Vol. 10 No. 2 (February 2000) pp. 106-107.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND THE RIGHT TO KNOW: THE ORIGINS AND APPLICATIONS OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT by Herbert N. Foerstel. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. 232 pp. Cloth $59.95.

Reviewed by Lawrence E. Rothstein, Department of Political Science, University of Rhode Island.

Herbert Foerstel, former head of Branch Libraries at the University of Maryland, board member of the National Security Archive and author of several books on information access, is clearly knowledgeable on information issues. His experiences have led him to be a strong advocate for freer access to the information in the hands of government. The book is written from this point of view, drawing on several informal interviews with leaders of organizations seeking greater access to government records.

The first section of the book begins with a very sketchy history of the law regarding government openness and access to government information, emphasizing those materials that might support a constitutional right to know. The story moves from there to a brief legislative history of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and its amendments. Foerstel greatly credits the persistence of Representative Moss and his subcommittee with the development and passage of the FOIA. The second section of the book, while stressing the general resistance of government to the Act and to the prompt fulfillment of information requests, begins with a treatment of the most responsive agencies, Health and Human Services (particularly the FDA), the Department of Defense, and the Department of Justice. Foerstel emphasizes
the important roles of freedom of information professionals in these agencies in consistently working with requesters to provide information as quickly and comprehensively as possible.

By looking at the performance of the "best practice" agencies first, he provides maximum contrast with the recalcitrance of the least responsive agencies, not surprisingly the FBI, the CIA and the National Security Agency. According to Foerstel, officials in these agencies believe that their files should have a blanket exemption from the FOIA. In addition, he stresses the constant narrowing of the act by court decisions that tend to agree that law enforcement and national security agency files should be exempt. He gives special recognition to Reagan administration policies resistant to expanding access to information. A significant part of the problem, Foerstel admits, is also the low priority and lack of resources allocated to FOI in most government agencies.

In a section on effective use of the FOIA, Foerstel notes that news organizations have largely given up on the Act because of the tardiness of responses. Congress, although occasionally resorting to the Act, primarily pursues its information requests by other means. Private individuals tend not to have the knowledge, the resources and the perseverance to make much use of the Act. In fact, the

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preponderance of requests comes from corporations seeking information about their competitors. The remainder of this section contains brief summaries of the activities of public interest organizations that have as a major function improving access to, and the collection of, government records. The covered organizations include the National Security Archive, the Center for National Security Studies, Public Citizen, American Civil Liberties Union, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and People for the American Way.

The remainder of the book documents recent and continuing impediments to the "right to know." In particular, Foerstel notes the limited follow-through of the Clinton administration on initial promises for more open government, the slow progress by many agencies (with notable exceptions) in implementing the Electronic Freedom of Information Amendments of 1996, and the continued hostility of the courts and the security agencies. The final paragraph concludes that freedom of information is furthered only when Congress exercises its oversight in a muscular manner. This is an interesting and important hypothesis that should have been the subject of more careful analysis and documentation throughout the book.


The book is clearly written and reads very easily. But it is a slim volume in many ways. It is probably best suited for refreshing the memory of someone like me who had studied and used the FOIA in the distant past, but had not followed its later development. It assumes too much knowledge to be intelligible to the complete novice. Yet, it is much too anecdotal and sketchy to be useful to those familiar with the workings of the FOIA or to those interested in systematically collected data on the use or effectiveness of the FOIA. Although a major section is headed "Effective Use of the FOIA", it is not adequate as a "how to" reference. The chapter notes are barely adequate, but there are useful appendices containing the statute with notes on the 1996 amendments and selective case list that references the exemption or process issue treated in the case.


Copyright 2000 by the author.