A Private Threat to Democratic Accountability? Measuring transparency in Dutch public-private partnerships

This paper is about transparency in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). In PPPs public bodies cooperate on contractual based agreements with the private sector to provide public goods. This new way of realizing public services could inhibit transparency, because not all relevant information is disclosed to the public. Especially information that might be commercially sensitive is kept confidential. This lack of transparency could threaten democratic accountability. Transparency is a really important component of accountability, without information the government can’t be hold accountable. In the paper I’ll explore important concepts like accountability, transparency and commercial confidentiality. Also I give information about studies conducted in foreign countries that provide evidence for a lack of transparency in PPPs abroad. Further I present a research I conducted among Dutch PPPs to establish if PPPs in the Netherlands have a transparency problem. The paper ends with the conclusions and recommendations.