[CivicAccess-discuss] MAPLight.org - the connection between campaign donations and legislative votes

[Tracey P. Lauriault]

http://maplight.org/

*MAPLight.org*, a groundbreaking public database, illuminates the connection
between campaign donations and legislative votes in unprecedented ways.
Elected officials collect large sums of money to run their campaigns, and
they often pay back campaign contributors with special access and favorable
laws.
This common practice is contrary to the public interest, yet legal.
MAPLight.org makes money/vote connections transparent, to help citizens hold
their legislators accountable.

*The Database*

MAPLight.org combines three data sets:

   - Bill texts and legislative voting records
   - Supporting and opposing interests for each bill
   - Campaign contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics and
   the National Institute on Money in State Politics

 Combining this data makes visible key information that could never before
be determined easily. For example:

   - Contributions given by interests supporting and opposing each bill
   - Average donations given to legislators voting Yes and No on each bill
   - Timeline of contributions and votes for each bill, graphically
   identifying when legislators received large donations before or after their
   vote.



-- 
Tracey P. Lauriault
613-234-2805
https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.pwd.ca/pipermail/civicaccess-discuss/attachments/20100105/16c67968/attachment.html>