The More the Better? Transparency and Anti-Corruption Initiatives from the Civil Society. The Case of Fondazione Openpolis.

Corruption in policy-making can be addressed by undertaking practical actions with a view to increase the transparency of its actors. Accessing sensitive data relating to decision makers, public representatives, and organizations is fundamental to the citizen in order to monitor and report on the operating of such actors, and assess whether and how the relations with the business and third parties is to the detriment of the public interest. But what happens when this aspiration is not meet and rulers fail to take effective countermeasures? Do agents from civil society are able to trigger a change in a national normative framework which is considered suitable no longer? The case of Fondazione Openpolis may well represent an example of fruitful lobbying from a civil society's think tank aiming to set a standard of transparency for actors in politics. This paper illustrates where such initiative has been particularly significant, as in the case of Italian political parties and political foundations. It describes the context in which demands for more transparency have been raised, and pays attention to pointing out the results and identifying the limits of the initiative with regard national law.