Democracy and Power 102: Voters are Rationally Ignorant. July 26, 2010
Posted by seeineye in : Politics , add a comment
Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. -H.L. Mencken
Tragically, the vast majority of the voters are rationally ignorant of most government actions. The vast majority of the public is ignorant of bills, legislation, regulations and taxes that will ultimately affect their lives.
The general public is working hard to make a living, raising a family and improving their community. The individual voter does not have the time to know all the transactions of government. It is impossible to stay abreast of all the government actions.
Congress for Android: Getting People More Involved In Government July 26, 2010
Posted by seeineye in : Politics , 3comments
What the Obama Administration has brought to the American people is a growing interest in social activism. Love him or hate him, more and more people are becoming more active in making the world a better place (as defined by themselves of course).
It’s important to keep up with what our elected officials do after they get elected – when they’re making important decisions that affect us. What legislation do they introduce? Have they been in the news lately? How do I contact them when I want to weigh in? Well, this app help you stay on top of all of that!
Sunlight Labs, an open-source community of developers and designers aimed at opening up government to make it more transparent, accountable, and responsible, released an Android application entitled Congress, which is aimed at getting Android users more involved in government. Currently in version 2.2, Congress allows users to find and call their elected officials using their location and read the latest bills and laws that have gone through or are currently going through the U.S. Congress.
The Congress Android app is intuitive and user-friendly. Everything seems to just work. Sunlight Labs has a team of open-source developers who are constantly evaluating user feedback and are rapidly introducing bug fixes and new features.
The main screen allows you to search for new laws, legislation that has newly been introduced to congress, and even view the results from the latest congressional votes. The legislation pages gives a brief overview of the legislation, significant dates in the bill’s journey to becoming law, who the congressional sponsor was, and a summary of what the bill will actually do.
It also allows you to search for legislators by location, state, zip code, or legislator name. The legislator page features a profile image of the congressperson, one-click access to calling their office, visiting their website, viewing bills that they have sponsored, and what committees they are currently serving on. It also allows you to view recent news stories and YouTube videos involving the legislator.
I think this app is absolutely fantastic. If you’re an activist or are simply interested in political issues, you owe it to yourself and, dare I say it, your country, to download this app.
Congress can be found for free on the Android market.
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