David Banisar, Deputy Director, Privacy International - Government Secrecy: Decisions Without Democracy

Excessive secrecy is the enemy of public accountability and democratic governance. Unfortunately, it is becoming standard operating procedure for many government officials. Vice President Dick Cheney’s recent insistence that his office is not subject to secrecy regulations that apply to the executive branch is just the latest evidence of a systematic campaign to keep information about government activities out of the hands of the American public.
Freedoms of Information laws are grounded in the recognition that knowledge about the government’s actions is the necessary first step in oversight and accountability. Most Americans recognize the need to safeguard national security information from improper public disclosures that would damage the national interest. But national security has become a blanket excuse to withhold information from the public as well as from Congress, especially in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The National Security Archive has documented widespread agency mismanagement and obstruction which lead to delays as long as 17 years in responding to public Freedom of Information Act requests. Only one in four agencies is complying with the Electronic Freedom of Information Act a decade after it passed.
Of course, the right to know is also undermined by the release of information that is inaccurate or misleading.
At the federal level, politics increasingly trumps sound science: reports on key environmental issues are altered by political appointees; information about HIV/AIDS is manipulated to promote a particular ideological viewpoint; and federal employees are muzzled from sharing their expertise.
The misuse of secrecy and the manipulation of science and other information undermine the public’s right to know and the health of our democracy. And they threaten the health of the public as well: a fire at a chemical plant situated near a neighborhood could pose a serious threat to residents’ health, but it is difficult for individuals to learn the most basic information about hazards to which their families may be exposed. The preface to this report, written by Republican Robert Barr and Democrat John Podesta, reflects that the importance of the public’s right to know is not a partisan issue; it is a fundamentally American issue.
Over the years, regardless of the political party in charge, our three organizations have challenged excessive government secrecy and offered ideas to protect the public’s right to know. For example, in 1987, People for the American Way, OMB Watch, the Benton Foundation, and the Advocacy Institute launched a public education campaign to draw attention to the ways in which government was withholding information from the public. One element of that campaign was the publication by People for the American Way of Government Secrecy: Decisions Without Democracy, a primer on secrecy that serves as the model for this publication.




NO Mirrors !!!