Open-Government: Hope for the Future of Campaign Season?

While we were talking in class today about open-government, I had a thought about the impact open-government policies might have on the nature of elections and campaigning. The way the system is set up now, we all have issues that matter to us, and ideas about what kind of policies we think would help correct those issues, but we never get very accurate feedback on exactly what policies are actually being put in place, or what effects those policies actually have. Instead, we are being force fed a load of contrarian media nonsense that does nothing to promote the evolution of successful political ideas. Essentially, we elect a present because he (or, hypothetically, she) stands on our side of the fence, and then we spend four years in the dark, until we try to blindly defend (or tear down) the policies of the president come the next election. We do this based only on what we think might have happened, and our perception is, of course, based on our consumption of news media outlets such as Fox or CNN.

So with this in mind, the campaign trail becomes more a trial of character and integrity than anything else. This is because we understand that we won't have much of a clue about the policies that are put in place, so at the very least we want a president that seems like they'll conduct themselves honestly and uprightly during their four-year term. But what if we went in to election season with a different frame of mind?

If we are confident that our president (and other elected representatives) will operate within a framework of transparency and openness, might we be more concerned with the details of a candidate's political platform than we are now? I think we would. And this is nothing new; if people feel involved and informed, they care more. It's as simple as that.

Certainly there are plenty of setbacks with open-government, but I think the idea is definitely one to consider in greater detail. This kind of fundamental shift in the way our government functions could potentially change the outlook and mindset of an entire country.