Transparency and US Election
Sam Ghandchi
http://www.ghandchi.com/1236-us-election-english.htm 
شفافیت و انتخابات آمریکا
http://www.ghandchi.com/1236-us-election.htm

The day after tomorrow American people will go to the polls to decide between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump as the next US president in the 2016 election.

Contrary to some critics, I find this election as a further proof that US is a democracy, as Karl Popper put it, democracy is not about *who* rules but it is about *how* a state rules (1) and we saw a complete open society in action with all its checks and balances during the 2016 US election.

Another lesson that Iranian opposition can learn from this election is about the value of transparency on public issues. Today, "Clinton's charity confirms Qatar's $1 million gift while she was at State Dept" but Clinton Foundation had not disclosed at the time (2). Personally I believe Clinton Foundation had done real good philanthropic work in countries like Haiti but lack of transparency may cost Hilary Clinton a presidency that she is winning (3).

Here is a good lesson for Iranian opposition to know that accepting help from foreign governments without transparency can hurt us-- even in an open society like the US such revelations after the fact kill trust. Secrecy in such public matters is not taken as a personal issue and people expect transparency even when it is done for nothing but the purpose of charity and doing good. The issue of transparency regarding help from foreign states has come up and been discussed many times in the Iranian opposition (4).

Hoping for a democratic and secular futurist republic in Iran,

Sam Ghandchi, Editor/Publisher
IRANSCOPE
http://www.ghandchi.com 
http://www.iranscope.com 
November 6, 2016

Footnotes:

1. What is modern democracy
http://www.ghandchi.com/92-democracy.htm 
Democracy is Not People's Rule, It is People's Judgment
http://www.ghandchi.com/313-JudgmentEng.htm
دموکراسی حکومت مردم نیست، قضاوت مردم است
http://www.ghandchi.com/313-Judgment.htm

2. Reuters: Clinton's charity confirms Qatar's $1 million gift while she was at State Dept
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-foundation-idUSKBN12Z2SL

3. Why Hilary Clinton Wins
http://www.ghandchi.com/1223-hilary-clinton-wins-english.htm 
چرا هیلاری کلینتون برنده است
http://www.ghandchi.com/1223-hilary-clinton-wins.htm

4. دربارهء گرفتن کمک از خارجی ها
http://isdmovement.com/2015/0715/072915/072915.Sam-Ghandchi-On-getting-help-from-foreign-countries.htm

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