Definition:

In a governing or political context, the term transparency refers to openness with particular regard to making data public, and easily accessible (via digitization) to everyone. Imagine being able to go online and not only access your city's budget, but be able to download the data so that you can load it into a spreadsheet and crank the numbers yourself. Or imagine having access to political donation records of a company whom you distrust -- say, Evil Widget Maker, Inc. Anything from campaign finance records to the spending of appropriations bills can and should be made accessible to anyone interested in keeping a watchful eye on such things.

The Issue:

Transparency is important because being open, and giving people access to data builds trust, and makes corruption more difficult. The public has come to distrust leaders and policy makers, and the only way to increase trust in the system is by being open about what is taking place. In order to have true accountability there must be transparency.

Just before the June 2006 election, CNN conducted a poll and found that over half of Americans believe Congress is corrupt. With back room deals and campaigns being funded by businesses who stand to benefit from having a policy maker owe them a favor or two, it's understandable that the public is distrusting of their leaders.

Positions:

The positions are very straight forward, and I haven't heard too many arguments against transparency.

  • Advocates believe that transparency is a logical counter to corruption. An open government builds trust of the people, and is a powerful tool for democratization. It also increases the level of performance in the public sector.
  • Opponents: One (ethical) argument is concern of increased cost to provide data, and another is that in some cases there is a loss of privacy when implementing transparency.

Current Status:

Transparency advocates have been demanding transparency for many years, but in 2008, on his first day in office, President Obama signed the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government mandating a policy of openness for Federal departments and agencies. This policy of openness set the stage for states and numerous municipalities to follow suit.

The Sunlight Foundation, unquestionably the greatest advocate of transparency at the federal level continues its work by providing support to the transparency community. They are a non-profit, non-partisan think tank which holds an annual conference, provides funding for developers of software tools for transparency, and has various projects that bring federal data to the people, such as their Reporting Group web site.

More Information:

So many municipalities are implementing transparencies policies that my recommendation is to do an online search for your county or city and transparency. I'm pleased to say there are so many I can't list them all here.

  • As mentioned above, the Sunlight Foundation is a great place to start for Federal transparency information. They always have interesting projects in the works.
  • The Obama Administration's home page for federal transparency efforts also has good information.
  • And for any Californians reading this, the California transparency home page has information on salaries, pensions, contracts, etc.