On July 4, 1776, our forebears declared independence from Great Britain. The Declaration was not just a rejection of monarchy, but a bold embrace of self-rule – of a system in which government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed.

Nearly 250 years later, Americans gather each Independence Day to wave flags, light fireworks and recall that founding moment. But fewer pause to ask whether the promise of 1776 is still being kept. Do the people still rule? Or has a new class of insiders, technocrats and career officials risen to take the place of the old monarchy – this time, without red coats or royal decrees?

The evidence, especially here in New Jersey, is troubling.

Cape May County government has grown increasingly opaque. The public has noticed that the Board of County Commissioners, with only one or two exceptions, no longer grapples with substantive issues. Key decisions are made quietly. Work sessions are not livestreamed. Citizens are often given the bare minimum of access and little or no opportunity to understand how policy is being shaped. Transparency has faded, and along with it, public confidence.

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This is still America; no one can deny public information to the public.

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Unfortunately, this is not limited to local government. In Trenton, the Legislature has taken steps to make government less accessible and less accountable. At the behest of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, lawmakers recently rewrote the Open Public Records Act – a law long used by journalists, citizens and civic watchdogs to uncover government actions. The changes weaken the law, narrowing access and placing new hurdles in the path of anyone trying to find out what public officials are doing with public resources. In short, government transparency just got cloudier.

And there’s more. The same lawmakers have also made it more difficult for political challengers to get on the ballot by greatly increasing the number of signatures needed on petitions. In an era when cynicism about politics is already high, restricting ballot access helps protect incumbents and discourages grassroots participation – the very opposite of what a healthy republic requires.

All this feels far removed from the ideals we celebrate on the Fourth of July.

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was famously asked what sort of government the delegates had created. His reply: “A republic, if you can keep it.” That challenge still echoes today.

The slow drift away from participatory democracy was anticipated by futurist Alvin Toffler in “The Third Wave.” Toffler saw how the post-industrial, information-driven society would erode the large, centralized institutions of the industrial age – including mass political parties and bureaucratic governments. In their place, he hoped, would emerge more localized, flexible and participatory forms of governance. New technologies, he believed, could allow for more direct engagement by citizens.

But Toffler also warned of a counter-trend: that the very complexity of modern society could lead to a new technocracy, a class of professionals, administrators and insiders who would govern without real accountability. Information systems, rather than opening up government, might be used to manage public perception and suppress dissent.

Today, we are witnessing that dynamic firsthand. The tools of transparency have grown – livestreams, searchable databases, instant digital communication – but too many in government use those tools to profess openness rather than practice it. They speak in press releases, not plain language. They post notices but avoid explanation. They tolerate public comment, but rarely respond to it.

That’s not self-government. That’s stagecraft.

New Jersey’s retreat from public notice laws is another example. The Legislature is working to remove the requirement that government notices be published in independent newspapers, something that has long been a cornerstone of democratic visibility. Newspapers are not government platforms; they are independent entities that help bring public information into the community. To eliminate them from the process is to move further into the shadows.

It is hard not to see in all of this a quiet, bureaucratic counterrevolution, a shift toward rule by the few rather than the many.

But the American experiment isn’t over. The flame lit in 1776 can still burn brightly – if we are willing to defend it.

We must demand that all public meetings be fully open, livestreamed and archived. We must reject changes to OPRA that weaken our right to know. We must insist that ballot access be protected, not undermined. And we must protect the role of independent media as an essential part of democratic life.

Citizenship is not a spectator sport. It’s a daily act of attention, engagement and courage.

This Independence Day, let’s not only remember the revolution, we must continue it. Not with muskets, but with vigilance. Not with fireworks, but with questions. Not with celebration alone, but with accountability.

Because the republic is still ours – if we can keep it.

Quotes From the Bible

“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.” –Luke 8:17
Relevance: A direct rebuke of opaque governance. It affirms the moral power of transparency.