Though much of it is intended
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2025 10:41 am
A huge thanks again to all who were interviewed, involved, and are excited about this program.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE DEMOCRACY LIBRARY (U.S.) REPORT
Every year, the United States government spends billions of dollars generating data: including reports, research, records, and statistics. Both governments and corporations know that this data is a highly valuable strategic asset. Yet meaningful access to this critical data is effectively kept out of the public’s hands. to be publicly accessible, we do not have a publicly-accessible central repository where we can search for all government artifacts. We do not have a public library of all government data, documents, research, records, and publications. These artifacts are not easy for everyone to get a hold of.
Instead, this data is organized only to be kept phone number library behind paywalls, vended to multinational corporations, guarded by “data cartels,” or sits inaccessibly among thousands of disjointed agency websites, with non-standardized archival systems that are stewarded by under-resourced librarians and archivists. This data is siloed within agencies, never before linked together. Although by law, we are entitled to this data – by default, journalists, activists, democracy technologists, academics, and the public are deprived of meaningful access. Instead, it’s a pay to play system in which many are priced out.
However, if we could reduce the public burden in accessing this knowledge – as the federal government has stated is a priority – then it might be the lynchpin to transforming democratic systems and making them more efficient, actionable, and auditable in the future. This work could potentiate a big data renaissance in political science and public administration.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE DEMOCRACY LIBRARY (U.S.) REPORT
Every year, the United States government spends billions of dollars generating data: including reports, research, records, and statistics. Both governments and corporations know that this data is a highly valuable strategic asset. Yet meaningful access to this critical data is effectively kept out of the public’s hands. to be publicly accessible, we do not have a publicly-accessible central repository where we can search for all government artifacts. We do not have a public library of all government data, documents, research, records, and publications. These artifacts are not easy for everyone to get a hold of.
Instead, this data is organized only to be kept phone number library behind paywalls, vended to multinational corporations, guarded by “data cartels,” or sits inaccessibly among thousands of disjointed agency websites, with non-standardized archival systems that are stewarded by under-resourced librarians and archivists. This data is siloed within agencies, never before linked together. Although by law, we are entitled to this data – by default, journalists, activists, democracy technologists, academics, and the public are deprived of meaningful access. Instead, it’s a pay to play system in which many are priced out.
However, if we could reduce the public burden in accessing this knowledge – as the federal government has stated is a priority – then it might be the lynchpin to transforming democratic systems and making them more efficient, actionable, and auditable in the future. This work could potentiate a big data renaissance in political science and public administration.