ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

A fundamental tenet of American democracy is that citizens have a basic right of access to information collected and produced by the Federal government. Contrary to general perception, however, a statutory right of public access to government information only goes back to 1966. Rapidly changing technologies, severe economic strains, and emerging policy issues now threaten to erode the right of public access to government information. The author describes a number of the key challenges to preserving public access and suggests a set of principles to serve as the basis of government information policies which will preserve a right of access to government information.