New York Press Association
This is Sunshine Week, a time every year when journalists and other free-speech advocates talk about the need for open government.
Americans learned a lot about government especially that once-obscure process of impeachment in the past year. But over time we’ve lost ground when it comes to understanding and embracing our democracy’s basic values. That loss goes a long way to explaining our political division, brutal lack of civility in public discourse and erosion of trust in our basic institutions. Many people know basic events and processes of U.S. history. We remember, from our school days, the three branches of government, the concept of separation of powers and how a bill becomes a law.