Transparency Movers and Shakers

CHECK OUT THESE GREAT ORGANIZATIONS:

Capitol Words For every day Congress is in session, Capitol Words "visualizes" what lawmakers say by calculating their word frequency, giving you an at-a-glance view of which issues they address over time.

Congress.org Congress.org is a nonpartisan news and information Its mission is to provide information about public policy issues of the day and tips on effective advocacy so that citizens can make their voices heard.

Contractor Misconduct In the absence of a centralized federal database listing instances of misconduct, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is providing such data.

Follow the Money Known as "The Nation's Most Complete Resource for Information on Money in State Politics."

Foreign Lobbying Influence Tracker This joint project of ProPublica and the Sunlight Foundation digitizes information that representatives of foreign governments, political parties and government-controlled entities must disclose to the U.S. Justice Department when they seek to influence U.S. policy.

Government Docs Created to advance the values of open and accountable government. This site gives the public an unprecedented level of access to government documents by allowing users to browse, search, and review hundreds of thousands of pages acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other public disclosure, or “sunshine,” laws.

Legistorm A website which offers a wide variety of information about the U.S. Congress.

Map Light Illuminating the connection between money and politics.

Metavid The open video archives of the US Congress.

Open Congress OpenCongress is a free, open-source, not-for-profit, and non-partisan web resource with a mission to make Congress more transparent and to encourage civic engagement.

Open CRS Open CRS provides citizens’ access to Congressional Research Service Reports that are already in the public domain and encourages Congress to provide public access to all CRS Reports.

Open Secrets The Center for Responsive Politics is a research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. The organization aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more transparent and responsive government.

Project Vote Smart Information about every candidate and elected official from President to local government.

Recovery.gov The U.S. government's official website providing easy access to data related to the Recovery Act spending and allows for the reporting of potential fraud, waste, and abuse.

Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that uses the power of the Internet to catalyze greater government openness and transparency, and provides new tools and resources for media and citizens, alike.

Taxpayers for Common Sense An independent and non-partisan voice for taxpayers working to increase transparency and expose and eliminate wasteful and corrupt subsidies, earmarks, and corporate welfare.

TRAC The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) is a data gathering, data research and data distribution organization at Syracuse University. The purpose of TRAC is to provide the American people with comprehensive information about staffing, spending, and enforcement activities of the federal government.

Washington Watch Delivers the numbers behind proposed legislation and regulation.

The White House The Open Government Initiative, started under President Obama, is working to ensure public trust and establish a system transparency, public participation, and collaboration.

USA Spending The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act) requires a single searchable website, accessible by the public for free that provides comprehensive information about each Federal award.