Transparency is key to a stronger democracy

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition does seem, for the moment to be committed to greater transparency throughout government. Their publication yesterday of a list of top Government earners was a great leap forward for what is one of the most centralist and despondent bureaucracies in the world. Francis Maude, the new Minister for the Cabinet Office will also chair a new Public Sector Transparency Board that will ‘drive the government transparency agenda’. The board will include members such as the inventor of the web Sir Tim Berners-Lee and the founder of mysociety Tom Steinberg. There is always an argument for greater transparency and politicians on the whole have been enthusiastic about opening up the books on their own activities, perhaps encouraged by several expenses scandals and public anger. But what I really want to know is how this new movement of transparency will help open up access to the activities of government leaders and officers. All too often it is not the MP or PM that provides a barrier to people but a bureaucrat making mistakes at the end of a telephone line. Will transparency helped by technologies like the internet help us make sure that politicians are holding their Permanent Secretaries, their Directors, contractors and others to account. There is much use of the word ‘new’ and a misused use of the word ‘radical’ but I’m not holding my breath. However, this idea seems to be holding traction as some members of the government appear to be really enthusiastic about the entire project. I have maintained that our kind of democracy is about electing our dictators. Maybe greater transparency can the public play an active, everyday role in the work of government, but it could simply add another complicated layer of spin and confusion between the Minister and the Constituent.