Money and Politics

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • Year: 2007
  • Award: World Summit Award
  • Category: Government & Citizen Engagement
  • Country: United States of America
  • URL: http://maplight.org/

MAPLight.org is a groundbreaking public website. It puts the spotlight on the connection between money and politics in the United States of America. Two public databases are combined: a date base of all known campaign contributions to any legislator, and a database on how legislators voted on specific bills and resolutions. Bringing the data on money and voting together provides unprecedented insight into the legislative processes in the US. The website is a treasure for journalists, NGOs, and bloggers. It helps, citizens to hold legislators accountable. MAPLight.org, findings makes complex research publically available in an instant and shows that public scrutiny can be also visually appealing, easy-to-use, and customizable.