Today the demand for transparency is omnipresent. In particular transparency is considered a
prerequisite for good governance for political participation and democracy. On closer
inspection however transparency proves to be ambivalent. For complete transparency has not
yet been achieved anywhere. Moreover measures to increase transparency can have the opposite
effect and stir up mistrust. Historians are just beginning to discover this topic. The volume
assembles contributions covering European history since the 19th century. The contributors
focus on political and cultural history but include also economic and media history as well as
the history of ideas. They analyse publicly debated demands and efforts for transparency
conceived as the access to information or ist disclosure.
