Grading Executive Transparency

Many government accountability groups have been unimpressed with the White House's check-the-box system for tracking agency compliance with President Obama's transparency agenda. The administration issued a December directive instructing departments on how to disclose their daily doings to the public but has not followed up with an assessment.

Now a coalition of transparency activists is conducting an independent audit of agency efforts. Openthegovernment.org has corralled public interest groups and is trying to round up graduate students to grade agencies "on whether they live up to both the letter, and the spirit, of the requirements."