Taking Steps in the Right Direction

The Government Information Policy of the Carter Administration Christine I. Black

As President, Jimmy Carter certainly did try to open the inner workingsof government up to the American people. In 1976, Carter ran on the platform of openness and honesty, often repeating the phrase, "I'll never lie to you," in campaign speeches across the nation. And the American public was in a position to find such an honest, unassuming man appealing, especially after surviving the stifling secrecy surrounding the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the tragic war in Vietnam, and the crumbling of the Nixon administration. Although not all of Carter's measures to open up the government were codified, Carter did make an honest attempt to allow more citizens to actively participate in government and to reassure citizens of their right to privacy.

In the area of foreign intelligence information policy, Carter took steps to coordinate the intelligence community, protect American citizens from electronic surveillance, and to classify only the documents most crucial to protecting national security. Then to make the federal government more responsive to citizens' needs, Carter reorganized many cabinet departments, initiated regulatory reform legislation, and worked to reduce government paperwork. But at the same time he was trying to open up the workings of government for people, Carter was also very concerned with Americans' right to privacy. This concern for privacy surfaces in his National Privacy Policy and his concern for the government's handling of large computer databases containing personal information. Carter also strove to create a more open an honest government as evidenced by his support for lobby reform, the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, and his funding for Federal Information Centers.

And Carter still proves the value he places on access to government information today as evidenced by the massive amount of information publicly available through web sites for his presidential library, the Carter Center, and Habitat for Humanity. With just a click of a mouse, one can quickly access the most current addresses made by the former President. The President who had fought to include the public in his administration by opening the doors to federal government information is continuing to welcome the public into his continuing efforts to foster peaceful conflict resolution and human rights across the globe. And what better way to ensure peace among nations than ardently supporting open communication and the free flow of information?

published 6/9/1996