Making Government Transparent and Accountable
The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Underlying all of our efforts is a fundamental belief that increased transparency will improve the public's confidence in government
The Sunlight Foundation Blog
-
Transparency Around the World
(Note: this post has been updated since it was first published—see below)
It’s Sunshine Week again, and in that spirit I want to share a recent story about open government. Two weeks ago, a government professional from the Republic of Korea looked over at me and, through an interpreter, said he was going to tell me why their political system is better than America’s.
It was an interesting moment for me. At the meeting were three additional South Korean professionals, and I listened attentively as their interpreter related the gist of the argument:
- Corporations in South Korea are prohibited from spending money on political activity.
- Individuals can spend up to $5,000 per year on National Assembly races, and they can only give to four candidates per year.
- Any spending above $3,000 must be disclosed.
How did I find myself in this situation? For starters, it wasn’t the first time! One of the many pleasant aspects about working at the Sunlight Foundation is the simple act of talking about open government with other interested parties. In this case, it was a delegation of professionals from Korea. The trip was arranged by World Learning, as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program administered by the U.S. State Department. Yesterday’s was the fifth such meeting I’ve participated in since I started at Sunlight—previously, my colleagues and I discussed transparency with a delegation of Dutch officials, an activist/videographer from Australia, a political science professor from Colombia, and officials from Latin America.
I was a little playful in that last paragraph, but the meetings are more than just “pleasant.” (Continue reading…)
-
Local Sunlight
Every week I climb into the depths of the local political blogosphere to find the Sunlight. I use this series to highlight local blogs that do a great job of covering local, state, and congressional political news. This week I have highlights from Oklahoma, Missouri and Hawaii.In Oklahoma, Batesline has a quick post about the city of Tulsa’s charter being in PDF form on their Web site. This wasn’t alright for Beau McElhattan who made a hyperlinked HTML version of the charter and city policies and procedures. I think everyone knows how Sunlight feels about PDFs. Which is why I think someone taking the initiative to turn a PDF into a HTML linked document is fantastic! It shows that this measure really isn’t hard and cities and town can do it easily if they ask someone who knows how.
In Missouri, The Turner Report has a post highlighting the relationship between bills introduced and campaign contributions given. The Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields represents a district with casino interests, in turn, he receives a great deal of campaign donations from casinos, then he introduces pro casino legislation. There isn’t anything wrong with this, in fact it makes sense, however Turner Report makes a good point. This information should be public and not just for Shields but for all elected officials. There isn’t anything necessarily wrong with pressing legislation that an interest from district wants, but it shouldn’t be hidden.
In Hawaii, Ian Lind has a post on the University of Hawaii Board of Regents possible violations of Sunshine Laws. Apparently Hawaii’s Sunshine laws are very specific regarding closed to the public meetings. If a public entity has a closed to public meeting they must have a schedule, detailing everything that will be discussed, available before hand. However, the UH Board of Regents had a meeting and discussed a topic that was not on the schedule. The Board is open to some repercussions, but this is clearly a case where the law is clear and there should be consequences.
-
Calls and Calendars for Congress?
Yesterday, the Associated Press reported on regular phone calls made from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to CEOs of the nation’s largest banks and big shots in the financial services industry.
While the AP story focuses on the results of the examination after they obtained the records, when it comes to transparency, the fact that the AP was able to obtain the records at all is perhaps even more important. In this case, the AP was able to obtain Geithners phone records through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and in so doing, got a “behind-the-scenes glimpse at the continued influence of three companies…”
Now imagine if members of Congress kept these same kind of records and we could ask for access to them? Or even better: your member of Congress voluntarily shared what they were doing and who they were meeting with you…
We elect them; we pay them; and in the same way our organizational calendars are often shared with our bosses, how much more would you trust your member of Congress if s/he did the same?
(Continue reading…)
-
Obama Blocks Visitor Log Disclosure
This is pretty disheartening. The Obama administration is continuing to use the same arguments the Bush administration used to block disclosure of visitor logs, even in limited cases. Both msnbc.com and, in a more limited request, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) were denied access to the logs by the Secret Service. The Service claimed that the logs are presidential and not agency records, thus not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This continues the policy implemented by the Bush White House as they tried to block disclosure of visits to the White House by leaders of the Religious Right and, later, corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Despite court rulings requiring the disclosure of the logs, the Bush administration continued to stonewall and appeal the decisions. The Obama adminsitration has continued those appeals, while also saying the policy is “under review.” This looks like another example of the Executive Branch refusing to reliquinsh unnecessary secrecy that it seized in the face of a court order. This is also far more harmful to Executive Branch transparency than the failure to post bills on WhiteHouse.gov for five days. Hopefully, when the administration says that the policy is “under review” they actually mean it and this isn’t like the Supreme Leader of Iran saying that he will investigate election fraud.
-
Thoughts on a Lord of Finance’s Schedule
If ever we saw the fruits, and possibilities, of disclosure and transparency, it is in this New York Times profile of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The article is based largely off of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) release of Geithner’s 2007-2008 schedule when he served as president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank. The 658-page schedule is a monument, not only to the FOIA system (and to the new “presumption towards disclosure” ordered by President Obama and AG Holder), but also to what active disclosure could look like. Imagine these records released as the meetings were happening.
While the schedule rarely explains the contents of the meetings, the running list of financial titans tells its own story. As Joseph Stiglitz explains in the Times article:
“I don’t think that Tim Geithner was motivated by anything other than concern to get the financial system working again,” Mr. Stiglitz said. “But I think that mindsets can be shaped by people you associate with, and you come to think that what’s good for Wall Street is good for America.”
The Geithner profile shows his repeated meetings with Wall Street titans, particularly executives and high-level employees of Citigroup, the once-mighty superbank. The disclosure of these meetings helps explain the decisions that Geithner made during his term at the New York Fed and as Treasury Secretary. They are a vital part of the public record.
In Washington, the disclosure of these kinds of contacts would also be vitally important, not only for public consumption but for the awareness of lawmakers. If we were allowed to see the schedules of contacts made by lobbyists and influencers, stories like these — pulling back the curtain — would proliferate. Imagine every contact by a registered lobbyist or influencer to a congressional office and executive branch agency reported into a database, made into a schedule, and made available online.
This kind of transparency would alter the way the public sees politics in Washington. It would also provide lawmakers and others an important view into the pressure tactics of interest groups and lobbyists, something that they ought to be privvy to, to help make better decisions in their representative capacity. The more real-time disclosure we have the more likely stories like the Geithner profile will be able to come out while decisions are being made and not through when we are looking through the rear-view mirror.
-
EPA Administrator Promises Transparency, Engagement
In an internal memorandum to all Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson pronounced a commitment to transparency and issued a variety of orders to agency employees. Echoing President Obama’s statement in support of transparency, calling “Information maintained by the Federal Government a national asset,” Jackson lays out a policy that would increase engagement with the public, mandate a proactive disclosure policy for documents available under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and stated that she would disclose her daily meeting schedule, encouraging other top EPA officials to do the same too.
One of the key priorities in the document is a statement that the EPA will use all means of communication possible to engage the public in the rule-making process.
“Public participation in Agency rulemaking proceedings may take a variety of forms, including public hearings and meetings, workshops, forums, focus groups, surveys, roundtables, Federal Register notice-and-comment procedures, advisory committee meetings, informal meetings with interested parties, internet-based dialogues, and other opportunities for informal dialogue, consistent with applicable legal requirements. I encourage our staff to be creative and innovative in the tools we use to engage the public in our decision-making,” Jackson states in the memorandum.
Employees are also urged to include all public comments in the rule-making docket and summaries of any oral communications that may impact the rule-making process.
The FOIA policy follows on the heels of the March 19 memo issued by Attorney General Eric Holder stating a policy of presumption of disclosure and, when possible, proactive release of documents. The policy puts the Holder memo’s mandate into place.
-
13th Annual Webbys
On Tuesday, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 13th annual the Webby Awards, “the Oscars of the Internet.” The academy selects the nominees and winners of what has been termed “the Internet’s highest honor.” And like in past years, a number of Sunlight’s friends and grantees received nominations. I know that in naming a few I will miss others. Sorry if I didn’t catch all our friends!The Center for Responsive Politics’ newly redesigned OpenSecrets.org received a nomination in the category of best politics site of 2009. If they were to win, it would be their fifth Webby. The academy nominated Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s (CREW) site GovernmentDocs.org, which allows users to easily brouse and search FOIA documents, has been nominated for a Webby in the “Government” category. (Sunlight has funded both those projects.) In the “Activism” category, Why Tuesday? received a nomination.
In the “Online Film and Video” section’s “News and Politics: Individual Episode” category, American News Project, founded and run by my friend and former colleague Nick Penniman, received a nomination for their investigation titled “Iraq and Drop Weapons.”
The academy decides who the winners will be, but the “People’s Voice” Webby Award is decided by people who go to their site and vote. So, from now till the end of this month, each of us can cast a ballot for the “People’s Voice” award. You can find your own “People’s Voice” ballot here. Lawrence Lessig said OpenSecrets gets his vote.
Congrats to all the nominees!
-
EPA Also Going Web 2.0
There are already a number of Executive Branches that are using Web 2.0 tech to reach out to the broader community of people. Ellen pointed out that the Veterans Administration is launching a serious Web 2.0 presence. NextGov reports that, along with the VA, the Environmental Protection Agency is gearing up to get into the Web 2.0 world, with the helpful push of President Obama’s memorandum on transparency:
Agencies can use blogs to improve public participation in the federal regulatory process, which dovetails with language in the Obama memo, said Lisa Schlosser, director of the Office of Information Collection at EPA. She cited the language in the memo that directed agencies to “offer Americans increased opportunities to participate in policymaking and to provide their government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information.”
The Office of Information Collection manages environmental information and also runs the governmentwide e-regulation Web site, regulations.gov. A regulatory blog could meet the spirit of Obama’s push for participatory policymaking, resulting “in more public interaction in the rule making process,” Schlosser said.
The office also manages EPA’s Freedom Of Information Act requests, and the memo, as well as Obama’s directive on FOIA, which emphasizes the use of technology to respond to information requests from the public, will require agencies to take a proactive approach to the public release of information, she said.
Schlosser is identifying FOIA requests that have a common theme and plans to use a Web site to provide that information to anyone who wants to view it, rather than providing a single response to every FOIA request.
The last paragraph provides a lot of hope that agencies will expolore new, and more open, ways of making FOIAable documents publicly available.
-
Tech Liberation Front on Transparency
Yesterday, I participated in my first skype conversation, a podcast interview hosted by Berin Szoka, of the Tech Liberation Front.
I’m joined in the interview with Jerry Brito, of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and Jim Harper, of the Cato Institute and WashingtonWatch.com.
Our wide-ranging discussion touches on the concept of transparency, data policy, President Obama’s new policies, and the potential for a federal CTO.
To listen, check out TLF’s blog post, or see below.
-
Memorandum on FOIA
Since the Memorandum on FOIA and Government Transparency are not yet posted at WhiteHouse.gov, I thought I would post them both on the Sunlight’s blog. As you can imagine, we love the use of the Justice Brandeis’ quote in the FOIA Memoradum.
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
SUBJECT: Freedom of Information Act
A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” In our democracy, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which encourages accountability through transparency, is the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open Government. At the heart of that commitment is the idea that accountability is in the interest of the Government and the citizenry alike.
The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails. The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears. Nondisclosure should never be based on an effort to protect the personal interests of Government officials at the expense of those they are supposed to serve. In responding to requests under the FOIA, executive branch agencies (agencies) should act promptly and in a spirit of cooperation, recognizing that such agencies are servants of the public.
All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA, and to usher in a new era of open Government. The presumption of disclosure should be applied to all decisions involving FOIA.
The presumption of disclosure also means that agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government. Disclosure should be timely.
I direct the Attorney General to issue new guidelines governing the FOIA to the heads of executive departments and agencies, reaffirming the commitment to accountability and transparency, and to publish such guidelines in the Federal Register. In doing so, the Attorney General should review FOIA reports produced by the agencies under Executive Order 13392 of December 14, 2005. I also direct the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to update guidance to the agencies to increase and improve information dissemination to the public, including through the use of new technologies, and to publish such guidance in the Federal Register.
This memorandum does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
BARACK OBAMA
