Accountability 2021 is an agenda to repair critical gaps in transparency, ethics and oversight and to begin to forge a new path toward a long-lasting accountable government.
By “accountable government” we mean transparency and participatory approaches to ensure that government and its employees follow the laws and normative requirements of our democracy. An accountable government also allows the public to assess the performance of our elected leaders.
Access to information and meaningful oversight and accountability are foundational to our democratic forms of government. It is imperative that on January 20, 2021, the president prioritizes accountability in governance, establishing accountability practices throughout the executive branch early on, implementing and enforcing them throughout the next four years. To ensure accountability persists in government policy and practices beyond the next presidential term, the president should actively support enacting new laws to strengthen accountability protections.
Convened by Open The Government, Accountability 2021 brings together into a collective voice numerous experienced individuals and experts from organizations working on accountability issues to develop solutions to longstanding gaps and failures in existing transparency, ethics, and oversight laws and practices. The product of these efforts in the pages that follow are recommendations to rectify the glaring failures of the current “norms” of governance.
This document is not intended to support or oppose a candidate for office or any question on a ballot, but rather to chart a course consistent with the missions of the organizations participating in this effort and common concern about these issues.