Accountability is vital to a functioning democracy. Without it, we can’t ensure the government is serving the public interest or representing the will of the people. But in recent years, public trust in government has spiraled, and now it’s reached alarming lows. We’re facing a growing authoritarian threat — and the last few years have shone a spotlight on the need for better guardrails and stronger accountability measures. We have to recognize wrongdoing in our institutions in order to make things right. In fighting to protect whistleblowers and build up accountability measures, POGO is working to create a government worthy of the public’s trust.
To strengthen accountability, we’re focused on protecting those who can check government power from within by alerting the public to wrongdoing — or preventing it from happening in the first place.
We rely on federal government employees to ensure programs are operating with integrity. POGO is advocating for reforms to better protect federal employees from political interference and retaliation for sounding the alarm on wrongdoing.
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Inspectors general shine a light on government activities and expose problems to Congress and the public. POGO is working to better empower these watchdogs, who are vital to strong accountability in government.
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When government officials or agencies don’t fear consequences, they can act with impunity, trampling on civil liberties, suppressing dissent, and engaging in authoritarian practices.
Strong accountability in government relies heavily on the role of inspectors general as internal watchdogs — but currently, they are vulnerable to the political whims of the president.
While their disclosures are crucial to exposing problems within our government, whistleblowers are currently incentivized to stay silent. Stronger protections would ensure they feel safe to sound the alarm on wrongdoing.
Weak protections for whistleblowers force those with knowledge of government wrongdoing to think twice about speaking up. Congress must act.
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