Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Open meetings law is predicated on the belief that government derives its power from the people in order to act on their behalf. For the government to remain accountable to the people, its processes must remain accessible to them, and to the news media, the people's watchdog (→  Freedom of the Press, Concept of ; Journalism: Normative Theories ). To narrow the gap between governmental practices and the democratic ideal of government transparency, open meetings law requires public bodies with decision-making authority, such as agencies and commissions, to conduct their discussions, deliberations, and determinations in meetings open to the public and with advance notice. Some laws also include advisory public bodies such as panels and committees; some require that minutes be taken and published. Most open meetings laws, like most freedom of information laws, were enacted over the past thirty-five years , often in response to public calls for reform following revelations of egregious instances of government abuse. A global study found that 68 nations had enacted some form of freedom of information law during this time period. There appears to be no similar study of nations with open meetings laws but, in general, there are far fewer of them (→  Freedom of Information ). Open meetings law presumes that government meetings are open to the →  public. The burden of proof therefore rests ... log in or subscribe to read full text