Supporting Democratic Values Through a Relevant Documentary Foundation – An Evolutionary Complex

The evolution of governance in democratic states as well as substantive changes within the administrative cultures of public administrations – and the development of enabling technologies – have constantly impacted and influenced the manner in which records have been managed within governments. Over the last capacity to manage records collectively as a society, and more precisely within government organizations, has not evolved at a corresponding pace to satisfy all of the new demands and expectations emerging both through transitions and transformations around the nature and context of democratic values, and by corollary pressures established through new and highly accessible information and communications technologies. History shows that not only have we been unable to adapt, but that we have also gradually lost sight of the purpose and rationale for recordkeeping itself. Through a comparison of the development of recordkeeping in the public administration contexts of Switzerland and Canada, this paper explores the means to regain our capacity to manage documents effectively in the civic interest. The paper also suggests a series of actions that would at the outset permit us to address both the technological progress and the demands of society vis-à-vis open government and other needs related to the functioning of contemporary democracy.