Transparent Code, Transparent Power
As governance increasingly operates through code, a nation's software transparency becomes the authentic measure of its democracy. When citizens cannot examine the algorithms that count their votes, assess their taxes, or monitor their compliance, they surrender not just to technology but to unseen power. Public software that cannot be publicly scrutinised contradicts democratic principles at their core. The distinction between open and closed government code may eventually separate genuine democracies from digital autocracies—transparency of source code revealing commitment to accountability more honestly than constitutional promises. In this evolution, the freedom to inspect becomes as fundamental as the freedom to speak.