Transparency and Normative Governance: Conceptual and Analytical Developments

Transparency has had a multifaceted development that resulted in a broad range of applications, from arts and architecture to natural and engineering sciences. At its core, transparency remains a fundamental element of normative governance, whether applied to commons, publics, or orderings. Transparency can be viewed as a narrative composed of metaphors and metaphorical meanings. This narrative is determined by its relationship with a systemic perspective, encompassing inputs, mechanisms, outputs and outcomes. The narrative dimension of transparency is twofold: first, as a typical story arc moving from beginning to end with various developments and episodes, and second, as a literal narration of elements taking shape together or in relation to others. Based on a large-scale text-as-data approach from nearly twenty thousand scholarly works, this contribution analyses the observable and identifiable aspects of transparency in the literature, highlighting the differences between openly visible elements and those that require activation through specific actions or observations. This distinction is particularly relevant in policy development and oversight mechanisms. The focus of this analysis, then, is on the conceptual development of transparency within the framework of public institutions, examining the institutional narrative of its evolution. This exploration of transparency's conceptual history reveals its complex and multifaceted nature. By examining its development across various disciplines and its application in public institutions, we gain a deeper understanding of how transparency has become a central concept in modern governance and societal norms.