 Scripps Howard News Service March 08, 2006
In general, how important do you believe public access to government records and information is? Do you believe that public access to government records is critical to the functioning of good government, or do you believe that it plays only a minor role?
Critical to Good Government
... 62 How do you get most of your information about the actions and activities of state and local governments? Do you get most of your information from newspapers, from television or from some other source? Newspaper .... 37 How do you get most of your information about the federal government's actions and activities? Newspaper ..... 27 I want to ask how interested you are in the actions and activities of various levels of government. So when it comes to your state and local governments, would you say you are very interested, somewhat interested, somewhat uninterested or completely uninterested in state and local government? Very Interested ...... 38 How about the federal government? Very Interested .... 52 We are interested in whether you consider these governments to be open and transparent or whether you consider them to be closed and secretive. So when talking about your state and local governments, do you think they are very open, somewhat open, somewhat secretive or very secretive? Very Open ...... 11 How about the federal government? Very Open ....... 5 Do you think there's too much secrecy, too little secrecy or just the right amount of secrecy in our governments? So when you think about your local and state governments, do they have too much secrecy, too little secrecy or just the right amount of secrecy? Too Much Secrecy ..... 45 How about the federal government? Too Much Secrecy .... 59 Sometimes citizens seek information from official government records, such as voter registration information, real estate sales, police incident reports, salaries of officials, driver or accident records, background information on zoning or school boundary changes or other public hearing issues. Have you ever requested any records such as the ones I just mentioned or others, from any government agency? Yes .... 16 Have you requested information from your local government? Yes .... 12 Would you say the your local government was very helpful in providing the information you wanted, somewhat helpful, somewhat unhelpful or very unhelpful? Very Helpful ..... 5 Have you requested records from your state government? Yes .... 8 Was the state government very helpful in providing the information you wanted, somewhat helpful, somewhat unhelpful or very unhelpful? Very Helpful ..... 2 Have you requested records from the federal government? Yes .... 6 Was the federal government very helpful in providing the information you wanted, somewhat helpful, somewhat unhelpful or very unhelpful? Very Helpful ..... 2 Have you ever attended a public hearing or official government meeting? Yes ... 41 Have you attended a local government hearing or meeting? Yes ... 37 Have you attended a state government hearing or meeting? Yes ... 15 Have you attended a federal government hearing or meeting? Yes .... 8 The federal government and most state governments have laws concerning public access to government information and the public's right to attend meetings. These are often referred to as "freedom of information" or "right to know" or "sunshine" laws. Do you generally feel these laws give you and other Americans too much, too little or just about the right amount of access to government records and information? Too Much Access ... 6 Do these sunshine laws give you too much, too little or the right amount of access to government meetings and hearings? Too Much Access .... 4 Do these laws give you too much, too little or the right amount of access to court records? Too Much Access ... 6 Some believe government records should be considered public and that information should be withheld only if a government agency can show that release of the information would do harm. Others believe that it is the responsibility of the government to protect the information it holds and that records should be made public only if the citizen can make a sound legal case for its release. Which of those comes closer to your view? Records Should Be Public ....
46 Many state and local courts allow cameras into courtrooms during trials so that citizens can watch them on television. Do you think this is a good or bad idea? Good Idea .... 44 Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com Publish A Letter on SitNews Read Letters/Opinions
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