I.2.2 Principles of Open Government

At bottom, the liberalizing of data access policy represents a vehicle by which the public and the regulated community can participate effectively in the deliberations of the federal government. Only by obtaining meaningful access to the data upon which federal agencies base their decisions can a citizenry play a meaningful role in formation of the policies and regulations that most directly affect them. The new data access statute thus helps to ensure that the public participation provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and other good government laws function as designed.

The public's right to know the processes by which its government operates is fundamental to effective democracy. Fair data access supports this right to transparency in government decision making. Under the present regulatory framework, government agencies wishing to adopt a particular regulation are permitted to create a "record" of studies that support adoption of that regulation. The agency, however, need not "obtain" (and therefore need not make available to the public under FOIA) data from studies that do not support the agency's proposed regulation. The new data access policy would require that all data relating to a study used in developing federal policy or rules be made available to the public for independent examination. Only in this manner will the public be guaranteed full and meaningful participation in government decision making.

Moreover, as a matter of simple fairness, the public arguably has some equitable interest in the results of studies purchased at taxpayer expense.