--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a fundamental principle of American…" description: "\"“It is a fundamental principle of American democracy that laws should not be public only when it is convenient for government officials to make them pu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c52/ron-wyden-8512_american-democracy_it-is-a-fundamental-principle-of-america_2567336.png" --- # It is a fundamental principle of American democracy that… ![“It is a fundamental principle of American democracy that laws should not be public only when it is convenient for government officials to make them public. They should be public all the time, open to review by adversarial courts, and subject to change by an accountable legislature guided by an…” quote by Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c52/ron-wyden-8512_american-democracy_it-is-a-fundamental-principle-of-america_2567336.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c52/ron-wyden-8512_american-democracy_it-is-a-fundamental-principle-of-america_2567336.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c52/ron-wyden-8512_american-democracy_it-is-a-fundamental-principle-of-america_2567336.png) > ““It is a fundamental principle of American democracy that laws should not be public only when it is convenient for government officials to make them public. They should be public all the time, open to review by adversarial courts, and subject to change by an accountable legislature guided by an informed public. If Americans are not able to learn how their government is interpreting and executing the law then we have effectively eliminated the most important bulwark of our democracy. That’s why, even at the height of the Cold War, when the argument for absolute secrecy was at its zenith, Congress chose to make US surveillance laws public. Without public laws, and public court rulings interpreting those laws, it is impossible to have informed public debate. And when the American people are in the dark, they can’t make fully informed decisions about who should represent them, or protest policies that they disagree with. These are fundamentals. It’s Civics 101. And secret law violates those basic principles. It has no place in America.”” [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Transparency ensures citizens can scrutinize laws, preventing secret rulemaking that erodes democratic accountability. **In simple terms:** Open laws let people understand and challenge government actions. Key Takeaway Demand full public access to laws and rulings. Themes democracy transparency accountability Mood concerned informed Type political civic When to use this quote - legislative hearings - journalistic investigations - public forums - court case reviews Key Concepts rulemaking public oversight civic engagement Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance security with transparency? - What mechanisms ensure laws stay truly public? A Different Perspective Secrecy may be justified for national security, complicating absolute openness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-democracy/) [American people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-people/) [Cold war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-war/) [Constitutional law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitutional-law/) [Informed Public](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/informed-public-213762/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Laws Public](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws-public-1660132/) [National security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/national-security/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Public Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-americans-1660130/) [Secret Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret-law-1660133/) [Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets/) [Subject To Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subject-to-change/) [Surveillance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surveillance/) [Surveillance Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surveillance-laws-1660131/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [The combination of the growth of these digital technologies, the ability of the government to conjure up these secret interpretations, plus a very unusual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/the-combination-of-the-growth-of-these-digital-technologies-the/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [Especially without coverage, we have made it to 4, 5, 6% in the polls just on the power of the public interest out there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/especially-without-coverage-we-have-made-it-to-4-5-6-in-the-polls/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [The Secret is the Law of Attraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/the-secret-is-the-law-of-attraction/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [While the US Constitution marks these programs as illegal, my government argues that secret court rulings, which the world is not permitted to see,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/while-the-us-constitution-marks-these-programs-as-illegal-my/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [The immoral cannot be made moral through the use of secret law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/the-immoral-cannot-be-made-moral-through-the-use-of-secret-law/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/i-will-be-satisfied-if-the-federation-of-secret-law-unequal-pardon/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [The Secret: Law of Attraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/the-secret-law-of-attraction/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [The less manifest the work, the stronger: as though a secret law demanded it always be hidden in what it shows, thus showing what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-blanchot/the-less-manifest-the-work-the-stronger-as-though-a-secret-law/) [Maurice Blanchot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-blanchot/) > [An informed public democracy means rule of the people. A media system is absolutely essential to that process, if people are going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-waterman-mcchesney/an-informed-public-democracy-means-rule-of-the-people-a-media-system/) [Robert Waterman McChesney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-waterman-mcchesney/) > [“In the world of journalism, the personal Web site ("blog") was hailed as the killer of the traditional media. In fact it has become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fareed-zakaria/in-the-world-of-journalism-the-personal-web-site-blog-was-hailed-as/) [Fareed Zakaria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fareed-zakaria/) > [“The media have indeed informed the public about threats to our air, water and food. 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A truly informed public is antithetical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jones-griffiths/what-we-get-to-think-and-know-about-the-world-is-in-the-hands-of-a/) [Philip Jones Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jones-griffiths/) > [I ran through the manuscript in the space of a day, much as one might pick compulsively at a box of chocolates. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-halpern/i-ran-through-the-manuscript-in-the-space-of-a-day-much-as-one-might/) [Baruch Halpern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-halpern/) > [A well informed public opinion is essential to the growth of political and social awareness. Only he who is informed can comment intelligently on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haile-selassie/a-well-informed-public-opinion-is-essential-to-the-growth-of/) [Haile Selassie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haile-selassie/) ## More by Ron Wyden > [When the Veterans Affairs Department implemented a program to provide home-based health care to veterans with multiple chronic conditions - many of the system's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/when-the-veterans-affairs-department-implemented-a-program-to-provide/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [Police departments no longer have to pay overtime or divert resources from other projects to find out where an individual goes - all they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/police-departments-no-longer-have-to-pay-overtime-or-divert-resources/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [Even under the best of circumstances, the road back from war is difficult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/even-under-the-best-of-circumstances-the-road-back-from-war-is/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [Trade wars aren't started by countries appealing to respected, independent trade authorities. Rather, trade wars begin when one country decides to violate international trade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/trade-wars-aren-t-started-by-countries-appealing-to-respected/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [Trade wars arent started by countries appealing to respected, independent trade authorities. Rather, trade wars begin when one country decides to violate international trade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/trade-wars-arent-started-by-countries-appealing-to-respected/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [If China is helping its domestic industries charge an artificially low price for solar panels and other environmental goods, then China is violating international…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/if-china-is-helping-its-domestic-industries-charge-an-artificially/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [With a host of proposals on the table and a President examining new ideas for health reform, we have an obligation to give real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/with-a-host-of-proposals-on-the-table-and-a-president-examining-new/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [I agree with just about everyone in the reform debate when they say 'If you like what you have, you should be able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/i-agree-with-just-about-everyone-in-the-reform-debate-when-they-say/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [If we are going to have a health care program that works for all Americans, we are going to have to get beyond the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/if-we-are-going-to-have-a-health-care-program-that-works-for-all/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [With the loss of Free Choice Vouchers, hundreds of thousands of workers will now be forced to choose between their employers' unaffordable insurance or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/with-the-loss-of-free-choice-vouchers-hundreds-of-thousands-of/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [Part of what we're trying to do is lay out what really happened. For example, I've been trying to get across that the intelligence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/part-of-what-we-re-trying-to-do-is-lay-out-what-really-happened-for/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [I don't care who you love. If you love this country enough to risk your life for it, you shouldn't have to hide who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/i-don-t-care-who-you-love-if-you-love-this-country-enough-to-risk/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [How can it be, in a country as strong and rich as this one, that tens of thousands of Americans who need legal representation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/how-can-it-be-in-a-country-as-strong-and-rich-as-this-one-that-tens/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [The government's collection authority, under the Patriot Act, is basically limitless. They can get the medical records and financial records, gun purchase records. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/the-government-s-collection-authority-under-the-patriot-act-is/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [Pay-for-procedure or fee-for-service reimbursement rewards doctors and hospitals for volume - not keeping patients healthy or being efficiency. Pay-for-Performance is clearly one tool that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/pay-for-procedure-or-fee-for-service-reimbursement-rewards-doctors/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) [Explore all 80 Ron Wyden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) ## More American democracy quotes > [ Elvis \[Presley\] had a stepstool, if you will, to success because he came from the dominant culture. They identified with him. Michael Jackson had… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/elvis-presley-had-a-stepstool-if-you-will-to-success-because-he-came/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [That's what separates out American democracy from dictators and horrible governments across the world and the reason why that works is that we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-chamberlain/that-s-what-separates-out-american-democracy-from-dictators-and/) [Charles R. Chamberlain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-chamberlain/) > [This will be the day when we shall bring into full realization the dream of American democracy -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/this-will-be-the-day-when-we-shall-bring-into-full-realization-the/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [This has all the appearance of a foreign power trying to undermine structures of legitimacy of an American election. That is a serious matter.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gerson/this-has-all-the-appearance-of-a-foreign-power-trying-to-undermine/) [Michael Gerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gerson/) > [Men like Abraham Lincoln recognized that if the slaveholders were not stopped, it would only be a question of time until they spread their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/men-like-abraham-lincoln-recognized-that-if-the-slaveholders-were-not/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [These communities that are losing local news coverage are losing something deeper. They're losing a connection to American democracy. And those connections must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-stelter/these-communities-that-are-losing-local-news-coverage-are-losing/) [Brian Stelter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-stelter/) > [“Today you go into make a modern recording with all this technology. The bass plays first, then the drums come in later, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynton-marsalis/today-you-go-into-make-a-modern-recording-with-all-this-technology/) [Wynton Marsalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynton-marsalis/) > [As a result of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, American democracy is being undermined by the ability of the Koch brothers and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/as-a-result-of-the-citizens-united-supreme-court-decision-american/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [If everyone on the Court always voted for the prosecution against the defendant, for the corporation against the plaintiffs, and for the government against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/if-everyone-on-the-court-always-voted-for-the-prosecution-against-the/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [Political violence has no place in Pennsylvania - the birthplace of American democracy - nor anywhere else across this country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-shapiro/political-violence-has-no-place-in-pennsylvania-the-birthplace-of/) [Josh Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-shapiro/) > [The atomic weapons race and the secrecy surrounding it crushed American democracy. It induced us to conduct government according to lies. It distorted justice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/the-atomic-weapons-race-and-the-secrecy-surrounding-it-crushed/) [Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/) > [I have no doubt that there are Russian efforts to disturb the fabric of American democracy, but they're disruption efforts. They're troublemaking efforts. They're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-have-no-doubt-that-there-are-russian-efforts-to-disturb-the-fabric/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [“Still, it strikes me that, taken together, they do make an argument, and it is this: the rise of American democracy is bound up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-lepore/still-it-strikes-me-that-taken-together-they-do-make-an-argument-and/) [Jill Lepore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-lepore/) > [Mr Jefferson meant that the American system should be a democracy, and he would rather have let the whole world perish than that this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/mr-jefferson-meant-that-the-american-system-should-be-a-democracy-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [I have no doubt that there are Russian efforts to disturb the fabric of American democracy, but they're disruption efforts. The working theory behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-have-no-doubt-that-there-are-russian-efforts-to-disturb-the-fabric-2/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) [Browse all 168 American democracy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-democracy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is a fundamental principle of American democracy that laws should not be public only when it is convenient for government officials to make them public. They should be public all the time, open to review by adversarial courts, and subject to change by an accountable legislature guided by an informed public. If Americans are not able to learn how their government is interpreting and executing the law then we have effectively eliminated the most important bulwark of our democracy. That’s why, even at the height of the Cold War, when the argument for absolute secrecy was at its zenith, Congress chose to make US surveillance laws public. Without public laws, and public court rulings interpreting those laws, it is impossible to have informed public debate. And when the American people are in the dark, they can’t make fully informed decisions about who should represent them, or protest policies that they disagree with. These are fundamentals. It’s Civics 101. And secret law violates those basic principles. 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