Uncovering Dynamics of Open Government, Transparency, Participation, and Collaboration

This paper investigates the prospects and compares the potential pathways of the open government, transparency, collaboration, and citizen participation initiatives in the US and in Mexico. The study aims at increasing the understanding to what extent and under which circumstances these initiatives might successfully establish or re-establish the balance of powers among the branches of government and major government-external players, which the founding fathers of the US constitution once had envisioned. We present a dynamic hypothesis geared at capturing the nonlinear dynamics in the relationships of the major players involved. An initial dynamic hypothesis poses that several favorable circumstances need to come into play together in order to make the vision of an inclusive and power-balanced democracy of the 21st century a reality. We suggest that the outcomes in the US and in Mexico might significantly differ from each other.