Transparency has become one of the main pillars of good governance, promoting accountability and increasing the legitimacy of public decisions in recent decades. The expansion of access to information laws, the development of open government and the increasing demand of citizens to monitor the performance of public institutions have doubled the importance of examining the role of transparency in the policy-making process. This article reviews the most important theoretical approaches and empirical evidence on the requirements and challenges of transparency in public policy-making. The findings show that transparency can improve the quality of policy-making by reducing information asymmetry between citizens, policymakers and implementers, strengthening accountability, increasing public trust, promoting the legitimacy of decisions and improving the performance of public institutions. At the same time, the effectiveness of transparency depends on factors such as the quality of information, the existence of executive and supervisory mechanisms, civil society participation, institutional capacity and the way information is presented, and transparency alone does not guarantee improved performance. Overall, the results show that transparency is most effective when it is used as part of a comprehensive governance system and in interaction with other institutions and policy instruments, rather than simply as a means of disseminating information. Transparency has become one of the main pillars of good governance, promoting accountability and increasing the legitimacy of public decisions in recent decades. The expansion of access to information laws, the development of open government and the increasing demand of citizens to monitor the performance of public institutions have doubled the importance of examining the role of transparency in the policy-making process. This article reviews the most important theoretical approaches and empirical evidence on the requirements and challenges of transparency in public policy-making. The findings show that transparency can improve the quality of policy-making by reducing information asymmetry between citizens, policymakers and implementers, strengthening accountability, increasing public trust, promoting the legitimacy of decisions and improving the performance of public institutions. At the same time, the effectiveness of transparency depends on factors such as the quality of information, the existence of executive and supervisory mechanisms, civil society participation, institutional capacity and the way information is presented, and transparency alone does not guarantee improved performance. Overall, the results show that transparency is most effective when it is used as part of a comprehensive governance system and in interaction with other institutions and policy instruments, rather than simply as a means of disseminating information.Transparency has become one of the main pillars of good governance, promoting accountability and increasing the legitimacy of public decisions in recent decades. The expansion of access to information laws, the development of open government and the increasing demand of citizens to monitor the performance of public institutions have doubled the importance of examining the role of transparency in the policy-making process. This article reviews the most important theoretical approaches and empirical evidence on the requirements and challenges of transparency in public policy-making. The findings show that transparency can improve the quality of policy-making by reducing information asymmetry between citizens, policymakers and implementers, strengthening accountability, increasing public trust, promoting the legitimacy of decisions and improving the performance of public institutions. At the same time, the effectiveness of transparency depends on factors such as the quality of information, the existence of executive and supervisory mechanisms, civil society participation, institutional capacity and the way information is presented, and transparency alone does not guarantee improved performance. Overall, the results show that transparency is most effective when it is used as part of a comprehensive governance system and in interaction with other institutions and policy instruments, rather than simply as a means o