Transparency in municipalities in transformation: an overview of compliance with the Access to Information Law

Law No. 12,527/2011 has been in force since May 2012. Known as the Access to Information Law (LAI), it represents an important legal framework in the search for more transparency, both in the use of public resources and in access to information by society. This paper analyzes the active and passive transparency described in this legislation. To this end, it uses the methodology used by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Union in the 2nd edition of the Transparent Brazil Scale (EBT) and brings questions sent through the Electronic Citizen Information System (e-SIC) provided for by the LAI. 20 municipalities are analyzed, 10 of which were the ones with the highest percentage population growth between the 2010 and 2022 Censuses and the 10 that showed a decrease in population in the same period. The highest EBT score was in Canaã dos Carajás/PA with 9.54 and the lowest in Querência/MT with 4.08. The average score was 6.58. The regulation of the LAI at the municipal level was found in 12 municipalities. Only five prefectures responded to the questions asked via e-SIC. It was found that the level of transparency does not depend on the degree of growth of the municipality.