4 Transparency as an Instrumental Value

WHEREAS CHAPTER 2 OF THIS BOOK analysed directions and varieties of transparency, this chapter addresses a single question. Is transparency to be valued intrinsically or instrumentally, or both? Put differently, is transparency a core concern or is it a building block for other valued objects sought by public policy? There is not necessarily a single answer to this question, but posing it will make it easier to assess the contemporary claims made in the name of transparency. This chapter argues that transparency should be valued instrumentally, and that attempts to elevate it to instrinsic value should be resisted. It proceeds on the basis that transparency—the sunlight metaphor— brings great benefits to economies, governments, and societies. However, as Chapter 2 demonstrated, there has to be sophistication about directions and varieties of transparency and also subtlety about the specific habitats within which they are situated. In general terms, at very low levels of transparency, more transparency is likely to be beneficial. The trade-offs are most apparent when transparency is already high, in which circumstance the direction and variety, not just the amount, of the incremental transparency will strongly influence the relationship between benefits and costs.