ABSTRACT
All governments experience conflicts and pressures but the mix of their experience in these respects differs from time to time and from place to place. Democratic governments, and governments which aspire to being democratic, need to be sensitive, in particular, to pressures stimulated by liberal values and principles. These values include openness for citizens to know what is being done in their name, and to hold elected public servants and appointed officials accountable for their actions: citizens generally may want to protect and advance their interests and to ensure that government actions are consistent with the policies and intentions approved by elections. Institutional structures and procedures are sometimes created, developed and refined to remove and/or minimise the impediments to maximising democratic values. Some of these elements have been examined in this book: they include acts of parliament (especially the Freedom of Information Act), regulations, the creation of institutions and offices, and the education, training, and socialisation of officials and citizens. In liberal democracies governments are expected to operate according to the rule of law and representatives are expected to be accountable to, and removable by, the people. For a balanced and clear understanding of these elements it is necessary to appreciate the relevance of these values and principles, to assess actual experience, and to consider how democratic opportunities may be developed further. Any appreciation of the practical elements of government is, however, hampered if there is inadequate access to what government is doing and how the processes of government are operating.
