Topics

Questions related to "Freedom of information"

• Overall, do you think there is more secrecy, less secrecy or about the same amount of secrecy in the Obama administration as in the previous administration?
• Do you think Obama's order has made federal agencies more open when people ask for information or not?
• During his first year in office, President Obama ordered all federal agencies to adopt what he called a "presumption in favor of disclosure" when handling requests under the Freedom of Information Act. Are you familiar with that order?
• I'd like to ask some questions about whether you feel government in America is open and transparent or whether you think government is closed and secretive. When talking about the local government in your community, do you think local government is very open,somewhat open, somewhat secretive or very secretive?
• How about state government? Is it very open, somewhat open, somewhat secretive or very secretive?
• How about the federal government based in Washington, D.C.?
• Have you ever heard of a federal law called the Freedom of Information Act?
• This law is meant to allow the American people see what information the federal government has obtained about them or about issues they ae interested in. Have you ever requested information under the Freedom of Information Act?
• As best you can tell, do you think the Freedom of Information Act is a good law or not a good law?
• How often do you think the federal government obeys this law and allows people to see information they are entitled to see. Does the federal government always obeys the law, usually obeys the law, only sometimes obeys it or never obeys this law?
• President Obama on his first day in office said he wants to usher in a new era of open government. He ordered all federal agencies to adopt what he calls a "presumption in favor of disclosure" when handling requests under the Freedom of Informaton Act. Do you think he is doing the right thing or not in giving this order or not?
• Cross tabulation of Freedom of Information questions by Political Party Dem GOP Ind Approve performance of President Obama 90% 30 57% Local Government Very & Somewhat Open 57% 60% 62% State Government Very & Somewhat Open 45% 46% 41% Federal Government Very & Somewhat Open 30% 15% 25% Have Heard of FOI Act 62% 73% 71% Have Used FOI Act 5% 6% 8% FOI Act is good law 80% 74% 76% Government always or usually obeys FOI 28% 29% 25% Obama's urging disclosure right 87% 70% 81%
• I'd like to ask some questions about whether you feel government in America is open and transparent or whether you think government is closed and secretive. Talking about local government in your community, do you think local government is very open, somewhat open, somewhat secretive or very secrecive?
• How about state government? Is it very open, somewhat open, somewhat secretive or very secretive?
• How about the federal government based in Washington D.C.?
• How likely do you think it is that the federal government has opened mail or monitored telephone conversations of people in the U.S. without first getting permission from a federal jduge? It is very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely or very unlikely that the federal government has done these things without permission from a judge?
• How likely do you think it is that the federal government has opened your mail or monitored some of your telephone conversations?
• How likely is it that the government has opened mail or monitored telephone conversatons involving members of the news media?
• How important to you is a candidate's position on open government when you decided whom to vote for? So when you're voting for president is a candidate's position on open government very important, somewhat important, somewhat unimportant or very unimportant?
• How about when voting for a member of Congress. Is open government very important, somewhat important, somewhat unimportant or very unimportant?
• How about when voting for a candidate for state office like govenror or attorney general?
• Government records usually are considered public documents that people may view during normal business hours. Which of the following should be the government's policy when releasing government documents: First, that people should be required to show identificatiom and give a written reason for seeing the documents? Or second that people should be required to speak their names and why they want to see the documents? Or third that they should speak their names but not required to give a reason why they want to see the documents? Or fourth that they give a reason but not give their names; Or fifth that they should not be asked either their names or why they want to see the records?
• Just as with the question about access to public records, if people are allowed to see lawmaker's list of visitors, should be people have to identify themselves and state reasons why they want to see the lists?
• Some states allow people to carry handguns if they get a permit. Should state governments allow the public to see who has been given permits to carry concealed handguns?
• Should local crime reports be made public?
• I'd like to ask some questions about whether you feel government in America is open and transparent or whether you think it is secretive. Would you say it is very open, somewhat oopen, somewhat secretive or very secretive.
• How about your state government? Is it very open, somewhat open, somewhat secretive or very secretive?
• How about the national government based in Washington, D.C.?
• In general, how important do you believe open public access to government records and information is? Do you believe that public access is critical to the functioning of good government, or do you believe that it plays only a minor role?
• I want to ask how interested you are in the actions and activities of various levels of government. So when it comes to your state and local governments, would you say you are very interested, somewhat interested, somewhat uninterested or completely uninteested?
• How about the federal government
• I'm interested in whether you consider these governments to be open and transparent or whether you consider them to be closed and secretive. So when talking about your state and local governments, do you think that they are very open, somewhat open, somewhat secretive or very secretive
• How about the federal government?
• Do you think there's too much secrecy, too little secrecy or just the right amount of secrecy in our governments? So when you think about your local and state governments, do they have too much secrecy, too little secrecy or just the right amount ot secrecy
• How about the federal government?
• Sometimes citizens seek information from official government records, such as voter registration information,realestate sales, policy incident reports, salaries of officials, driver or accident records, background information on zoning or school boundary changes or other public hearing issues. Have you ever requested any records such as the ones I mentioned or others from any government agency?
• Have you requested informaton from your local government?
• Wold you say that your local govenrment was very helpful in providing the information you wanted, somewhat helpful, somewhat unhelpful or very unhelpful?
• Have you requested records from your state government?
• Was the state government very helpful in providing information you wanted, somewhat helpful, somewhat unhelpful or very unhelpful?
• Have you requested records from the federal government?
• Was the federal government very helpful, somewhat helpful, somewhat unhelpful or very unhelpful?
• have you ever attended a public hearing or official government meeting?
• Have you attended a local govenrment hearing or meeting?
• Have you attended a state government hearing or meetinG?
• Have you attended a federal government hearing or meeting?
• The federal govenrment and most state governments have laws concerning public access to government information and the public's right to attend meetings, These are often referred to as 'freedom of information" or "right to know" or "sunshine" laws. Do you genrally feel these laws give you and other Americans too much, too little or just about the right amount of access to government records and information?
• Do these sunshine laws give you too much, too little or the right amount of access to government meetings and hearings?
• Do thse laws give you too much, too little or the right amount of access to court records?
• Some believe government records should be considered public records and that information should be withheld only if a govrnment agency can show that release of the inform ation would do harm. Others belive that it is the responsiblity of government to protect the information it hold and that record should be made public only if the citizen can make a sound legal case for its release. Which of those comes closer to your view?
• Many state and local courts allow cameras into courtrooms during trials so that citizens can watch them on television. Do you think this is a good idea or bad idea?