparency. It can also be used or adapted to measure transparency in other countries. Further, the MTSS promotes homogenization of information to improve transparency. As Bauhr and Grimes (2012) assert, with policymakers and researchers focus increasing attention on the importance of government transparency, the demand for greater conceptual clarity and authoritative measures on government transparency increases. Our model seeks to meet this demand. Finally, our study's definition and development of a model to facilitate and improve comparison among municipalities constitutes a step towards benchmarking and re-engineering to improve control and quality of the information to which citizens have access, potentially enhancing transparency and citizen interaction.
The most important limitations detected during our study affect the empirical research, specifically the application of the model. The complexity of the information search process and the amount of time needed to locate the information are limitations. We were unable to locate the information for some indicators at the time the information was tracked. In addition, the characteristics of the information on social services published by the municipalities prevented us from performing historical analysis, as there is no information on the indicators for earlier time periods. Finally, as not all countries have similar statistics and the sample is limited to a small number of municipalities, generalization of the results is not assured.
The conclusions drawn in this paper add detail to Layne and Lee (2001), who observe that e-government presents a series of challenges for public administrations. Addressing these challenges must proceed through several stages, and transparency processes are complicated and need space and time to mature.
Future lines of research will focus on the need to establish national policies, laws, or recommendations to generate local governments’ achievement of similar levels of transparency to avoid social dilemmas, as suggested by García-Sánchez, Frias-Aceituno, and Rodríguez-Domínguez (2013). It would also be interesting to study whether local governments report more or less strategic and socio-economic information when subjected to strong media pressure, since the press tends to focus on unusual and negative news and ignore other issues, such as the environment (Cuadrado-Ballesteros, Frias-Aceituno, and Martinez-Ferrero, 2014).
Another different but very useful line of future research could address accessibility to the citizen of information on social services at municipal level. As Bonsón, Royo, and Ratkai (2015) show, communication strategies in citizen participation are a fundamental factor in improving effectiveness of the information provided in promoting electronic participation.
In addition to all of the trends mentioned in the theoretical framework of this study, another approach that focuses on quality of information in transparency is gaining increasing strength and support (López Díaz, 2014; Dewi, Azam, and Yusoff, 2019; Sofyani, Riyadh, and Fahlevi, 2020). This focus also represents a promising way to advance the study of transparency.