CLASS ACTS: GETTING TO THE (COMMON)
CORE: READING INFORMATIONAL TEXT
RESEARCH AND REPORT
Choose a country from the list provided on
Amnesty International’s website,
amnesty.org
.
Use informational text to research the government
in this country, asking:
What form of government exists in this country?
What is the relationship between the media and the
government?
Who controls the government in this country —
everyone, or a small handful of people living in
the country?
What happens when people are critical
of government?
How do the people change the government if
they are unhappy?
After answering these questions, share your
findings with other people in the class who have
researched other countries on the list. After
completing this exercise, discuss why you think
open government is or is not an essential part of
a free society.
KNOW WHAT TO KNOW
What laws and documents are important to
understanding open government?
Though open government is a founding principle
of our democracy, it isn’t something we should
take for granted. There have been some important
pieces of legislation passed at the federal and
state levels to make the rules of open government
explicit. Some of these are explained here:
Federal: Meetings
Government in the Sunshine Act
In a nutshell, this act says board members (where
most of the members are appointed by the
president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate) must
announce their meetings a week ahead of time
and hold their sessions in public. But a board can
close a meeting to the public whenever it talks
about certain subjects listed in the act. These
include: classified information; housekeeping rules;
subjects that fall within the “catch-all” exemption;
sensitive business records; criminal accusations;
private personal information; police investigations;
banking reports; regulatory information that would
disrupt financial markets or institutions, or hinder an
agency’s action; and litigation.
Federal: Documents
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
In essence, this act (first enacted in 1966) presumes
that you can get records held by the executive
branch of the federal government. Those records
can be kept from you only for specific reasons.
But the government has a spotty track record
for following the spirit of this law. In fact, many
agencies are so slow to turn over documents under
the FOIA that many journalists prefer to bypass the
procedure and work instead with sources within the
agency or with its public-information officers.
WASHINGTON STATE OPEN
GOVERNMENT LAWS
Open Public Meetings Act
When public officials get together to make
decisions that can affect your life and your
tax dollars, they reserve a chair for you. The
Washington state Open Public Meetings Act was
passed in 1971 and requires public meetings of
government bodies, such as state boards, county
commissions and city councils, to be open so you
can watch your public officials discuss ideas and
make decisions.
No one can be excluded from these meetings.
While there is no law requiring a government
body to let you speak, you are allowed to watch,
provided you are not making a public disturbance.
But many meetings include a process for allowing
people to speak, so attend, as you can often make
your voice heard.
Public meetings encourage dialogue by offering
a place for citizens to become informed about
our political process. To find out when and where
a public meeting will be held, consult your
newspaper or the website of the government
agency in question.
Public Records Act
This act, passed in 1972, (originally called the
Public Disclosure Act) ensures that anything that
is recorded — electronically or in writing — and
possessed by government, is open to the public
unless a specific law states otherwise. This includes
budget documents, meeting minutes, reports and
even email or Post-it notes. Public records have
practical value in everyday life. You can check
home values in your neighborhood, access criminal
records, obtain police reports, check your school’s
performance on standardized tests and become
informed about development plans for
your community, just to name a few.
SHINING THE LIGHT ON YOUR GOVERNMENT | 2
OPEN GOVERNMENT TERMS
Match these words with their definitions from
dictionary.com
(see matchups listed below)
Matchups:
1,G; 2,C; 3,A; 4,H; 5,B; 6,F; 7,E; 8,D.
1. Freedom of Information Act
2. Freedom of the Press
3. Inalienable Right
4. Declaration of Independence
5. Democracy
6. Sunshine Committee
7. Transparency
8. Exemption
A. A right according to natural law, a right that
cannot be taken away, denied or transferred
B. Government by the people; a form of
government in which the supreme power is
vested in the people and exercised directly
by them or by their elected agents under a free
electoral system
C. The right to publish newspapers, magazines
and other printed matter without governmental
restriction
D. Immunity from an obligation or duty
E. The full, accurate and timely disclosure of
information
F. Reviews exemptions to the Public Disclosure
Act in Washington state
G. A law enacted in 1966 requiring that government
records, except those relating to national
security, confidential financial data and law
enforcement, be made available to the public
on request
H. The fundamental document establishing
the United States as a nation, adopted on
July 4, 1776
IS OPEN GOVERNMENT IMPORTANT?
Sometimes, when we have been used to something
our whole lives, it is difficult to imagine life without it.
But a lot of people in the world live in countries where the
government does not open its meetings or records to the
public; often in these countries, the media also has limited
access to information, or, in some cases, is controlled
completely by the government. This means that people
can only hear what the government wants them to hear.
