Shining the Light on
Your Government
This educational material was developed by Newspapers In Education
in collaboration with Patience Rogge and the Washington Coalition for
Open Government. It is intended for use in high school classrooms to
help meet the Essential Academic Learning Requirements for civics
education in Washington state.
THE PEOPLE ARE IN CHARGE
We the citizens, not the government, run the show.
The Washington State Legislature wanted
to make this clear by including the following statement in the open meetings and records laws:
“The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them.
The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what
is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on
remaining informed so they may maintain control over the instruments that they have created.”
(RCW 42.30.010 and RCW 42.17.251)
ACCESS YOUR GOVERNMENT
Did you ever wonder what goes on at your school board meetings?
Want to know whether
a Wal-Mart could be built in that vacant lot next door to your house? You can find out.
The Washington state Open Public Meetings Act and Public Records Act ensure that
government decisions and records are made available to you. You have a right to know
what your government is doing in your neighborhood, school, city, county and in Olympia.
A free and democratic society can work only if government works in the open. Access is what
ensures that government officials will remain honest. It keeps us aware of how our taxes are
spent and helps us decide whom to keep in office and whom to replace. It keeps the control
of government in the hands of the people, not in the hands of government officials.
What do the words “open government”
mean to you?
As a student, you may think this
concept doesn’t affect your life, but in reality,
open government is as fundamental to our
democracy as free speech.
If government records were not open to all, there would be no
journalism (or at least, it would look quite a bit different than it does
today), there would be no accountability; in essence, there would
be no democracy, as democracy was founded on the principles
of openness and freedom of information.
Imagine what it would be like if our newspapers were unable to
report on the actions of government officials or couldn’t access
records about government meetings. A lack of accountability
could mean that those who hold positions of power may
be more likely to abuse it. When government is open,
it means every person has the power to hold those
in power accountable to follow through
on their promises and to serve
the people.
WHAT IS OPEN GOVERNMENT?
