ABSTRACT

American constitutional democracy relies heavily on administrative law to determine what should be open, what should be secret, and how decisions regarding governmental transparency should be made, challenged, and reviewed. The Government Accountability Office publishes reports on virtually every significant aspect of administration, including personnel practices, organizational design, budgets and financial management, performance, and the implementation of specific statutes. The federal government and all fifty states promote transparency through open meetings laws. Their purpose is to place agencies' oral policymaking in full public view in order to obtain better decisions, promote greater understanding of government, and generate more trust and confidence in it. Public-sector whistle-blower protection regulations are intended to prevent reprisals against public employees, contractors, and others who expose wrongdoing observed in their relationships with government agencies. Public employees are generally made whole through reinstatement and back pay, benefits, and seniority.