PATI supporters in the US have been using Sunshine Week 2008 to promote freedom of information and evaluate the major-party presidential candidates' views on transparency.

Neither Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama nor John McCain have dismissed their campaign as foolishness — and all three are said to offer a stronger record of openness than US president George Bush ever has.

Their attitude has left Americans hoping the veil of secrecy shrouding government may soon be pulled back.

Researchers at HawkEye — the oldest newspaper in Iowa, a state regarded as a leading light in transparency legislation — have been assessing the candidates' transparency credentials.

They report that Sen. Clinton has produced a ten-point plan for government reform, which she said would "replace secrecy and mystery with transparency".

Among her proposals are: ending no-bid government contracts and posting all federal contracts online; publishing the budgets of every government agency; putting more government services online; stronger protection for government whistle-blowers.

Her commitment to transparency has been questioned because of the time it took to release records covering her activities during Bill Clinton's presidency.

An analysis by the First Amendment Center analysis stated: "By many accounts, Sen. Clinton still has disdain for journalists and their prying predilections. But her years in the White House, in the Senate and now in the presidential campaign have taught her she needs at least to get along with the press and tolerate its excesses, at least most of the time, without exacting revenge."

Sen. Obama's ambitious transparency plan incorporates technology to "help connect government to its citizens and engage citizens in a democracy".

His proposals include: putting government data online in accessible formats; airing live webcasts of agency meetings; restoring scientific integrity; allowing people to track federal grants, contracts, earmarks and lobbyist contacts online; and allowing five days for public to review and comment on legislation online before its signed.

One of Sen. Obama's most visible Senate actions on open government was his co-sponsorship of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which went into effect this January with the launch of USAspending.gov, a website that gives people access to information on government contracts, grants and other awards.

As an Illinois state senator, Sen. Obama co-sponsored the Verbatim Record Bill, requiring public agencies to video or audio record closed door meetings.

Sen. Obama is the only remaining candidate to have signed the Reason Foundation's Oath of Presidential Transparency and, according to the Washington Post, he is the only leading candidate to have released his income tax returns.

However, Sen. Obama has been less transparent in his inability to produce records from his term as state senator, which he says is due simply to the lack of archivist resources.

Meanwhile, Sen. McCain's campaign website discusses the importance of transparency mainly in relation to earmarks and lobbyists' access to and influence over lawmakers.

"A democratic government operates best in the disinfecting light of the public eye. Ethics and transparency are not election year buzz words; they are the obligations of democracy and the duties of honourable public service," states Sen. McCain.

Regarding earmarks, the site says: "As president, John McCain would shine the disinfecting light of public scrutiny on those who abuse the public purse, use the power of the presidency to restore fiscal responsibility, and exercise the veto pen to enforce it."

Sen. McCain has supported the release of Congressional Research Service reports to the public, and has spoken in favor of a federal shield law for reporters.

"It may require more debate and all that, but I really feel that freedom of the press is a constitutional right, as we all know, and should be protected as much as humanly possible," he has said.

An analysis by The First Amendment Center, however, finds that Sen. McCain is often willing to place achieving other goals such as campaign finance reform and banning flag burning above free speech rights. He has reportedly also supported the continued classification of certain records from the Vietnam War.