“A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both.” – James Madison
The lack of transparency in government is a problem as old as time. Government employees and elected officials correctly see information as power, and they guard it jealously. The objective of the Goldwater Institute’s Open Government Project is to make government more transparent, and in so doing return some of its power to the people.
- Backdoor Electioneering. Each year, American politicians spend millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to pay for broadcast ads, billboards, and glossy brochures under the guise of “public service announcements.” These same public officials are often featured prominently in the ads, yielding increased name identification and favorability ratings – objects of exceptional value for politicians.
- Transparency in Education. The Arizona Department of Education distorts public school finance and student performance data. Defenders of the educational status quo utilize both distortions as rhetorical weapons to block meaningful education reform.
- Transparency in Government Budgeting. In Arizona, budgeting and spending information is made available to the public only in broad budgeting categories. There is very little information about actual programmatic expenditures.
As the Goldwater Institute delves in to each area, extensive research and analysis will be provided to the public through published reports and news stories.
Learn More
Learn about the Freedom of Information Act and Arizona's Public Records Laws and how to file your own information requests here.
Get help from Goldwater Institute experts by "asking a lawyer" here.