4 ms·

I've thought about doing something kind of like this in the past (tying together tons of data on corporations and individuals -- campaign finance, tax and finan

by henning 19y ago

I've thought about doing something kind of like this in the past (tying together tons of data on corporations and individuals -- campaign finance, tax and financial info, etc) but concluded that to make it meaningful (rather than looking like a big data dump) would require a collaborative effort approaching that of Wikipedia and abandoned it. The question is, you know X donated money to Y at a certain date, and Y is on the board of Z Corp, and ... so what? I never could figure out an answer.

aaronsw 19y ago
Yeah, this was the bit that held me up on the data site for a long time. It didn't seem like succeeding could do anything but depress people. But talking to others in this sphere, there are some legitimate things you can do with the data: for example, Dennis Hastert (R-IL) recently had to resign in part because of some earmark data that someone uncovered; he was replaced by a pro-reform Dem particle physicist a month ago. So I think connecting it up to the media and building voter scorecards and stuff out of it could be effective.
- tjr 19y ago
  Indeed, if making such information easily available results in "actual changes", as opposed to merely "availability of information", then this would be totally awesome. Of course, a website like this can only make the information available, but hopefully it will be used productively. Best wishes!
  - jaycee 19y ago
    Currently it only provides availability of data. There's no reason that it couldn't then provided next actions for that data--it's pretty easy to toggle a form that emails your congress person, or submits to local news, or any of a variety of actions. Indeed, I think that's a direction it's heading, and the combination of information + action could be potent. How many people avoid taking action b/c it's just a pain to get out of their desk chair?

by henning 19y ago

aaronsw 19y ago

Yeah, this was the bit that held me up on the data site for a long time. It didn't seem like succeeding could do anything but depress people. But talking to others in this sphere, there are some legitimate things you can do with the data: for example, Dennis Hastert (R-IL) recently had to resign in part because of some earmark data that someone uncovered; he was replaced by a pro-reform Dem particle physicist a month ago. So I think connecting it up to the media and building voter scorecards and stuff out of it could be effective.

tjr 19y ago
Indeed, if making such information easily available results in "actual changes", as opposed to merely "availability of information", then this would be totally awesome. Of course, a website like this can only make the information available, but hopefully it will be used productively. Best wishes!
- jaycee 19y ago
  Currently it only provides availability of data. There's no reason that it couldn't then provided next actions for that data--it's pretty easy to toggle a form that emails your congress person, or submits to local news, or any of a variety of actions. Indeed, I think that's a direction it's heading, and the combination of information + action could be potent. How many people avoid taking action b/c it's just a pain to get out of their desk chair?