One of the latest trends in governing is exposing many of the records and much of the data collected by governments for public viewing, analysis, scrutiny, and use. This trend started a number of years ago, with the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and local government equivalents such as Washington state’s Public Disclosure Act. The trend has recently accelerated with the election of President Barack Obama, who has promised an “open and accountable” government.
While open government advocates applaud this movement, and it has many notable benefits, there are also noticeable “toads” obstructing the road to an open government future. Some of these toads are implicit in the nature and culture of government. Others represent simple resistance to change. Still others present troubling ethical issues.
Government is about services and geography and information. Governments should provide services which are difficult or impossible for the public to provide for themselves, or which are hard to purchase from private businesses. It is difficult, or at least troubling, to envision a police force or fire department operating as a for-profit business. Regulatory agencies such as those issuing building permits or enforcing food safety codes also are a natural fit for government. Of course, one can envision—or experience—a private water company, ambulance company, or even for-profit parks department. Still, those are natural monopolies best served at least by a nonprofit model, and probably by government.
Government is also about geography. Cities and counties and states define themselves by their geographic boundaries. Sometimes this geography gives rise to odd anomalies. You can be in a town where the prices of most goods are 9% higher than the sticker, and travel a few hundred feet away where you pay no sales tax or need to have someone else pump your gasoline for you. But such is the nature of city limits and county boundaries and state lines. Complicated technology systems are built (e.g., 911) to guarantee that the proper service is dispatched from the proper government—for example, city police versus county sheriff’s deputies versus the state highway patrol.
All of this is based on the geographical nature of governments. Technology—specifically, the Internet and the World Wide Web—is making boundaries less important. Do you care whether the recycling (or dumping) of your TV is handled by your city or your county or your state? No, but that difference is a major issue for the governments involved. Meanwhile, you simply want to go to a website and find out how to recycle.
In this way, government is also about information, because not only do governments need data to provide services, but they also thrive on data about services and about their constituents, and on turning that data into more or less usable information.