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
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Show Us The Data: Most Wanted Federal Documents
On the occasion of Sunlight Week, our colleagues (and grantees) at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and OpenTheGovernment.org are releasing “Show Us The Data: Most Wanted Federal Documents” (PDF), a report based on the results of a survey funded by Sunlight and a Web-based collaborative tool created by Sunlight Labs. It cites documents and data that the federal government should make easier to find and to use, and recommends policy changes to make government more open.
Similar reports OTG and CDT have compiled in the past have shown national security concerns lead to too much secrecy. But not any more. Here’s a list of the top 10 most wanted government documents, according to the survey:
1. Public Access to All Congressional Research Service Reports
2. Information About the Use of TARP and Bailout Funds
3. Open and Accessible Federal Court Documents Through the PACER System
4. Current Contractor Projects
5. Court Settlements Involving Federal Agencies
6. Access to Comprehensive Information About Legislation and Congressional Actions via THOMAS or Public Access to Legislative Information Service
7. Online Access to Electronic Campaign Disclosures
8. Daily Schedules of the President and Cabinet Officials
9. Personal Financial Disclosures from Policymakers Across Government
10. State Medicaid Plans and WaiversThose involved in writing the report include Patrice McDermott and Amy Fuller of OpenTheGovernment.org and Ari Schwartz, Jud Watkins, and Heather West of CDT. Sunlight’s own Bill Allison, Ali Felski, James Turk and Clay Johnson lent their hands in making it all happen, as well.
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Expanded Commitment by Omidyar Network to Sunlight
I am thrilled to announce that we will be expanding our collaboration with the Omidyar Network to catalyze greater transparency and openness in government. Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam.
Omidyar’s grant of $4 million is to support Sunlight’s efforts to improve access to existing government information, digitize new information, and create new online tools to foster greater government transparency. Sunlight and Omidyar share a fundamental belief in the value of transparency, the role of new technologies to connect individuals to information and the ability for citizens to influence the issues that impact their lives.
In addition, Matt Halprin, partner at Omidyar Network, will be joining Sunlight’s board. As the lead for Omidyar Network’s Media, Markets & Transparency initiative, Matt brings deep experience in strategy, general management and Internet platforms. He was previously vice president at eBay and a partner at the Boston Consulting Group. And Stacy Donohue, a director at Omidyar Network, who leads the organization’s government transparency investment area, will take an observer seat on the board.
All of us at Sunlight are greatly honored by Omidyar’s continued support for our work.
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Transparency Week Thoughts as Published in USA Today
I’m delighted to have had an OpEd piece published in USA Today today:
How powerful is the Internet in getting crucial safety information out to the public? In one case, that information went out 707 times per minute. That’s how often, on average, people seeking information about salmonella-tainted peanut butter clicked on a website and widget sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over a six-week period a total of nearly 44 million hits.
This was exponentially more than the number of people who called agency hotline numbers. By typing the brand or bar code of a product into the search engine, parents everywhere could find out if the peanut butter sandwich they were putting in their kids’ lunch bags that day might contain salmonella.
Yet, the peanut butter problem also shows how far we have to go to prod government to make information available to the public. This week — Sunshine Week — news organizations shed light on how the public benefits from knowing what the government is doing, and why. And the Internet increasingly can play a role in providing more information to expose crises such as the salmonella story.
Recently, the story has unfolded about how one peanut-processing company, Peanut Corp. of America, could operate in filth with poorly trained employees and ignore its own tests showing salmonella infestation. We also found out that the only way the FDA could obtain copies of those testing records was to invoke terrorism laws. If the public had access to those records online, perhaps the illnesses of 19,000 people in 43 states and nine deaths could have been avoided.
Online resources also can help explain why the FDA can’t get inspection records more easily. Through OpenSecrets.org, which tracks campaign contributions and lobbying expenses, we can find out that food processing and sales companies have contributed nearly $95 million to federal candidates and parties over a decade. Those companies also spent more than $29 million last year on lobbying. The industry has often blocked efforts to strengthen FDA’s authority.
The salmonella story shows the many ways we are on the cusp of pushing for a government that is truly transparent. We now have the technological tools not only to get information out to the public, but also to help expose why there’s a problem in the first place.
It’s no accident that President Obama has made transparency a major part of his stimulus plan. He recognizes that conveying information to the public about how their money is being spent will enhance accountability. If done well, this approach can turn passive citizens into activists who help ensure that government works. With more newspapers laying off reporters and closing their doors, the Internet is allowing others to augment the press’ function in watchdogging government.
There’s a mighty appetite for this information. Last September, when the House took up the $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill, House servers crashed after Speaker Nancy Pelosi posted the text on her Web site. When people did get their eyes on the text, they read it eagerly. Over the course of about two weeks, nearly 1,000 comments were posted on PublicMarkup.org, a site enabling the public to examine and debate legislation. Thousands of bloggers pored over the bill to find examples of earmarks, such as a reduction in taxes for wooden-arrow manufacturers.
A few years ago, bloggers known as the “Porkbusters” helped expose Alaska’s “bridge to nowhere.” This project to connect the tiny town of Ketchikan (population 8,900) to the even tinier Island of Gravina (population 50) cost some $320 million and was funded through three separate earmarks in a highway bill. Exposure created a huge furor and essentially stopped that earmark.
To take advantage of the full power of the Internet, there are some simple things every agency should do. All data should be made available in formats that are open, searchable and “mashable.” That way, creative programmers can more easily create new ways of looking at things. For example, the EarmarkWatch.org map shows thousands of earmarks in the fiscal 2008 defense-appropriations bill layered over a map of the country.
There is also much Congress should do. For years, the Senate has refused to require members to file their campaign finance records electronically. Instead, they submit their records in paper form to the Federal Election Commission, which must then go through the laborious process of re-converting them back into electronic records at the cost of about $250,000 a year. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., recently introduced a bill that would require electronic filing. The House of Representatives has done it this way for years.
And while Congress has strengthened lobbying disclosure laws, they still don’t go far enough. Lobbyists are required only to file quarterly, and then in very general terms. So ferreting out who lobbied on what and why is an exercise in “who done it” long after the fact. Lobbyists should file online daily with whom they meet and what they talk about.
A fundamental shift is beginning. Government is starting to recognize how the Internet can play a transformational role in restoring trust to its institutions and officials. And we, the people, are just beginning to imagine the ways we can use this transparency to demand more accountability.
