National Dialogue on Open Government and Secrecy: Sunshine Week 2008
There's a new, updated “Save the Date” announcement for the Third National Dialogue on Open Government and Secrecy, that will take place on March 19, 2008 from 1 - 2:30 PM (EST) on the Open the Government website. The topic is "Government Secrecy: Censoring Your Right to Know" You can participate in person at the National Press Club in Washington DC, or join the conversation online anywhere. The scheduled discussions are: The Secret Executive -- What Can Congress and the Public Do? Confirmed Speakers: Mickey Edwards, Director of the Aspen Institute-Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership and former Republican member of Congress from Oklahoma for 16 years (1977-92), Ann Beeson, Director of U.S. Programs at the Open Society Institute and previously Associate Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, and John Podesta, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for American Progress, Chief of Staff to President William J. Clinton from October 1998 until January 2001, and formerly in senior staff positions in Congress, will discuss executive branch power and secrecy, congressional rights and responsibilities, and the role of the press in combating government secrecy. Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org, will moderate the discussion. Citizen Self-Help: Finding the Information You Need We will be visiting and talking with creators of web sites that help the public avoid having to file official requests or go to offices and meetings to learn what our government is doing. These sites make hard-to-find government information -- federal, state and local -- easy for the public to find and use and may inspire you to do likewise. A quick report will be given, as well, on an initiative to develop a 21st Century Right-to-Know agenda and recommendations for the next President and Congress. In each segment, opportunities will be available for audience questions from all participants. There's lots more information on the Open the Government dot org website. The Sunshine Week website has information about activities for Sunshine Week, March 16 - 22, 2008. Continue reading
Government Transparency and Openness: Questions for the Candidates
OMB Watch is asking for help picking the five best Open Government questions to ask the Presidential candidates. They've developed a survey on Zoomerang called The Open Government: What We Need To Know Survey. By taking the survey you can pick your five favorite questions on the issue of government transparency and openness from a list prepared by OMB Watch and add your own questions too.
The topics and questions that OMB Watch has prepared are:
Corporate Disclosure - Do you support increased corporate financial disclosure (e.g., release of corporate federal tax filings, a database of claimed corporate tax subsidies), and, if so, how would you achieve it?
Worst Abuse of Secrecy - What is government’s worst abuse of secrecy in the last ten years and how would you have handled it?
Whistleblowers - Under the Sarbanes Oxley law, only corporate whistleblowers revealing financial abuses are protected. In order to strengthen accountability against corporate crimes, would you support pending legislation that expands whistleblower protection rights to private sector workers who report violations of any federal public health and safety laws?
Improving Transparency - How should the federal government be more transparent? Suggestions: create a chief counselor for transparency in the White House; more interactive government websites (e.g. wikis and blogs); increased resources for transparency programs; greater openness of government meetings, including task forces and advisory committees.
Pseudo-Classifications - With little or no statutory authority, agencies have created more than one hundred pseudo-classification categories, which often preclude public access to environment, health and safety information. How would you reform these information categories to ensure sufficient public access?
Health, Safety & Environment - Given the importance of health and safety information, how would you ensure that the public has easy access to understandable information about the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the products they use?
Ashcroft Memo - Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a Freedom of Information Act memo urging greater caution in disclosure and establishing a presumption of withholding information. Access experts believe that this significantly reduced the release of information. Would you reverse the Ashcroft memo and reinstate a presumption of openness for government records?
Executive Privilege - What do you believe are the appropriate limits of executive privilege in the disclosure of information to Congress and the public?
Earmarks - Do you support the online disclosure of all earmarks and their sponsors before they become law?
Manipulation of Facts - Concerns have been raised about possible manipulation of information produced by agencies and the influence of the White House over agency decisions. Do you support disclosure of all communications between the White House (including the Office of Management and Budget and other executive offices) and agencies regarding administrative decision-making and information disclosure?
Requiring Full Disclosure - Government is often passive and limiting in disclosure, waiting for requests for documents and then only releasing information to requesters. Do you support reversing this dynamic and requiring that all releasable documents be proactively published online for everyone, thereby negating the need for many Freedom of Information Act requests?
Presidential Records - Executive Order 13233 limits access to presidential records under the Presidential Records Act by giving former presidents the power to effectively veto the release of their records. Do you commit to reversing Executive Order 13233 to restore public access to presidential records after twelve years?
And Finally: If you think any important questions were missing from the list, please suggest additional questions you would like to see included.
OMB Watch is a nonprofit government watchdog organization whose mission is to promote open government, accountability and citizen participation.
It'll only take a few minutes to take the survey and help select the best questions to ask the Presidential candidates on the issue of government transparency and openness.
Two New Pew Internet & American Life Project Report
Thanks for the opportunity to contribute as January Blogger of the Month FGI. Good luck to you Susanna -- I think it is wonderful way to foster conversations within our community. In a note from Beth Haper, who is the editor of the Wisconsin Library Association's Government Information Round Table's newsletter "Eagle Press" informs me that they ask subscribers to respond to a question, and publish the responses in the issue. She wanted to use the three questions I posted on Jan. 18 in this fashion. I said sure -- I love a mash-up between the print and electronic worlds. Seems to be the defining feature of our current professional life, as pointed out by several responders to the discussion -- formats do matter. I guess the debate unfolds over how much they should matter....but that will be for another blog entry.
Along these lines, and in response to another comment sent about the inherent difficulties and limitations of electronic government services in public libraries, I want to note that the good folks at the Pew Trust have released a couple of significant reports about how American's use the Internet in their civic and political lives (another future blog entry; delineation between civic and political information.)
The first report "Infomation Searches that Solve Problems" (http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/231/report_display.asp) reports
"People who have faced one of several common government-related problems in the past two years are more likely to consult the internet than other sources, including experts and family members.
In a national phone survey, respondents were asked whether they had encountered 10 possible problems in the previous two years, all of which had a potential connection to the government or government-provided information. Those who had dealt with the problems were asked where they went for help and the internet topped the list:58% of those who had recently experienced one of those problems said they used the internet (at home, work, a public library or some other place) to get help. 53% said they turned to professionals such as doctors, lawyers or financial experts. 45% said they sought out friends and family members for advice and help. 36% said they consulted newspapers and magazines. 34% said they directly contacted a government office or agency. 16% said they consulted television and radio. 13% said they went to the public library.
The survey results challenge the assumption that libraries are losing relevance in the internet age. Libraries drew visits by more than half of Americans (53%) in the past year for all kinds of purposes, not just the problems mentioned in this survey. And it was the young adults in tech-loving Generation Y (age 18-30) who led the pack. Compared to their elders, Gen Y members were the most likely to use libraries for problem-solving information and in general patronage for any purpose."
The other report, "The Internet Gains in Politics" (http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/234/report_display.asp) continues a decade long study by the Pew Institute that investigates how the internet is used in electoral campaigns.
"Nearly a quarter of Americans (24%) say they regularly learn something about the campaign from the internet, almost the double the percentage from a comparable point in the 2004 campaign (13%)."
So, perhaps it's more than a mash-up between paper and digital. One can argue for a mash-up between the library as place and electronic civic and political information sources. Now there is a novel twist -- the library physical as the ultimate format of choice.....
jashuler
Welcome Susanna Leers, blogger of the month for February, 2008
Next up on the BOTM podium for the month of February is Susanna Leers. Susanna is the E-research & Technology Services Librarian at Barco Law Library, University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Take it away Susanna. Many thanks also to John Shuler, especially for starting the conversation about government documents instruction. If you haven't had a chance, please read that thread and weigh in on the conversation. Here are the threads of John's month as BOTM:
- Global Village or Global slums?
- What to teach to future government information librarians: Escape from the Blackboard Jungle
- Back to the future: Jefferson's 1815 Library records and Preservation of 21st Century State Digital Information
Proposals for Transparency From Barack Obama
Note: This posting should not be construed as an endorsement of Barack Obama for President. - Daniel
Senator Barack Obama has made some intriguing proposals on government transparency that seemed worthy of sharing with our readers. The following proposals are taken from the 64 page pamphlet "Blueprint for Change", which is available at http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf:
(From page 4): Shine the Light on Federal Contracts, Tax Breaks and Earmarks
Create a Public “Contracts and Influence” Database: As president, Obama will create a “contracts and influence” database that will disclose how much federal contractors spend on lobbying, and what contracts they are getting and how well they complete them.
Expose Special Interest Tax Breaks to Public Scrutiny: Barack Obama will ensure that any tax breaks for corporate recipients – or tax earmarks – are also publicly available on the Internet in an easily searchable format.
End Abuse of No-Bid Contracts: Barack Obama will end abuse of no-bid contracts by requiring that nearly all contract orders over $25,000 be competitively awarded.
Sunlight Before Signing: Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.
Shine Light on Earmarks and Pork Barrel Spending: Obama’s Transparency and Integrity in Earmarks Act will shed light on all earmarks by disclosing the name of the legislator who asked for each earmark, along with a written justification, 72 hours before they can be approved by the full Senate.
Bring Americans Back into their Government
Hold 21st Century Fireside Chats: Obama will bring democracy and policy directly to the people by requiring his Cabinet officials to have periodic national broadband townhall meetings to discuss issues before their agencies.
Make White House Communications Public: Obama will amend executive orders to ensure that communications about regulatory policymaking between persons outside government and all White House staff are disclosed to the public.
Conduct Regulatory Agency Business in Public: Obama will require his appointees who lead the executive branch departments and rulemaking agencies to conduct the significant business of the agency in public, so that any citizen can watch these debates in person or on the Internet.
Release Presidential Records: Obama will nullify the Bush attempts to make the timely release of presidential records more difficult.
These all seem like worthy goals we hope that any eventual President will embrace.
Please share what you know about other candidate's stands on transparency issues. There is some information from an August 2007 Reason Magazine article suggesting that Obama and Ron Paul were two of the strongest candidate advocates for greater transparency, but perhaps more have made proposals by now.
Continue reading