If you’re helping pupils navigate the confusing realm of politics, civics, law, and other issues related to government, consider asking your learners the following question: Is there a connection between campaign donations and legislative votes? Although the answer may seem laughably obvious, the implications of the response are anything but amusing. What might inform a neutral observer’s answer to the question? What evidence could a citizen use to seek clarification? Is there a beacon to guide a truly curious individual on such a quest?
Enter MAPLight.org.
MAPLight, uses a public database to shine a light on the links that exist between campaign donations made to political figures and legislative voting records. Not surprisingly, there are more than a few politicians who do not appreciate the glare of such attention on their behavior and decisions.
UPDATE: After writing this post, I came across a news item that seemed particularly relevant to the point I was trying to make. Robert Pear of the New York Times reports,
“In the official record of the historic House debate on overhauling health care, the speeches of many lawmakers echo with similarities. Often, that was no accident. Statements by more than a dozen lawmakers were ghostwritten, in whole or in part, by Washington lobbyists working for Genentech, one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies.”
I’ve included a citation for any teacher or student who may be wish to refer to the article.
Pear, R. (2009, November 14). In House, Many Spoke With One Voice: Lobbyists’. New York Times. Retrieved November 14, 2009, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/us/politics/15health.html?_r=1&hp
Related resources:
- If you’re teaching students how to gain a better understanding of the government of the United States, you’ll want to get acquainted with the Sunlight Foundation because it also provides a great deal of clarity.
- Visitors who access Capitol Words are able to track and visualize the most used words in the Congressional Record. The words being tracked and visualized are displayed in more than one manner. They appear in a word cloud as well as in list view.
- Kim Rees of Periscopic (an impressive interactive design firm specializing in information visualization), points out that curious educators, pupils, and citizens should also explore Congress Speaks as it’s a great way to review the words spoken by the 110th Congress.
Jeff government, rights ethics, government, govt, integrity, money, political, politics
n her thoroughly wonderful 1998 book, Quite a Year for Plums, author Bailey White introduced the world to an impassioned typographer. He was a character obsessed with letters. Today, when I came across Google’s Font Directory, I couldn’t help but wonder what that letter-loving fellow might think as he tinkered with the site. Being a bit of a typophile myself, I spent way too much time toying with all of the controls.
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