Transparency
The fundamental principles of openness, public debate, and accountability, central to our democracy, are most vulnerable when our nation’s security is threatened. It is difficult during times of threats to our nation’s security for our leaders to find the ideal balance between accountability and security; however, recent history reveals we have repeatedly failed to find the true balance. We have too often favored secrecy and lack of transparency at the expense of openness and accountability. This pattern persists today, as excessive secrecy and over-classification remove vast amounts of information from public scrutiny, shielding misconduct and impeding oversight.
