Although this is supposed to be, and should be, a government of the people, for the people, and by the people, on a macro level, for an absolute certainty, it isn’t that at all. In fact, as this country has modernized and become bigger and bigger, it has created layers upon layers of governmental departments and security clearances that more than anything, serves to separate the people from their governmental overseers. This means, that there are square miles upon square miles of governmental land that private citizens of this country are not permitted to visit or enter upon. In addition, there are governmental buildings, agencies, and departments, which are pretty much completely hidden, and therefore out of sight from the general public. So too, there are seemingly endless documents that are classified, or are labeled as secret, or top secret, which private citizens are not permitted access to.
All of the above makes it fairly clear that in absence of the public knowing what its government is or isn't actually doing on behalf of its citizenry, than any trust that is given to that government by its citizenry, is not based upon anything much more, than a hope that their government is doing the right thing. The fact, though, is that the more transparent a person or an organization is, almost always means the more open that person or organization is; and whereas, there most definitely is a place for discretion and privacy, the default of governmental actions and documentation, should be transparency, rather than opaqueness or outright deceit.
Further to the point, individuals have a fundamental right to privacy, but the servants to the people, that is, their government, should not hide their actions behind an impenetrable wall of privacy, which essentially is what this government does today, of which, they have set themselves apart, and uplifted themselves, so that only those that have been preapproved by the government have access to what the government is actually doing, and all others are left in perpetual darkness.
One of the most troubling aspects of today's government is how often they hide their actions, behind a wall of national security, under the guise that secrecy helps in protecting the country, whereas, for the most part, it allows the government to perform actions that are not subject to a real public debate or to fair scrutiny. All of this just serves to emphasize, that a government that is not subject to full disclosure, will have an inherent tendency to hide all those things that are of questionable worth, or are outright failures, or are inimical to the principles of America, under the cloak of secrecy.
In point of fact, when those in the know will not disclose openly what is really going on, they are, in matters large and small, naturally going to lie and deceive the public in a way, that they give the appearance that all that they are doing are for the benefit of the people; whereas the real winners are those on the inside and the real losers are all those that are sold this fraudulent bag of goods, of which, the public is all the poorer, for getting fleeced by its own government that too often says one thing, and does in fit, form, and function, something other.