But government structures are not simply formal; a structural environment involves
rules that dictate how government goes about its business. In the past three
decades, laws such as open public meetings laws, the Administrative Procedure Act,
and the Freedom of Information Act have opened up government to considerable
scrutiny. These laws allow people greater access to government. They have helped
to root out some unseemly practices in government, since the participants in a policy
arena know that their actions are on the public record. These benefits come with the
cost of slowing down policy change as agencies and policy proponents must seek
and address public comment, scrutiny, and sometimes opposition. In other words,
an agency cannot simply regulate without any public scrutiny, and that scrutiny can
sometimes lead to conflict and delay. In our system, as in many democracies, citizens
and policy makers must seek a broadly accepted balance between legislative speed
and efficiency on the one hand, and a respect for democracy and the rights of all
citizens to participate on the other.