New technologies, better processes, nervous officials
New technologies can make it possible to improve the way elected officials make laws and, according to some observers, even increase the accountability of those officials. At a recent meeting sponsored by the House Committee on Administration and LegalXML, a group devoted to applying the Extensible Markup Language (XML) to legal issues, speakers discussed how this new high-powered Web language can address both objectives.
Despite the stodgy image of government, several federal agencies including legislative agencies have used markup languages for some time. The Government Printing Office and National Archives and Records Administration began using the Standard Generalized Markup Language or SGML, the predecessor to XML, in 1996, to better handle the increased volume of legislation. This use of SGML covered both the writing of laws and in the enactment of legislation through publication of the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations.
SGML was never easy to implement for any agency, company, or organization, so the recent development of XML – in reality a simplified form of SGML – encouraged both Congressional and executive agencies to give it a closer look. LegalXML has established a work group to develop an XML vocabulary for improving the way government writes and enacts its laws.
Some speakers at the meeting said just fixing the mechanics misses a golden opportunity for applying technology to better connect citizens to their government and hold officials more accountable for their actions. Patrice McDermott of OMB Watch, a public-interest research and advocacy group in Washington, DC, recommended a standard XML vocabulary that would link legislative activities with government databases. This vocabulary would help the public connect legislation with the actual results of the laws as expressed in those government files.
McDermott mentioned an OMB Watch project, the Right to Know Network, as an example. It lets the public search several environmental and housing databases, including ones that contain information about the release of toxic substances into the air and banking community investment statistics. Connecting these data with legislative actions and campaign contributions could give the public much more power and add accountability to the political process. Several members of the audience, composed mainly of staff people from Capitol Hill offices, squirmed visibly during this presentation.
