WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE...

Democracy rests on the government’s transparency

— corrupt politicians are abusing this now more than ever

Ben Brown

We have all read the history textbooks (equal parts dull and fascinating), the primary source documents (confusing yet essential to understanding American History), and the Constitution (seemingly irrelevant to our lives yet vital to our nation’s health). And from studying the American Revolution to the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War to 9/11, we have tried to comprehend the flaws of the United States. However, perhaps the fault in our nation that has been in front of us the entire time lies in our nation’s foundational idea itself: democracy. Democracy was first born in ancient Greece around the fifth century B.C.E.. The Greek idea of democracy required all adult citizens to take an active part in the government: meaning, there was no gap in authority between the government and the people. Thus, there was no opportunity for the government to be non-transparent, and abuse of power was not a problem. But it is a problem today. Democracy, while appealing due to its representation of the general public, is a fragile enterprise at its core: dependent on an almost unnatural political cooperation between the rulers and the ruled — unnatural, that is, because politicians are bound to use their position of authority to overlook viewpoints and warp the democratic relationship. And this transparent cooperation between the government and the people has been challenged in recent years. Take the Trump era, for example: did it damage or preserve

While President Donald Trump did not damage democracy to unprecedented levels, his willingness to deceive his followers into believing that the election was rigged, and enable his supporters to take matters into their own hands by storming the Capital Building shows that democracy is vulnerable at its core. January 6th exhibited that if politicians are not transparent, and abuse their power of position, democracy can and will be damaged.

Teacher Mr. John Nagler said, “January 6 exposed that democracy, republicanism, and American ideas are fragile and can easily be destroyed any day.” He pointed to a recent article in The New York Review he agrees with, which suggested that democracy and freedom were human creations, and they would only survive if “constant human effort, attention, and willpower” were present.

But if politicians are not transparent, they can manipulate that human effort to preserve democracy into their favor.

Recently, for example, New York’s 3rd congressional district U.S. Representative George Santos lied extensively about almost all aspects of his life: his career, where he attended college, and even his religion. Santos altered his entire life just to manufacture an appealing platform for the 2022 Midterm Elections, which ended up winning him a seat in Congress.

As with Trump, the Santos incident showed that people can properly engage in the democratic process (educate themselves on candidates, and vote for the more fit politician), and still democracy can be shattered. Santos was properly voted into power democratically, but his lack of honesty and transparency while campaigning manipulated the democratic process into allowing his ascend to power in a dishonest manner: he forged a life that would better represent the voters he needed to have vote for him.

Once again, Santos revealed that the foundation of democracy, which centers on a transparent relationship between the people and the government representing them, is vulnerable to manipulation if politicians lie. Without cooperation between the governed and the government, democracy will not function properly.

Government dishonesty mirroring Trump and Santos is escalating recently, but it is not a new occurrence. Since post WWII, Pew Research Center has polled thousands of citizen’s trust in the government. The results show that perhaps America’s War on Terror post-9/11 contributed to a sharp decline in public trust, and a growing dishonesty from those in power.

According to Pew Research Center, in 2001, 60 percent of those polled said they trust the government. But by 2011, public trust in the government was at an all-time low of 20%.

Interestingly, at the same time period, a Pew Research Center study found that then-President George W. Bush’s approval rating changed from a soaring 75 percent in 2001, to 24 percent when he left office in 2009. These two data points are not a coincidence. Bush’s presidency was the same time as the start of America’s war in Iraq. Assistant Head of School and Modern World History Teacher Mr. Brian Ogden explained, “when we invaded Iraq, we didn’t find these weapons of mass destruction that had justified the invasion, because it turned out Saddam Hussein didn’t have any.” So, the lies said by the Bush Administration to justify war caused public distrust. Mr. Ogden agreed, saying that the Administration’s lies “significantly eroded public trust.”

A democratic government grants people greater authority. In the background photo, 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy speaks at a campaign speech. By engaging in politics, as the thousands of people are doing here, citizens fully engage in the democratic process.

Because the Bush Administration was not transparent about the reasons to enter Iraq, and justified the invasion based on inaccurate information, the public did not feel represented. This showed that democracy enables those in power to abuse their power through being non-transparent to push their agendas. When the government is not transparent, then democracy fails, because it relies on the mutual cooperation between the governed and the government, with full transparency. This restates the vulnerability of democracy: because democracy relies on a transparent relationship between the government and people to be successful, it can easily be abused by positions of power.

The most significant way the government is held accountable is through the First Amendment Right to the freedom of the press. Nirvana Shirmininga (‘25), an avid consumer of the press and well researched in America’s relationship with the 1st Amendment, commented on the importance of freedom of the press, saying, “it gives every person access to information, and when people have more information they can be more educated on topics, make informed political decisions, and hold the government accountable.”

However, in recent years, the increasingly bipartisan politics in America has leaked its way into the press, and the reliability of objective