Back to Goal 23From Measures and Milestones 2002
p. 68-69, published 2002
Democracy—in its purest state—is inherently participatory. When participation is discouraged, either actively or passively through indifference or inattention, democracy is undermined. In turn, public confidence in government wanes, alienation rises, the desire to participate ebbs, and the quality of representation ultimately reflects democracy’s weakened state. Citizens rank this goal highly, sixth among all the goals in terms of importance, but they see little progress. Goal 24 ranks 23rd in terms of progress.
Table 1: Where Citizens Think We Stand
An inclusive political process that is open to all participants, regardless of gender, is a reliable indicator of the equity of representation. According to the Office of the Governor, 45 percent of all appointees to Kentucky boards and commissions in 2001 were women, the highest percentage in the past three years. However, that figure remains well below the state female population share of 51 percent.
Figure 1: Appointments to State Boards and Commissions, by Gender
Kentucky has a relatively homogeneous population, approximately 90 percent of which is white and 7.3 percent black. Yet minority participation in public affairs is vital to the democratic process. It signals that the state welcomes diversity and the wealth of opportunity that comes with it. Unlike the makeup of appointments by gender, the racial composition of appointments is more equal to the state’s population. Thus, relative to the population, blacks are well represented here.
Figure 2: Appointments to State Boards and Commissions, by Race
The integrity of those who are engaged in the political process determines the level of public confidence in democracy. Ethics in the executive and legislative branches of state government come under the purview of separate offices and codes. Table 2 shows the number of possible violations to the executive branch code of ethics, investigations, and enforcement actions. Table 3 shows comparable data for the legislative branch. Reliable local government data are not available.
Table 2: Executive Branch Ethics Office Report
Table 3: Legislative Branch Ethics Office Report
The Digital State, which ranked state governments by their utilization of digital technology in 1997, placed Kentucky below the median in six of seven categories measured. Progressive improvement has placed Kentucky above the median in five of the eight categories now reported (management and administration was added in 2000, GIS/transportation was added in 2001, and the 2001 education category is a combination of two separate earlier categories divided into higher education and K-12.) Though progress has not been consistently on the rise in every category, the overall higher rankings indicate that Kentucky is beginning to make real strides in using digital technology throughout state government and in public services.
Table 4: A Ranking of State Government’s Utilization of Digital Technology
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