In the face of doubt, openness prevails: Final assessment of a social question related to the Obama administration’s policy of transparency.

In the face of doubt, openness prevails: Final assessment of a social question related to the Obama administration’s policy of transparency.
By Isaac Viel
13/March/2009

Project Background: Assigned to me Winter term of 2009 in an experimental class at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication named ‘Gateway’ was a research project to be generated from one simple social question. The question could be of my own choosing; however, it had to relate to the newly-elected Barack Obama and just one of his many campaign and/or inauguration promises. I chose to research transparency in the federal government to subsequently answer the question of whether or not President Obama’s promises for a more open and transparent government were well-founded and beneficial to the American public and world at large. The research throughout this project reflects my drive to answer my own should question. From various angles and media sources I set out to find a definite answer, and I did.

Official Social Question: Should the Obama administration implement a strong policy of openness and transparency?

Explanation: During his many campaign stops, speeches and debates, Barack H. Obama promised to usher in a new era of the Executive Branch—one that would be more open, more transparent and held more accountable by the public to which they serve.

In his Jan. 20, 2009 inauguration speech, Obama said, “And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account—to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day—because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.” It was this quote that thrust my research forward.

Obama’s promise came at time when the very roots of democracy were threatened and the structural walls of American society were crumbling due to the outgoing Bush Administration’s tight-fisted approach toward freedom of information and expediency of public documents.

Argument for transparency in government: Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Kansas Erik Herron defines transparency as the ability of citizens to obtain freely information about their elected and unelected officials allowing for democracy.

At the very root of democracy is the Freedom of Information Act, which was enacted in 1966 by Lyndon Johnson and [“Generally”] states that any person has the right, by law and enforceable in court, to whole or partial federal documents and records with the exception of those records protected by one of now nine exceptions. The act was put in place to protect the public with the notion that a properly functioning democracy requires openness and transparency.

To further the idea that freedom of information and its importance to American society is Larry Coonrod, Editor in Chief of the South Lincoln County News, who said in an interview, “Public documents are the foundation for democracy.” But simply being open does nothing unless everyone understands what openness achieves.

The ability of anyone to gain access to decisions, meetings, spending records, and budgets creates trust between the public and public officials. When trust is lost, cloaked in secrecy or betrayed outright it’s not easily regained. In order for Obama to gain back the trust that has been lost during the last decade or so, he must implement a policy of openness to act as a disinfectant according to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis who once argued, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”

I am not alone in wanting to “disinfect” the federal government. In fact, on Nov. 12, 2008, 60 public advocacy groups, working together, released a memorandum to Barack Obama (post election and pre-inauguration) urging him to reopen access to government documents in order to restore the much-derogated trust in public officials. I have also discovered that letting sunshine bathe our government officials can accomplish more than simply gaining the public’s trust.

The result of transparency is far-reaching. Besides the obvious benefits, there are some not so obvious benefits. On a macroeconomic scale, the World Trade Organization found, through empirical data, that governmental non-transparency has an adverse effect on foreign investments to that country. On a smaller microeconomic scale, author and business coach John-Paul Micek insists that transparency through the use of new media can help further the success of individual businesses.

Ensuing public access to documents and government openness is crucial for a healthy democracy, and thus keeping it congruent with emerging new media and technologies is equally as important. In a video released by the New America Foundation, technology and political pundits discuss the necessity of updating the government guarantying the public has a more efficient way of becoming well informed.

Becoming well informed, however, only goes so far to establishing a true democracy. To fulfill the promise of democracy, both Mick Masnick from Tech Dirt and Associate Professor at the American University Washington College of Law Amanda Frost agree that the ability to participate and gain access to lawmaking process, once informed, is the keystone of transparency. Shockingly, some disagree with open government.

To the average citizen, the prospect of transparency and access to public records is vital for keeping governments honest, efficient and free from corruption. An article in the Oklahoman newspaper covers a business advocacy group that argued against the public’s right to know, citing that the public’s knowledge of tax credits to local businesses is detrimental. Yale Professor and guest author for the popular blog Freakonomics Ian Ayers argues for less transparency in order to sometimes serve the public by offing to take away the right of candidates to know where monetary contributions come from thus reducing politician’s desires to pander only to specific people or groups. To a lesser extent, National President of the Public Relations Student Society of America Brandi Boatner, in an interview, offered that Obama does not need an official policy as long as he remains honest.

In conclusion, I feel strongly that the Obama Administration must implement and maintain a policy of openness and transparency for the sake of restoring public trust and reducing government inefficiency, bureaucracy and corruption. All policies and policymaking encompassing economic, heath care, national security, budgetary et al must be created and executed as visibly as technologically possible. We, as citizens of the United States have a guaranteed right to know how those who represent us, including private, non-elected, contractors, are accounting for everyone’s interests. We have the right know how tax money is being spent. This right to know has a root that has grown very deeply into the foundation our society and plays the most vital role in a healthy democracy.

Comprehensive source note list:

(SA1) Obama Inaugural Speech: Journalistic 1, Multimedia 1

(SA2) The Freedom of Information Act: Institutional 1

(SA3) Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies: Institutional 2

(SA4) BBC News: Obama pledges new ‘era of openness’: Journalistic 2, Multimedia 2

(SA5) Never before seen angle of the presidential inauguration: Journalistic 3, Image 1

(SA6) What is Government Transparency?: Academic 1

(SA7) Without access to policy making, transparency serves only as an “empty right”: Academic 2

(SA8) RE: The Freedom of Information Act: Institutional 3

(SA9) More People See Federal Government as Secretive; Nearly All Want to Know Where Candidates Stand on Transparency: Institutional 4, Image 2

(SA10) The Impact of Transparency on Foreign Direct Investment: Institutional 5

(SA11) The President Orders Transparency: Journalistic 4

(SA12) Taxpayer Transparency Act opposed by State Chamber: Journalistic 5

(SA13) Government Transparency via Open Data and Open Source: Citizen 1, Image 3

(SA14) Transparency via GAO, Academia: Citizen 2

(SA15) Who’s Against Transparency in Government? A Guest Post: Citizen 3

(SA16) New executive order means more secrecy: Institutional 6

(SA17) (SA17) Secrecy Report Card 2008: Institutional 7, Image 4

(SA18) Shouldn’t Government Transparency Be Included In The Legislative Process… Not Just The Aftermath?: Citizen 4

(SA19) Clinton WH vets doubt Obama openness vow: Journalistic 6

(SA20) Wiki White House Can Obama Use Technology to Transform Government?: Institutional 8, Multimedia 3

(SA21) “Public documents are the foundation for democracy.” Interview with Larry Coonrod: Citizen 5, Interview 1

(SA22) No policy needed. Interview with PRSSA National President Brandi Boatner: Citizen 6, Interview 2

(SA23) Mike Luckovich cartoon: Journalistic 7, Image 5

(SA24) Let there be light: Academic 3

(SA25) Due Process: The Freedom of Information Act: Journalistic 8, Multimedia 4

(SA26) Sunshine Laws should be updated for an e-world: Academic 4

(SA27) Bush Backtracks on Transparency: Academic 5

(SA28) Headzup: Freedom Of Information No More: Citizen 7, Multimedia 5

(SA29) When Transparency Kills: A Lesson From Barack Obama: Citizen 8, Multimedia 6

(SA30) “Government transparency and freedom of information … is absolutely essential in a democracy”: Citizen 9, Interview 3

(SA27) Bush Backtracks on Transparency

Title: Bush Backtracks on Transparency
Publication Information: Information Management; May / June 2008, Vol. 42 Issue 3
Summary: This article outlines the George W. Bush Administration’s Open Government Act of 2007 and the new rules for how federal agencies process Freedom of Information Act requests. It also outlines the creation of the Office of Government Information Services. The act also appoints an ombudsman, whose funding later is appointed to the Department of Justice in FY ‘09, that would have the authority to settle disputes between government agencies and solicitors of government documents effectively creating a FOIA conflict of interest.

Topic: Should the Obama administration implement a strong policy of openness and transparency?
Category: Academic 5
What is it? Article
Date: May / June 2008
Author: No Author Listed
Location: EBSCO via Knight Library online
Accessed: 08/March/2009

Support:
George W. Bush, US president
Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and John Cornyn (R- Tex.)
Office of Government Information Services
Department of Justice
FY 2009 US Budget
Jim Nussle, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Inter Press Service

These sources represent help illustrate and tell the story of the Bush’s Open Government Act and his later appointment of an ombudsmen to the DOJ. The source are also lawmakers who talk about what they are doing to prevent the ombudsman’s move to the DOJ so to preserve American citizen’s rights to documents freely and independently of the agency that represents other agencies being sued in Freedom of Information Act cases.

Audience and Agenda:
Information Management journal is printed 6 times per year and follows trends in records, information management, technologies, and best practices in business. Business professional and thought leaders write its articles. IM is published by ARMA International, a professional non-profit association and authority on records management and information. The journal is directed toward businesses, researchers and information managers who deal with in information management. Their print circulating is 11,000.

Usefulness:
The article is useful because it explains how the Bush administration actually made government less transparent by signing into law the Open Government Act of 2007 and appointing a FOIA ombudsman to the department of Justice creating a conflict of interest and subsequently hindering government transparency. I can use this article to point out some of the ways that Bush tried to hinder transparency while he was in office by hiding things like the ombudsman’s move to DOJ in large policies such as the FY2009 budget.

Works referenced / Links:
http://www.arma.org/advertising/media_kit_09.pdf
http://www.arma.org/index.cfm
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=open+government+act+of+2007&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/amendment-s2488.pdf
http://historycoalition.org/2009/02/06/director-of-office-of-government-information-services-vacancy-announced/

(SA26) Sunshine Laws should be updated for an e-world

Title: Sunshine Laws should be updated for an e-world
Publication Information: Quill article, Aug. 2005, Vol. 93 Issue 6
Summary: The article suggests bringing government into the twenty-first century by updating electronic records in the U.S. based on suggestions from the report, Louisiana’s Sunshine Laws: The Promise and Peril of New Technology, by Charlotte Bergeron. The article recommends amending state records laws to include and define e-mail and web sites as public records and change the regulation on open meetings laws requiring public groups to post meeting information, notices and minutes on their respective web sites.

Topic: Should the Obama administration implement a strong policy of openness and transparency?
Category: Academic 4
What is it? Article
Date: August 2005
Author: Joel Campbell
Location: EBSCO via Knight Library online. Available online to SPJ members.
Accessed: 8/March/2009

Support:
Officials and journalists
State of Colorado
Marion Brechner Citizen Access Project at the University of Florida
“Experts”
Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana
Louisiana’s Sunshine Laws: The Promise and Peril of New Technology, by Charlotte Bergeron

The support in this article is used to explain that while technology is moving forward the laws surrounding public requests and open records need to be updated accordingly to reflect the increasing amount of government business conducted electronically via e-mail. The author points out the lack of definition especially for e-mails, the difficulty journalists face accessing these documents and he then goes on to point out suggestions made in the article Louisiana’s Sunshine Laws: The Promise and Peril of New Technology.

Audience and Agenda:
Quill is a national research journal founded by the Society of Professional Journalists in 1912 and serves as a podium to present ideas and research by those in the journalism industry. For the past 97 years, Quill has become a well-respected resource for journalists, industry leaders, students and educators on issues central to journalism. The journal publishes on several topics including, ethics, diversity, journalism education, international journalism and industry trends.

Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, a journalism fraternity, SPJ is a membership-based consortium of journalist dedicated to advocating and encouraging journalism, high standards of ethical behavior and promoting “the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry through the daily work of its nearly 10,000 members.” According to a 2001 Readex Profile Survey, Quill has circulation of 10,636 and a total readership of 21,000. Their primary audience is members of SPJ and journalists in print and broadcast media with a median age of 44.

Author Joel Campbell is co-chairman of SPJ’s Freedom of Information Committee and co-chairman of the Department of Communications, Brigham Young University with an emphasis on print journalism. He has received the Roy B. Gibson Freedom of Information Award and Clifford P. Cheney Service to Journalism Award.

Usefulness:
This article helps establish a clear list of things the government should do in order to become more transparent and why doing so parallels modern technology, which helps to define the laws that govern open documents. This, in-turn, will help citizens and journalist access these documents and thus create a more politically-informed society.

Works referenced / Links:
http://comms.byu.edu/index.php?id=100&act=1&eid=92
http://www.spj.org/quillmediakit.asp
http://www.spj.org/aboutspj.asp
http://www.la-par.org/Publications/PDF/Sun2.pdf
http://www.spj.org/news.asp?ref=612
http://comms.byu.edu/index.php?id=100&act=1&eid=92

(SA24) Let there be light

Title: Let there be light
Publication Information: Columbia Journalism Review editorial for January/February
Summary: Editorial recommending some steps Barack Obama should take in order to make government transparent again after the secrecy of the Bush administration. They advise Obama to restore the original intentions of both the Freedom of Information and the Presidential Records acts.

Topic: Should the Obama administration implement a strong policy of openness and transparency?
Category: Academic 3
What is it? Editorial published in the January/February issue of Columbia Journalism Review
Author: No author listed. Editorial staff.
Location: Found through Academic Search Premier. Also available online http://www.cjr.org/editorial/let_there_be_light_1.php?page=all
Accessed: 4/March/2009

Support:
George W. Bush, former president
Dick Cheney, former vice president
“brief memos, unilateral executive orders, and signal flags”
Freedom of Information Act
Presidential Records Act
Obama’s first budget proposal
The National Security Archive
Sunshine in Government Initiative
21st Century Right to Know Project

The editorial uses this support to help present their case in a timeline fashion working from the secrecy of the Bush Administration and mishandling of the Freedom of Information Act. They move from the history of the past eight years to the proposal to Obama about what they think he should do when he takes office. It also mentions other groups who have written proposals to the Obama Administration.

Audience and Agenda:
Columbia Journalism Review is a bimonthly magazine directed toward media professionals of which, 90 percent are college graduates. According to CJ’s mission statement their objective is “to encourage and stimulate excellence in journalism in the service of a free society.” They are a double duty publication by being both a “watchdog and a friend of the press in all its forms” publishing both in print and web forms. It was founded in 1961 by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and publishes six times per year and has a circulation of 19,000. CJR.org receives 7,655 visits per day according to Statbrain. Donors to the CJR include The Ford Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Open Society Institute. In 2007, CJR had a budget of $2.3 million.

Usefulness:
This editorial is useful because it helps make the case that the Obama administration should move toward changing the policies of the federal government that have come into fruition in the past eight years of the Bush administration. What also makes the editorial useful is their choice of formatting. Also useful: They use brief, poignant descriptions and recommendations that not only the incoming administration will understand, but the layperson can understand as well. Overall, the editorial is a good compass for what changes need to be brought about and why they are important.

Works referenced:
http://www.cjr.org/about_us/mission_statement.php
http://www.cjr.org/editorial/let_there_be_light_1.php?page=all
http://www.cjr.org/advertise/about_our_readers.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Journalism_Review
http://www.soros.org/
http://www.knightfoundation.org/
http://fordfound.org/

(SA7) Without access to policy making, transparency serves only as an “empty right”

(SA7) Without access to policy making, transparency serves only as an “empty right”

Summary: Article comparing and contrasting transparency movements between the United States and the European Union finding that without public access to decision making, too, transparency is an “empty right.”

Topic: Should the Obama administration implement a strong policy of openness and transparency?

Category: Academic 2

What is it? Academic article published in the journal European Public Law

Title: Restoring Faith in Government: Transparency Reform in the United States and the European Union
Publication Information: European Public Law; Mar2003, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p87-104, 18p
Author: Amada Frost
Location: EBSCO via Knight Library Online
Accessed: 04/02/09

Support:
Fritz Scharpf, political scientist

Frost mentions political scientist Fritz Scharpf who said that the roll of transparency in the US is an ‘output-orientated’ device as opposed to an ‘input-orientated’ device.

Audience and Agenda:
Readership is unavailable. The journal is written for academic researchers and professional who work in the field of public law and more specifically European public law. The articles in the journal are meant to give detailed analysis of public law in individual member states and how it is shaped by the formation of the European Union.

European Public Law is a peer-reviewed journal edited and compiled at the Institute of European Public Law at the University of Hull in Hull, UK. The journal is published and owned, however, by Aspen Publishers, located in New York, NY. The Journal is published quarterly. The author of the article, Amada Frost is an associate professor of law at the American University Washington College of Law in Washington D.C. Her areas of specialty include The Federal Court System and Federal Jurisdiction, Civil Procedure and Statutory Interpretation. She wrote this under the banner of the Public Citizen Litigation Group a nonprofit consumer advocacy group dedicated to representing consumer interests in Congress, the executive branch and the courts. The group claims to be funded by citizen donations not corporate, professional or government.

Usefulness:
This article is an extremely useful tool in showing that transparency in government is argued for and shown to be useful for a democracy to function for the people. However, it is also a good article in that it points out the flaws of implementing a strictly transparency only policy. It makes that case that for a democracy to function efficiently and without fraud, the public must also have access to decision making equally—if not more so than transparency. Also, this article gives me plenty of sources and new directions for me to look into included different act, and laws, referenced articles which cover transparency.

Works referenced:
rost, Amanda. “Restoring Faith in Government: Transparency Reform in the United States and the European Union.” European Public Law 9.1 (Mar. 2003): 87-104. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Knight Library], [Eugene], [OR]. 5 Feb. 2009. No outside access to article.

No author listed. “European Public Law Journal.” University of Hull. University of Hull. 5 Feb 2009 <http://www.hull.ac.uk/law/pubs/eplj/index.html>.

No author listed. “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Hull.” Wikipedia. 02 FEB 2009. Wikipedia. 5 Feb 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Hull>.

No author listed. “European Public Law.” Kluwer Online. 2009. Wolters Kluwers Law & Business and Aspen Publishers. 5 Feb 2009 <http://www.kluwerlawonline.com/productinfo.php?pubcode=EURO>.

No author listed. “Amanda Frost.” Washington College of Law. 2009. American University Washington College of Law. 5 Feb 2009 <http://www.wcl.american.edu/faculty/frost/>.

No author listed. “Washington College of Law.” Wikipedia. 29 JAN 2009. Wikipedia. 5 Feb 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_College_of_Law>.

(SA6) What is Government Transparency?

(SA6) What is government transparency?

Summary: Summery of the definition and importance of the government transparency according to Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas, Erik Herron.

Topic: Should the Obama administration implement a strong policy of openness and transparency?
Category: Academic 1
What is it? Academic website FAQ

Title: What is government transparency?
Publication Information: Erik Herron’s Guide to Politics in East Central Europe and Eurasia. Originally posted on 1/15/2000
Author: Erik Herron
Location: http://web.ku.edu/~herron/info_policy/infopol_FAQ.html – What_is_Gov_Trans
Accessed: 03/02/09

Support:
Elected and Unelected officials
Civil Society
Citizens
Soviet Union

The sources mentioned in the brief are used as examples of government transparency. Transparency allows citizens to obtain freely information about their elected and unelected officials allowing for democracy. He mentions the now-defunct Soviet Union as an example of government with little transparency “located toward the more restrictive end of the continuum.”

Audience and Agenda: Originally developed by Erik Herron in 1998 as a research tool for undergraduate students taking politics of the Soviet Union and successor states at Michigan State University, the guide is now paid for and hosted by the University of Kansas located in Lawrence. KU Department of Political Science provides support for the site. The site, which comprises thousands of links and dozens of research papers on political science, is used as a tool for research on politics and economics in transition states i.e. those of the former Soviet Union. No information is available concerning web statistics. Herron is an well-published associate professor at the University of Kansas in the Department of Political Science. He has studied and traveled extensively throughout Eastern Europe. His research focuses on political institutions and more specifically the election process. He also works as a bibliographer for the Representation and Electoral Systems Section of the Political Science Association.

Usefulness:
The purpose of this source is to define what, exactly, transparency in government is. I will use this definition, along with others as a guide in my research. Without a proper definition there can be basis of research into the subject. I found this definition to be the most straight forward and objective. This source also starts me on path of comparing and contrasting other countrys’ views on transparency especially those that are less transparent.

Works referenced:
No Author Listed, “About the site.” Erik Herron’s Guide to Politics in East Central Europe and Eurasia. University of Kansas Department of Political Science. 3 Feb 2009 <http://web.ku.edu/~herron/about.html>.

No Author Listed, “Erik S. Herron.” University of Kansas. 2009. University of Kansas. 3 Feb 2009 <http://www2.ku.edu/~kups/people/Faculty/Herron_Erik.shtml>.

Herron, Erik S.. “Erik S. Herron.” University of Kansas. University of Kansas. 3 Feb 2009 <http://people.ku.edu/~eherron/>.

No Author Listed, “Elections.” Georgia Tech Library and Information Center. Georgia Tech. 3 Feb 2009 <http://www.library.gatech.edu/research_help/subject/index.php?/international_affairs/elections2/2896>.