The Founders and the Revolutionary Underpinning of the Concept of the Right to Know

Abstract

In examining the revolutionary characteristics of the concept of the people's right to know, this study calls attention to pecuniary motives behind the American Revolution. During the founding period of the nation, the concept of the people's right to know—closely tied to the financial transparency of various taxes levied, the allocation of natural resources, and the proper education of the public—was repeatedly articulated and underscored as one of the most important democratic principles: the embodiment of the transcendent idealism of the democratic yearning of the people.