Government serves the public most effectively when it conducts its affairs in the open. The Founding Fathers crafted a governing system that puts power in the hands of the people; it is therefore only right that the people be able to attend meetings, review documents and otherwise assert oversight to ensure adherence to the public will.
Advocating for government transparency shouldn’t be a partisan issue, nor should it be particularly controversial. During Sunshine Week (March 16-22), elected officials should join with citizens to defend the public’s right to know and commit to making government more open and accessible for all.
James Madison is known as the father of the Constitution, in addition to being the fourth president and a proud son of Virginia. His work during the Constitutional Convention and in the pitched battles for ratification showed his fervent belief that empowering the people with the right to choose their elected officials would require a well informed voting public.
“[A] popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps, both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives,” he wrote in an 1822 letter.
While that could be taken to mean citizens have a responsibility to engage in civic affairs and to educate themselves about those issues debated in the public square, it also asserts a responsibility on the part of government to make information available for such purposes. A population without access to the meetings and records of government would struggle to be knowledgeable about what is done on the people’s behalf.
While such transparency may be a cornerstone of our constitutional republic, it exists in tension with government’s desire to operate without public scrutiny. Certainly the work of government would be more expedient without the imposition of oversight, but it would also be more dangerous and deviate sharply from the founders’ intent.
Codifying the public’s right to know in law took time, but in 1967 Congress passed and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act, asserting a presumption of openness for government documents. Frequently cited by journalists seeking access to records, the federal FOIA is instead a legal tool for all Americans to learn more about public actions taken by government.
It’s no surprise that, as home to Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and founders of the republic, Virginia also has a strong open government law, the state FOIA. It sets forth, in unmistakable language, that, “The affairs of government are not intended to be conducted in an atmosphere of secrecy since at all times the public is to be the beneficiary of any action taken at any level of government.”
Yet, the Virginia law also includes numerous exemptions that erode the force of that statement. Some are narrow, some are overly broad in their language, and many are frequently exploited by government officials eager to keep information from public review. Records that are withheld without good reason, and meetings held behind closed doors without justification, diminish the capacity of the public to be informed citizens.
Advocating for government transparency takes a turn in the spotlight each year during Sunshine Week, which coincides with Madison’s birthday on March 16. It’s an opportunity to assert the importance of open government, a cause Madison spearheaded, and encourages the public to demand that government officials, and those who aspire to serve in elected office, honor their responsibilities to making information available.
The founders knew that the success of their democratic experiment depended on a well-informed public, and it’s crucial that the laws asserting accessibility and accountability are honored. Government is ours, and it should be working on the people’s behalf. Transparency laws, both federal and state, are the most important mechanism to ensure that remains the case.