Exploring patterns of implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in local government: the case of Italy

Legislative decree no. 97 of 25 May 2016 introduced the right of citizens to view and acquire data, documents and information held by Italian public bodies. This right, which can be exercised by anyone and is not subject to a fee, has been called generalised civic access. Thus, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), that appeared in the 1960s in the United States and then spread throughout the world, was adopted in Italy, albeit with much delay.The aim of the present article is to determine the level of implemen-tation of generalised civic access provisions in the 307 Italian municipal-ities having a population over 30,000. Overall, the empirical study showed that a substantial percentage of municipalities had not implemented FOIA dispositions. The lowest levels of implementation were found in smaller municipalities and in those situated in Southern Italy.