Self-government cannot succeed if the governed don’t know what their leaders are doing on their behalf. Citizens who let their government operate in the shadows reduce themselves to sheep, leaving their collective interest vulnerable to manipulation, malfeasance and other sorts of mischief.
Having government actions debated and decided in public view, and its records easily available to citizens and the press, is the best insurance against corruption and tyranny. That’s why open government is worth caring about, even if you’re not the sort who goes to city council meetings or tunes in to watch legislative hearings in Olympia.
It’s also why the American Society of Newspaper Editors is sponsoring Sunshine Week, an annual celebration of open government and the people’s right to know. (“Sunshine” refers to conducting the public’s business in the light of day.) According to a survey of American adults conducted for Sunshine Week, it’s a topic of growing concern: three-quarters said they believe the federal government is somewhat or very secretive, a significant increase over the past three years. The Bush administration’s arrogant penchant for operating in the shadows (warrantless wiretaps, Guantanamo, Alberto Gonzales, etc.) makes that finding unsurprising.
But state and local government didn’t fare well, either. Nearly half thought their state government was secretive, and 40 percent said the same about their local government.
The survey, conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University, also found that overwhelming majorities care strongly about where candidates at all levels — from president to school board — stand on open government issues. At election time, we’ll include questions about open government as we interview candidates during our endorsement process.
Washington has fairly strong sunshine laws, born of citizen demands for government accountability. So it’s no small concern that many local officials opposed a sensible bill this year that would have required closed sessions of public meetings to be recorded. The idea was to have a record of whether discussions in closed-door sessions veered away from a short list of acceptable topics — like litigation, personnel issues, labor negotiations and real estate transactions — in case such an accusation was made. Heavy lobbying by local elected officials killed the bill, which supporters vow to bring back next year.
The resistance of some elected officials to this kind of accountability measure if proof that open government, even at the local level, must never be taken for granted.
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