The term open has a special salience in such phrases as "open markets," "open records," "open government," and "open-ended" discussion or project. In such contexts it denotes both freedom and transparency, two fundamental values of a democratic society. Indeed, the term open society has itself become almost synomous with democracy, and is sometimes used to name the ideal of both the scientific and the non-scientific social orders.

Although Henri Bergson (1859–1941) first employed the term open society in The Two Sources of Morality and Religion (1935) and Eric Voegelin (1901–1985) made Bergson's interpretation a key concept in his philosophy of history, it was The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945) by Karl R. Popper (1902–1994) that gave the phrase wide currency. The concept of the open society has since sparked numerous scholarly debates as well as practical applications. Although based on core values such as equality in social relations, freedom of...