Buckeye Institute: Over 1,400 Candidates Asked to Take Transparency Pledge

Release:

COLUMBUS - The Buckeye Institute’s Center for Transparent and Accountable Government (CTAG) has delivered its Pledge for Transparency and Openness in Government to more than 1,400 candidates for federal, state and local offices in Ohio. The pledge asks candidates to acknowledge the importance of Internet availability, the legal basis of transparency in the state and federal constitutions, and the use of practical, current technology, such as searchable databases and relevant cross links.

“Ohioans deserve good government, one that is transparent and easily audited in its entirety by our citizens,” Buckeye Institute President David Hansen said. “The spirit and letter of Ohio’s Constitution guarantees this. After all, the authority of government comes from the consent of the governed. That consent is made meaningful only when all the works of politicians and bureaucrats take place in plain sight of the people."

“Government that fails to be fully transparent is government ripe for corruption, and is inadequately accountable to voters,” Buckeye Institute transparency director Michael Maurer said. The effort’s goal is to promote transparency both among government officials and the public at large, he added.

"We reached out to every candidate for elected office, including incumbents, at every level of government in Ohio," Maurer said. "Transparency is an issue that appeals naturally to people, it motivates them, and it results in better government."

Maurer said that CTAG chose to prepare a pledge that included actual operating detail, rather than an ambiguous call for "open government."

"When we announced CTAG in August, some said, 'Isn't this like asking people to support mom and apple pie,' and that’s a fair observation," Maurer said. "But our pledge provides more than political platitudes. It is an operating document. It calls for the use of the Internet and it calls for publishing specific operating data, including payrolls, benefits, budgets and many other important government activities."

The pledge is available at http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/pledge.pdf [PDF], and candidates have been asked to list themselves as participating in the pledge at a wiki dedicated to transparency, http://www.ohiosunshine.org.

The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions is a nonpartisan research and educational institute devoted to individual liberty, economic freedom, personal responsibility and limited government in Ohio. More information about the institute’s work on behalf of greater transparency in Ohio government is available at http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org.