Politics & Power Quote by Roy Barnes

Transparency is never just transparency; its real currency is legitimacy. Roy Barnes frames his early governorship as a project of access, but the phrasing reveals a politician managing optics as much as information. “One of the things I’ve tried to do” is modest on purpose: it lowers the stakes, signals practicality, and implies a quiet contrast with whatever came before. He’s not accusing predecessors of secrecy outright, but the line invites listeners to hear that indictment anyway.

Barnes also collapses two audiences into one: “reporters and members of the general public alike.” That “alike” is doing heavy work. It flatters citizens by putting them on equal footing with the press, while also taming the press by suggesting they’re just another public constituency rather than a separate watchdog. It’s a subtle attempt to reposition the media-government relationship from adversarial to participatory: come closer, see the machinery, trust the process.

The most revealing word is “closer.” He doesn’t promise full exposure, oversight, or accountability; he promises proximity. That’s classic institutional rhetoric: let people watch enough to feel included, not so much that they can interrupt. “How their government works” adds a proprietorial note - “their” - as if civic ownership can be restored through guided tours of procedure.

Context matters: a new administration often needs to reset tone after scandal, fatigue, or simply the suspicion that power operates behind closed doors. Barnes’ line reads like a preemptive defense against cynicism: if you can see the gears, you’re less likely to assume the machine is rigged.