Merrick Garland Quotes

Ever since I arrived in Washington in April 2009, I have been fighting for more transparency and accountability in government.

In a democracy, citizens pass judgment on their government, and if they are kept in the dark about what their government is doing, they cannot be in a position to make well-grounded decisions.

The government being the people’s business, it necessarily follows that its operations should be at all times open to public view.

We are world leaders in open and transparent government.

Open government is, within limits, an ideal that we all share. U.S. President Barack Obama endorsed it when he took office in January 2009.

After all, I have spent the better part of my adult life insisting that government be open... that government be accessible... and that government be held accountable to people who voted us into office.

Remarkably, governments are beginning to embrace the idea that nothing enhances democracy more than giving voice and information to everybody in the country. Why not open their books if they have nothing to hide?

I want to make sure we are presenting to the South Australian people a Government that is open and accountable. I want to make sure that we maintain public confidence in government at all levels.

The overarching purpose of access to information legislation … is to facilitate democracy. It does so in two related ways. It helps to ensure first, that citizens have the information required to participate meaningfully in the democratic process, and secondly, that politicians and bureaucrats remain accountable to the citizenry.

… a guarantee of public access to government information is indispensable in the long run for any democratic society.... if officials make public only what they want citizens to know, then publicity becomes a sham and accountability meaningless.

I want my government to be transparent.

We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute.

Right to Information is a small concrete step in making our polity more democratic.

The more government transparency, the better.

As long as the government's actions are secret, it cannot be held accountable. A government for the people and by the people should be transparent to the people.

If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing?

My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.

I promised to run the most open and transparent administration in Britain. That is why, with this brutally honest and unprecedented progress report, I am determined to level with Londoners.

It's my father's legacy. My father's view was that the public is the employer of these government employees and has the right to know what they're up to.

It is only when there is the supervision and critical oversight from the people that the government will be in a position to do an even better job, and employees of government departments will be the true public servants of the people.

Government must be a transparent garment which tightly clings to the people's body.

I will run an open government that speaks with honesty, seeks opinion, listens to its citizens.

We should be able to go to our government and get clear answers.

And one of the things I've tried to do in my first months in office is to give more Georgians - reporters and members of the general public alike - a closer look at how their government works.

The Ibrahim Index is a tool to hold governments to account and frame the debate about how we are governed.