Becoming a Better Citizen
The conversation between the government and the people is that social media is intent on creating is a two way street. Thus, as government becomes better at speaking, citizens need to become better at listening. With that in mind, today I’d like to spend some time introducing
one of my favorite Web sites, OpenCongress.org.
OpenCongress is a Web site originally started by The Participatory Politics Foundation three years ago with the help of The Sunlight Foundation. The goal of the Web site is to “help make Congress more transparent and to encourage civic engagement.” The website is part THOMAS, part Facebook, part Wikipedia, part Digg and part awesome.
The website pulls in every bill proposed in Congress and tracks various information on it. For instance, it shows who the bill’s sponsor and cosponsors are, what status of the bill is (in the House, in committee, on the President’s desk, etc.), as well as blog and news coverage of each bill. If a bill is really popular and if C-SPAN footage is available, the site also provides footage of Senators and Representatives talking about it. OpenCongress allows members to comment on each bill and to rate each other’s comments based on utility. After a bill is voted on, it also breaks down the votes in charts.
What about the people who vote on those bills? That’s where the Facebook part comes in. OpenCongress has a profile for every single Senator and Representative, which catalogs a whole host of information on them, including voting records and committee memberships. Other tidbits include party loyalty, a popularity index, videos and most interestingly, campaign finance information.
OpenCongress is more than just current bills and members though. Its wiki section outlines information about Congress as an institution. It goes into great depth about Congressional procedures, rules and even Article I of the Constitution. It also has information on every single committee in the House and Senate.
Besides what has already been listed, what makes OpenCongress part awesome? Check out these tools provided by the site. My personal favorite is the Battle Royale, which, to read the description, “stacks up all the bills, issues, and Members of Congress.”
OpenCongress is a great tool. It and sites like it are laying the foundation for a seemless interaction between citizens and their government. It’s not finished yet though, and there are definitely some areas in which the site could improve. For one, it could make itself more accessible to children by providing something like simple.wikipedia. It also has a great opportunity to set an example for what a government-wide social network could look like. All in all, a great site for educating the citizenry.
