The Washington Examiner was kind enough to publish an Op-Ed I wrote on transparency in the new administration.

The starting paragraphs:

The history of the American experiment has seen a constant struggle for fundamental change and reinvention. President-elect Obama ran on change, and now faces high expectations for a radical transformation in how the public relates to the presidency.

At the core of every “government reform” initiative has been the urgent sense that government was failing in its basic responsibilities, and that citizens’ needs were not being adequately represented in Washington.

Caused by economic hardship, government waste, flagrant corruption or over-concentrated power, these eras all saw constituents’ hostility coalesce into new expectations, to which public officials were forced to respond.

Now is no different. Obama campaigned in accord with the anti-incumbent mood, placing change and innovation over tradition and experience, running as an agent of reform.