The United States has faced what’s described as an unprecedented rise in government secrecy during the past few years. A study by OpenTheGovernment.org and People for the American Way shows that executive power has dramatically increased while executive accountability has diminished.

Presidential executive orders have been used to limit the Freedom of Information Act. The power to classify information for security reasons has expanded. New categories of “sensitive” information have evolved.

Our country’s heritage of open and accountable government has been tarnished in recent years as we take on some characteristics of country’s we long criticized as undemocratic.

In an essay written for Sunshine Week—a celebration of the people’s  right of public access—Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.) wrote that the country’s early leaders held widely divergent views on many topics, but one thought bound them together: An appreciation of the importance of the right to know. “These leaders recognized that in order for the new democracy to survive,” Crist wrote, “public access was essential.”

We might not know for years how much damage has been done to our democratic process. The Bush administration continues to find ways to lock up documents from view in preparation for its departure from office.

Will the recent devaluation of our open government persist? Will the next president choose to continue down this path or will the damages be reversed? Will the new attitude filter down to the local level?

That last question is of concern to residents of small towns where it’s easy to subvert the tenets of the open meetings laws without a watchful eye.

Board and council members come and go and new members aren’t always well versed in the law. We’ve appreciated hearing a well-informed clerk remind officials of the permitted reasons for closing out the public. What’s actually discussed behind closed doors depends on the integrity of the group.

Open meetings law provides the reasons for closing meetings, but government bodies shouldn’t automatically take that as a free pass to secrecy. Think over each situation and ask, “Is it really necessary to shut out the public?”