The Bitter Pill
As citizens of America, people do expect government transparency because it really matters people under the government. Democracy Web suggests that the absence of accountability and democracy results in ignorance of people voting in the elections, the meaninglessness of both elections and the idea of public’s desire, as well as the prospectively irresponsible administration (Democracy Web). This statement thoroughly reveals the importance of government transparency and the association between the government and the public. Since the public does expect government to be transparent, honesty and openness would be the core elements of satisfying the public. According to Paul Thacker, the former president Obama promised that “we …show more content…
Leo Kelion (2013) suggested that the National Security Agency of the U.S. instituted a surveillance program in 2007, called Prism. According to Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill (2013), through this surveillance system, the commissioners were permitted to gather various information, such as search history, contents of emails, file transfers and live chats (Greenwald & MacAskill, 2013). This broad scope of surveillance did not only invade the public’s privacy, but also disclose the dishonesty of the government. “…You [the public] should just trust us [the government] to deal with them [the terrorists] because we [the government] have internal mechanisms (that we [the government] are not going to tell you [the public] about) to make sure we [the government] do not violate your [the public’s] rights” (The Editorial Board, 2013). Apparently, this promise from the authority was as unreliable as another pledge which was mentioned previously. On the one hand, the government ensured the transparency and openness. On the other hand, the government refused to disclose their dealings. After the NSA surveillance been made public for a while, the government’s contradiction and ulterior motive brought a series of negative effects to the U.S.
As citizens of America, people do expect government transparency because it really matters people under the government. Democracy Web suggests that the absence of accountability and democracy results in ignorance of people voting in the elections, the meaninglessness of both elections and the idea of public’s desire, as well as the prospectively irresponsible administration (Democracy Web). This statement thoroughly reveals the importance of government transparency and the association between the government and the public. Since the public does expect government to be transparent, honesty and openness would be the core elements of satisfying the public. According to Paul Thacker, the former president Obama promised that “we …show more content…
Leo Kelion (2013) suggested that the National Security Agency of the U.S. instituted a surveillance program in 2007, called Prism. According to Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill (2013), through this surveillance system, the commissioners were permitted to gather various information, such as search history, contents of emails, file transfers and live chats (Greenwald & MacAskill, 2013). This broad scope of surveillance did not only invade the public’s privacy, but also disclose the dishonesty of the government. “…You [the public] should just trust us [the government] to deal with them [the terrorists] because we [the government] have internal mechanisms (that we [the government] are not going to tell you [the public] about) to make sure we [the government] do not violate your [the public’s] rights” (The Editorial Board, 2013). Apparently, this promise from the authority was as unreliable as another pledge which was mentioned previously. On the one hand, the government ensured the transparency and openness. On the other hand, the government refused to disclose their dealings. After the NSA surveillance been made public for a while, the government’s contradiction and ulterior motive brought a series of negative effects to the U.S.