Keith,
Thanks for a thought provoking post. I have posted a response on my site that offers a different perspective on the issue. Perhaps, we are paying too low of price for the Leviathan and what it provides. If we paid a higher price, we might think that it had failed to deliver what it promised.
https://lawrenceserewicz.wordpress.com/2015/03/12/a-response-to-keith-ng-on-hobbess-leviathan/
I would be interested in your views and comments on it.

Thanks

Lawrence

Thanks for mentioning my blog. I had thought about openness, but I was following Seth Kreimer's work on transparency. I also wanted to tie into the "Transparency Agenda" which is the current coalition government's approach.
The FOIA reforms may be a stalking horse in that the work may raise issues, but not lead to fundamental changes. In many ways, it may just test the water for the need for other legislation or other initiatives. From a public perception front, it would be hard for a coalition government, which campaigned on openness and transparency (especially of its hardly veiled criticism of Blair) to row back on FOIA. However, politics is a strange game. :)

I will be very interested to see how the public records act compliance audits succeed. If they have the desired effect (easy for any side to take it to their advantage with a bit of political judo), they may find their way to the UK.

On the wider issue of transparency (or openess) and he political regime, I would be interested in any comments on my paper regarding FOIA in the UK.

Making Power Speak: the Power of Freedom of Information from a Practitioner's Perspective
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1955687