Harold C. Relyea

Federal Freedom of Information Policy: Highlights of Recent Developments.

Abstract For the Federal government of the United States, freedom of information policy is expressed in statutory law — the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), enacted in 1966, being the first such expression in this regard. Other transparency laws would follow. The FOIA, however, was legislated in the face of considerable opposition by the executive branch. No department or agency supported the legislation, and the President signed it into law with no small amount of reluctance. This climate of opinion resulted in a hostile environment for the initial administration of the statute. To maintain faithful administration of the FOIA and to preserve its purpose, congressional committees found it necessary to conduct vigorous oversight of its implementation and, on occasion, to take remedial action by amending its provisions. Those amendments are reviewed here, the most recent development occurring in the closing days of 2007. Related legislative activities during the 110th Congress (2007–2008) are also examined, as well.

Homeland security and information sharing: Federal policy considerations☆

Abstract Inadequate information sharing by federal entities was a factor in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Among the responses to this shortcoming is Section 892 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which mandates the prescription of homeland security information-sharing procedures by the President. This responsibility has been delegated to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the required procedures are expected to be issued in some form, preliminary or final, during the summer of 2004. Those developing these procedures will encounter what one information security expert describes as “a series of bureaucratic fiefdoms, a veritable ‘patchwork quilt,’ that has come about as a consequence of a hodgepodge of laws, regulations and directives with respect to how the Federal Government handles and discloses information.” Examined in this review are some of the discernable uncertainties in the creation of the information-sharing procedures, and some of the policy considerations involved.

Do you know where your information is in the homeland security era

Abstract Why should we care about our information? As we enter the era of homeland security, one can see a new premium being placed on the role of information to fight terrorism while the policies related to government information practices are in a state of flux. Exactly how these policies are evolving is not always clear. Yet, the decisions being made now will likely have a lasting impact for years to come. In an attempt to better understand dynamics underlying these changes, a number of questions regarding the use, control, and protection of personal and public information are posed in this introduction to the symposium issue. We also review some of the major themes examined in greater detail by the contributors to the symposium. These issues include the role of e-government in homeland security, the emphasis on information sharing, the emergence of new information classification categories, the growth of data mining, and the eroding sense of privacy. While a number of reasons can be offered to justify one policy alternative over another, we conclude that the importance of these issues suggests that they are best debated and implemented during a time not under duress when decisions made in the heat of the moment can lead to unintended consequences.

Paperwork reduction act reauthorization and government information management issues

Abstract Replacing the ineffective Federal Reports Act of 1942, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (PRA) was enacted largely to relieve the public of the mounting information collection and reporting requirements of the federal government. It also promoted coordinated information management activities on a governmentwide basis by the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and prescribed information management responsibilities for the executive agencies. The management focus of the PRA was sharpened with the 1986 amendments which refined the concept of “information resources management” (IRM), defined as “the planning, budgeting, organizing, directing, training, promoting, controlling, and management activities associated with the burden, collection, creation, use, and dissemination of information by agencies, and includes the management of information and related resources such as automatic data processing equipment.” This key term and its subset concepts received further definition and explanation in the PRA of 1995, making IRM a tool for managing the contribution of information activities to program performance, and for managing related resources, such as personnel, equipment, funds, and technology. The PRA currently authorizes appropriations for its administration by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), located within OMB, through FY2001 (44 U.S.C. 3520). Reauthorization of OIRA appropriations provides an opportunity to upgrade the PRA’s provisions and to address prevailing government information management issues.

Congress and freedom of information: A retrospective and a look at a current issue

Abstract When Congress refined and finally enacted the Freedom of Information Act during the mid-1960s, there were various reasons why this new law was not made applicable to the Senate and the House of Representatives. One of these was the long and impressive congressional record of publishing information regarding the activities and operations of the House, the Senate, and their officers and committees. There has been of late, however, evidence of some lapses in this tradition. Moreover, the availability to the public of the reports of the Congressional Research Service has also recently become a heightened issue. These matters are examined in this overview.

Homeland security and information

Abstract A new phrase—“homeland security”—has come into popular parlance in the aftermath of recent terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. As an evolving concept, it draws definition from, and has implications for, various policy areas and actions. This introductory essay reviews the development of two similar policy concepts— national security and internal security —before exploring homeland security, and the significance of each for information policy and practice.

Government Publishing: Past to Present.

Abstract This article provides an overview of government publishing for different levels of government, although most attention focuses on the U.S. national government. The article documents the shift from paper to electronic publication, for some but not all governments, and discusses the implications of that shift.

Government secrecy: policy depths and dimensions

Abstract Government secrecy has a long history in the American federal experience. Several kinds of government secrecy policy are reviewed here, beginning with their origins, or “policy depths,” and extending to their most recent expressions or “dimensions.” It is a rich history which, in this brief overview, is explored only in terms of its highlights, but offers, nonetheless, a roadmap for pursuing research in this area. It concludes with the observation that, in a democracy, representatives of the citizenry, whether elected or appointed, may momentarily cloak their decisionmaking and their policies in secrecy for the good of the nation—to protect it from enemies and to assure its survival. Those representatives must remember that the secrecy they impose is only momentary and that the shrouded decisions and policies they make, once made known to the citizenry, must be acceptable to them. The citizenry, in turn, accept such secrecy only in limited instances and on a momentary basis in order to have the confidence that their representatives are making decisions and policies acceptable to them. A government failing to honor these arrangements may well be regarded as one “not worth the cost of preservation.”

Comparative Perspectives on E-government: Serving Today and Building for Tomorrow

Review(s) of: Comparative Perspectives on E-government: Serving Today and Building for Tomorrow, Peter Hernon, Rowena Cullen, and Harold C. Relyea (eds), Lanham Md, Scarecrow Press, 2006, ISBN 0810853574 (pbk), 0810857359 (hbk).

National security and information

Abstract In recent times, references to national security in political parlance, policy, and law, particularly in the United States, appear to have become more frequent and visible. But, what does the concept mean? This review identifies and considers various interpretations, explores the U.S. policy history of the concept, and briefly examines the significance of the term for information matters. Ultimately, it appears that both national security and the nation would benefit from more precise explanation of the concept and better operation of constitutional checks and balances when it is invoked.