Change Made Real: Open Government

UPDATED 1/15/2010 (see below), originally published 12/16/09.

Part of a series marking the Obama Administration' accomplishments in fulfilling the promise of change: On January 21, 2009, the day after he was sworn in, President Obama issued a Memorandum on Open Government, which begins, "My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government." This began the process of shifting all government operations towards "transparency, collaboration and participation", and has led to innovations such as Data.gov, a website that for the first time makes huge amounts of detailed government information accessible online, for free.

The same day, the president revoked an executive order by President Bush that had severely restricted access to presidential records, and signed another order calling for the highest-ever standard to control influence on the administration by lobbyists.

On March 19, Attorney General Eric Holder issued a memorandum requiring a new, far more open interpretation of the Freedom of Information Act, based on President Obama's requirement that "The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails."

On December 8, the White House Office of Management and Budget responded to the president's order with more detailed instructions for government agencies, including aggressive deadlines, in an 11-page Open Government Directive. The directive is "intended to direct executive departments and agencies to take specific actions to implement the principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration set forth in the President’s Memorandum." For example, within 4 months every government department must publish "an Open Government Plan that will describe how it will improve transparency and integrate public participation and collaboration into its activities."

UPDATE: A coalition of government reform groups says the Obama administration has adopted "the strongest and most comprehensive lobbying, ethics and transparency rules and policies ever established by an Administration to govern its own activities." The groups, including Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters and U.S. PIRG, issued a report card Jan 11, 2010 on the Executive Branch lobbying, ethics and transparency reforms implemented by the administration in its first year. More information at democracy21.org.