President Obama’s Open Government Initiative

Résumé

When he was elected in 2008, President Barack Obama promised that his administration would be more open and transparent than any previous administration. His so-called “open government initiative” involved a pledge to develop better data release technology (to facilitate the communication of information), make more information available to the public through federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and create an enabling policy framework for open government.

Of course, the Obama open government initiative was not the government’s first foray into the realm of openness or transparency. FOIA, enacted in 1966, the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) enacted in 1972, and the Government in the Sunshine Act enacted in 1976, all involved governmental efforts at openness and transparency. Throughout all of these reform efforts, there has been tension between the public’ interest in obtaining information regarding the functioning of government, and the government’s desire to preserve the secrecy of its operations. Few doubt that the government has a legitimate interest in withholding certain types of information (e.g., state secrets or information vital to foreign relations). Indeed, the United States Constitution explicitly protects certain types of information, and the United States Supreme Court has affirmed the need for secrecy and confidentiality in certain contexts. On the other hand, in a democratic system, in which the people must vote on issues and candidates, openness and transparency help voters obtain the information necessary to make informed decisions. President Obama’s initiative was premised on idea that prior statutes had not gone far enough towards openness or transparency, and sought to alter the balance away from secrecy and towards disclosure.