Social media is helping to bolster another crucial movement that has found many strong advocates in the minority party. Transparency initiatives led by citizens, advocacy organizations, and elected officials themselves have benefited dramatically from the widespread adoption of sites such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. It has never been easier to find out who your elected officials are, what they’re doing, and how you can contact them. Aside from tracking elected officials themselves, we are beginning to see more and more public information made available online in an easily usable format. Beginning as an oft-repeated campaign promise, the Obama administration has devoted significant resources to the development of websites such as Data.gov and Recovery.gov with a stated goal of providing complete transparency in how federal money and resources are being allocated. By all accounts, the jury is still out on the effectiveness of these sites, particularly Recovery.gov. Recovery.gov, already in its second redesign and carrying a staggering price tag approaching $18 million, has come under increasing scrutiny lately for not performing some of its basic promised functionality.
One interesting example of this intersection of social media and transparency was observed during the initial stages of the White House’s Open Government Initiative. Seeing a unique opportunity to start a discussion on transparency in government spending with the president and the American people, Leader Boehner and our office submitted an idea to a public online forum created by the White House. The Boehner-submitted idea (see Figure 16-3), a 72-hour mandatory minimum public review proposal on spending legislation, was already backed by a wide range of outside groups including Sunlight Foundation and the nonpartisan American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a coalition of reform-minded state legislators. Leader Boehner’s submission also asked that President Obama make good on his promise to provide for five days of public comment on all legislation before being signed into law. (According to the Cato Institute, since taking office President Obama is one for 39 in providing that review period.)
In announcing the Open Government Initiative, the administration welcomed any and all ideas on increasing openness and transparency, saying:
We are seeking innovative approaches to policy, specific project suggestions, government-wide or agency-specific instructions, and any relevant examples and stories relating to law, policy, technology, culture, or practice.
This seemed to be an ideal forum for the 72-hour/five-day reviews, especially considering the established support of the public, and the president himself. Thousands of Americans agreed, and at the conclusion of the scheduled voting period, the idea received more votes than any other. So, surely the White House took the idea into consideration, right? Not so much. When ideas from the “brainstorm” phase were chosen to move forward for further development, it was apparent that administration officials handpicked them with no regard for public support or merit. In the White House blog post “Wrap-Up of the Open Government Brainstorming: Transparency”, White House Deputy CTO Beth Noveck indicates that the process may not be nearly as broad in scope as had been previously stated:
We took the voting into account when assessing your enthusiasm for a submission, but only somewhat in evaluating relevance…. There were plenty of great ideas that we read but that unfortunately did not make sense to bring into the next phase, including those…outside the purview of the Executive branch.
So, to the nearly 1,200 supporters of Leader Boehner’s submission, the thousands of supporters of Sunlight Foundation’s Read the Bill initiative, American taxpayers seeking more accountability in government spending, and yes, even the president, who has been a vocal supporter of the concept in the past, administration officials had a message: it didn’t “make sense” to discuss this idea any further.
That attempt at eliciting citizen opinions illustrates an internal struggle that I see happening in offices and agencies all over Washington. In the quest to increase participation and openness, what do you do when inconvenient ideas and comments are submitted (e.g., marijuana legalization)? What do you do if they highlight some of your shortcomings? This is still one of the most formidable barriers to entry into social media for elected officials. Worried about unflattering comments slipping by, many representatives highly censor or turn off the comments on their YouTube and Facebook pages. Others, as we observed earlier, simply choose not to bother at all. As time passes and we come to expect more interaction from our representatives, I have a feeling that fewer of those who decide to stifle that communication will be in Washington to regret it.
I would be remiss to not acknowledge how much easier it is for the minority party to call for increased transparency, without the direct ability to effect change. I have been told many times that when Republicans regain the majority, expectations will have been set very high. Some have asked whether we will be able to produce the degree of openness we have demanded from our colleagues across the aisle. I’m happy to report that aided by the entrepreneurial insurgent tactics I’ve discussed, Republicans are making sure those questions will be answered in the next two to three years.
I’m not saying that Republicans will win back the majority because of their enthusiasm for social media and aggressive promotion of transparency. But I am certain that this is important. These numbers show that the Right is willing to step outside its comfort zone to engage new constituencies and continue to fire up established ones. For a sign of how times have changed, look no further than Senator John McCain, who was excoriated for his lack of a mobile device and for not being computer savvy, but now sits atop the Twitter heap in Congress with close to 1.5 million followers.
And while the Right is leaping out of its box, the Left seems quite content in it. And why shouldn’t they be? Our first wired commander in chief and the First BlackBerry have more than enough innovation to go around. That seems to be the hope of Democrats in Congress. For instance: to date, not one member of House Democratic leadership feels that Twitter will add anything to his messaging.
Note
It is worth noting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did announce her entrance into tweeting in US News & World Report. She quickly racked up about 500 followers (including yours truly), but has yet to send one tweet. So, it’s at least safe to say that Pelosi is aware of Twitter.