With November--and its many state, local and midterm Congressional elections--just around the corner, candidates are promising citizens a more open government in exchange for their vote. Access advocates believe that recent revelations about government secrecy (such the National Security Administration's covert warrantless spying program) and Washington corruption scandals have boosted public support for more democratic and less secretive government at the national, state and local levels, and campaigns are picking up on it.

At the federal level, the Democratic National Party (DNC) included open government among its recently released principles, Democratic Vision. First among six broad platforms in the DNC vision statement was "honest leadership and open government." By raising the prominence of the issue, the DNC appears to be counting on open government to appeal to voters across the country and help candidates win elections. This hard stance allows the Democrats to build off of several recent political scandals involving Republicans, including Jack Abramoff's funneling of dirty money to countless campaign coffers, the conviction of Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA), and accusations that Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) took advantage of inadequate fundraising laws.

Open government has also risen to a platform issue for candidates running for state offices. Typical of this trend, South Dakota House candidate Pam Hemmingsen (D-Dist. 32) spent several days earlier this month knocking on doors in her district promising citizens more access to government information. Hemmingsen told the Rapid City Journal, "What I want to do is just connect with voters of all parties on the common-ground issues of education, healthcare and open government."

The Rapid City Journal recently editorialized that "[t]oo often in South Dakota, politicians and government employees close the door to public access to information and participation in meetings. The state Legislature continues to operate as if public scrutiny spells death for democracy instead of the opposite." In apparent response to such concerns, Hemmingsen has promised if elected to introduce legislation that "opens governmental meetings and records to the public." Improved access to government information even finds fervent support from candidates running for local offices. Berkeley, California, mayoral candidate Zelda Bronstein, one of three challengers of current mayor, Tom Bates, is stressing her concerns about public information access. In campaign material, Bronstein criticizes the Bates administration for making too many important decisions in secret, including those involving lawsuits and major transportation and development projects. Bronstein's campaign promises include an open government agenda to "[p]ass a Strong Sunshine Ordinance that gives citizens legal access to information about local government and how decisions are made in City Hall, and the right to sue the city if they think the law has been violated by city officials."

These are just a handful of the thousands of campaigns that are gearing up for election season this fall. How important an issue government openness will be in November’s elections remains to be seen. But, with high profile cases of government secrecy and official corruption continuing to make headlines, it is likely that more and more campaigns will take on open government as a campaign platform.