The politics of information : the case of the European Union

Starting from the basic assumption that institutionalized processes of information transfers are never entirely neutral but advantage certain types of information over others, this powerful collection presents the results of a research agenda that, through empirical investigation, systematically examines how information plays a key role in policy-making. As a very dynamic environment characterized by many different modes of information gathering and processing, the European Union forms a particularly interesting venue in which to test the 'politics of information' approach. With a mandate to go beyond the general assertion that informational asymmetry matters, the study has selected a number of pivotal EU actors and policy areas, studying them through 'information lenses'. More concretely the different contributions present a better understanding of the politics of information by examining the formal rules of information access, distribution and processing and by studying how these rules are applied in the day-to-day policy process.