Open government ‘is very important,' survey shows
Open government ‘is very important,' survey shows
By Bryan Dean
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Published: March 16, 2008
Organizers of this week's national effort to promote open government said they hope Oklahomans will demand that candidates running for office this year pledge to protect citizens' access to vital government information.
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Poll results
Some of the results from a Scripps Howard News Service/Ohio University Poll conducted for Sunshine Week 2008:
1. Do you think local government is very open, somewhat open, somewhat secretive or very secretive?
•Very open: 16%
•Somewhat open: 40%
•Somewhat secretive: 26%
•Very secretive: 14%
•Don't know/other: 4%
2. How about state government?
•Very open: 10%
•Somewhat open: 40%
•Somewhat secretive: 30%
•Very secretive: 14%
3. How about the federal government?
•Very open: 4%
•Somewhat open: 16%
•Somewhat secretive: 30%
•Very secretive: 44%
•Don't know/other: 6%
4. How likely do you think it is that the federal government has opened mail or monitored telephone conversations of people in the U.S. without first getting permission from a federal judge? Is it very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely or very unlikely that the federal government has done these things without permission from a judge?
•Very likely: 48%
•Somewhat likely: 29%
•Somewhat unlikely: 7%
•Very unlikely: 9%
•Don't know/other: 7%
5. How likely do you think it is that the federal government has opened your mail or monitored some of your telephone conversations?
•Very likely: 11%
•Somewhat likely: 15%
•Somewhat unlikely: 17%
•Very unlikely: 47%
•Don't know/other: 10%
6. How likely is it that the federal government has opened mail or monitored telephone conversations involving members of the news media?
•Very likely: 38%
•Somewhat likely: 26%
•Somewhat unlikely: 9%
•Very unlikely: 12%
•Don't know/other: 15%
7. When you are voting for president, is a candidate's position on open government very important, somewhat important, somewhat unimportant or very unimportant to you?
•Very important: 60%
•Somewhat important: 27%
•Somewhat unimportant: 6%
•Very unimportant: 4%
•Don't know/other: 3%
8. How about when voting for a member of Congress?
•Very important: 60%
•Somewhat important: 28%
•Somewhat unimportant: 4%
•Very unimportant: 2%
•Don't know/other: 6%
9. How about when voting for a candidate for state office?
•Very important: 64%
•Somewhat important: 28%
•Somewhat unimportant: 4%
•Very unimportant: 3%
•Don't know/other: 1%
10. How about when voting for city council or school board?
•Very important: 69%
•Somewhat important: 22%
•Somewhat unimportant: 3%
•Very unimportant: 3%
•Don't know/other: 3%
NewsOK Related Articles
Local issue raises concern
In Oklahoma, many open government advocates complained last week when the Oklahoma Supreme Court decided to limit Internet access to many court documents.
The court ruled individual pleadings and other documents filed in state court actions will not be publicly displayed on the Internet. Those wanting to see this information can go to the courthouse and view it.
The rules also say people filing cases should omit personal identifiers such as Social Security numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, names of minor children, dates of birth, financial account numbers and home addresses.
Joey Senat, past president of Freedom of Information Oklahoma Inc. and an Oklahoma State University journalism professor, said limiting identifying information like birthdates is "outrageous overreaching.” Without identifying information, it is more difficult for the public to tell whether someone they are considering a business or personal relationship with has a criminal history.
Hernandez said a growing sense of government secrecy is reflected in a recent survey conducted on behalf of Sunshine Week by the Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University.
In 2006, 62 percent of those surveyed believed the federal government was secretive, a number that jumped to 74 percent this year. Almost half said state government was secretive and 40 percent thought their local government was secretive.
The survey showed 92 percent of Americans consider open government an important campaign issue.
Hernandez said there is never a guarantee that government officials won't overreach and pass laws restricting openness, but citizens should make it a priority to nail candidates down on the issue.
"You've got a better shot if it's someone who has said, ‘Yeah this is important to me,'” Hernandez said.
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