From Gregory Stock’s The Book of Questions: A movement to reduce political corruption maintains that the only way to keep politicians even close to honest is to require them to always wear tiny video bugs that record their every interaction and to post them all online. Would you support such monitoring of key elected officials?

I know, it sounds crazy. Can you imagine ol’ Senator Smith walking around Capitol Hill with a GoPro strapped to his forehead? Talk about an unflattering angle!

In all seriousness though, it’s an interesting idea. Supporters argue it would keep politicians on their best behavior knowing Big Brother is always watching. Of course, we all know how skittish politicians get about anything that resembles an invasion of privacy. Heck, Congress probably can’t even agree on lunch orders, let alone passing a law to monitor themselves!

That said, if such a law did somehow squeak through, I can see the upside. It’d be like cops wearing body cams while on duty – it promotes accountability and transparency. Harder to make shady backroom deals when you know it’ll end up on YouTube!

The devil is in the details though. Who controls the footage? Are there any times the cameras can be turned off? What happens when the video inevitably gets leaked? Plenty of issues to hash out.

In the end, I’d probably lean toward supporting the idea, with some sensible limitations. Corruption is a huge problem, and anything to limit it is worth considering. But let’s be realistic – no politician is ever going to vote to put themselves under constant surveillance. So while it’s an interesting “what if” scenario, this puppy is likely DOA.

What do you all think? Would politician body cams be a bold stroke for transparency or a bridge too far into Big Brother territory? Sound off in the comments! And remember to subscribe for more hard-hitting analysis of the issues that matter.

Feature Photo by Noelle Otto