The Transparency Effect
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The Transparency Effect Citizens can keep an eye on government with easy-to-use websites, but are there downsides to transparency? BY PAM GREENBERG tion. By 2000, every state legislature also was online. mericans want to know what government State websites added more kinds of infor- is up to, and they want it to be easy to mation over the years, many evolving from find. a “Web 1.0” model of website development, Ninety percent of respondents to a characterized by static documents and one-way 2008A poll by Harris Interactive believed they communication, to “Web 2.0,” or “Gov 2.0,” were entitled to know how the government gen- which focuses on more interactive exchanges erates and spends its money. But few Americans between citizens and government and collabora- believe government is meeting those expecta- tion through user-friendly sites and social media tions, another survey conducted that same year tools. found. Another landmark bill, passed in 2006, trig- A new movement that uses technology to gered a new push for budget transparency. The combine information and make it available in federal Funding Accountability and Transpar- innovative ways may promote the accountability ency Act requires federal financial assistance this group of engaged citizens is seeking. Some and expenditures to be available through a sin- are concerned, however, that creating unprec- gle, searchable website. The federal legislation, edented access to government data could have along with an active advocacy campaign pro- unforeseen consequences. moting transparency, set off a domino effect that Advocacy groups now pushing for greater resulted in many states creating one centralized access to information from all levels of gov- website with detailed information about govern- ernment expect data to be easily accessible and ment spending. searchable, updated in real time, and formatted Since 2006, lawmakers in at least 34 states in standardized, readable formats. The informa- have enacted legislation—often called Taxpayer tion can then be made more meaningful to citi- Transparency Acts—requiring these statewide zens, on social media sites, for example, where expenditure sites, and several other states have building permit and zoning information; audit they can comment on proposed legislation; or on developed them without passing legislation. reports; contracts for purchases over $10,000; interactive maps, so they can see how Ameri- At least 38 states also provide a campaign tax documents for all elected officials; agencies’ can Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds have finance database, according to a March 2011 revenue sources; and more. been spent in their neighborhood; or on apps study by the National Institute on Money in In “Following the Money 2011,” by U.S. for mobile devices so they get information any- State Politics. The institute believes states PIRG, states were graded on the quality of where, anytime. should provide a free online downloadable data- their transparency sites. Only Arizona, Indiana, base containing all campaign finance informa- Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas received As WHERE IT STARTED tion in searchable fields. for providing expenditures along with grants Back in 1993, California passed landmark and economic development incentives awarded legislation requiring the calendar, bill text and WHAT THEY WANT to companies and organizations, such as tax status, voting information, the constitution, all One of the groups calling for more govern- exemptions, deductions, deferrals and so forth, statutes, and more, to be available on the Inter- ment data online is Sunshine Review, a non- and complete copies of contracts. Other states net for free. By 1997, every state had a website, profit dedicated to evaluating the transparency did not fare as well; 21 received a D or F. and 76 percent contained budgeting-related doc- of state and local governments. It uses a “trans- The Sunlight Foundation is a nonprofit uments, such as tax forms or revenue informa- parency checklist” when grading websites. It focused on using “the power of the Internet looks for current budget information; minutes of to catalyze greater government openness and Pam Greenberg tracks legislative information technology issues for NCSL. open meetings; elected officials’ voting records; transparency.” It gathers, combines and pres- 50 state legislatures JULY/August 2011 “People build things that will astonish you. They can present data in ways the original data ‘authors’ would never have thought of and do things that government cannot afford to do.” —DANIEL SCHUMAN, SUNLIGHT FOUNDATION “People build things that will astonish you,” says Daniel Schuman, policy counsel for the Sunlight Foundation. “They can present data in ways the original data ‘authors’ would never have thought of and do things that government cannot afford to do.” Sunlight’s Opengovernment.org, for exam- ple, takes information scraped from legislative websites. “You can search by bills, by issue or by campaign contributions,” says Schuman. “More powerfully, you’ll be able to search mul- tiple states at a time and compare bills across states.” Opengovernment.org lists popular bills, legislators in the news, and hot issues in several states. Schuman says the foundation trains thou- sands of journalists and citizens in how to use data and the Web for watchdog purposes. For example, Sunlight holds regular sessions at the National Press Club and for other organizations, where they train reporters, bloggers and others how to use the online tools Sunlight creates. Some online news sites are masters at using new software to combine and repurpose govern- ents government information in ways it hopes to Sunshine Review. A few states spent little by ment information for their readers. The Texas helps the media, bloggers and citizens to under- using current personnel and resources. Startup Tribune website, for example, has interactive stand and use it. Sunlight advocates for policies costs in other states have varied from $38,000 in applications and graphics that allow visitors to that encourage government databases that are Nebraska and $75,000 in Colorado, to $310,000 search by name, specific agency or job title to searchable, sortable and machine readable. in Texas and $456,850 in Pennsylvania. In Loui- find a public employee’s salary, or research how The Pew Center on the States also recom- siana, an initial site was set up with existing much a lobbyist is spending, or view a map on mends states provide citizens with data about all resources, but $1 million was appropriated for how population shifts will affect political dis- government expenditures, including contracts, expansion in 2008, with estimated annual costs tricts. There’s an app that shows which lawmak- grants and assistance. They promote sites that of $100,000 thereafter. The Sunshine Review ers—by political party or chamber—have filed allow users to search by agency, spending cat- identified annual maintenance costs for two the most bills and which topics are the most egory and vendors, along with other information other states: $25,000 in Colorado and $100,000 popular. Citizens can even decide how to close such as economic development tax credits and in Washington. the state’s budget gap using an interactive app. state employee salaries. The center also urges The Sacramento Bee has similar offerings, states to create a transparency advisory board DATA MASHUPS including a site to look up the voting record of with members of the public, similar to Kansas’ A groundswell of groups—with the time, California legislators and an interactive map Public Finance Transparency Board. resources and technical expertise needed—are that shows how often each state legislator voted The costs of creating a transparency website gathering government data from various sources on certain bills compared with his or her party. have varied widely from state to state, according and presenting it in new ways called “mashups.” MAPLight.org has created user-friendly Web JULY/August 2011 state legislatures 51 applications using government data from Cali- ency: The Perils of Openness do so to make sure govern- fornia and Wisconsin. By combining three data- in Government” in The New ment is spending wisely, but bases—campaign contributions, legislative votes, Republic this year, he ques- when it comes to government and interest group support and opposition—the tions whether members of spending time and money to group presents correlations between gifts and Congress should be required retrieve records, says Weber, votes in the two legislatures, asserting that they to post their daily calendars “the sky’s the limit.” are “revealing money’s influence” on politics. on the Web. State lawmak- On the other hand, Wen- SeeThroughNY.org is similar, allowing citi- ers in California and Florida SENATOR tworth notes that various REPRESENTATIVE zens to search and correlate government pay- faced similar calls for their JEFF WENTWORTH groups and even government LUCY WEBER rolls, pensions, contracts and expenditures. calendars this year. TEXAS agencies have called for more NEW HAMPSHIRE There can be legitimate data to be posted on websites, WHO WANTS TO KNOW? reasons not to make that information avail- which he believes can help cut down on the cost Journalists, advocacy groups and watchdogs able to anyone on the Internet, he says. He also of responding to individual requests. are not the only ones using this newly expanded warns that our technical capability to document Some caretakers of government information and available government data. every contribution or financial interest and link are concerned that posted data could have errors Average citizens are showing interest, too, it to a troubling influence “might not inspire introduced into it or that data could be misrepre- according to the Pew Internet & American Life change; it could simply push any faith in our sented or misinterpreted. But even data reported Project. It found 40 percent of Internet users political system over the cliff.” by government have been found to have errors.