Taking part
open government
The general commitment that public business happens in public: open meetings, published records, disclosed money, and data anyone can use.
In full
Open government is a family of specific laws rather than one principle: FOIA and state public records acts for documents, open meetings acts for deliberation, the Federal Advisory Committee Act for outside advisory bodies, and campaign and lobbying disclosure for money. Each has its own exemptions, and the exemptions are usually where the argument is.
Where to go next
Keep going
Browse every term in the glossary, or see the vocabulary in motion in the How government works walkthroughs.
A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.