North Carolina’s John Locke Foundation has studied state and local government agencies in the Tar Heel state andrated them on how well they make their records, data and activities accessible to citizens. The results aren’t encouraging for those who understand that, as Patrick Henry said, “the liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be kept from them.”
John Hood and the rest of the outstanding crew at Locke are doing superb work in so many areas and the fact they are devoting significant resources to building public understand of and support for increased transparency in government at all levels is a tremendously positive development on the Right.
Conservatives should always remember that transparency is Big Government’s worst enemy and our default position anytime the issue comes up for discussion ought to be in favor of more transparency, not less, unless there is an unquestionably compelling reason to make an exception.
You can read the full Locke report here.
Sunshine Week
FOIA
Freedom of Information
Public Right to Know
Open Government
Big Government
Transparency
