opensecrets.org

It's no secret that the increasing amount of information available on the web has changed the way people work, shop and have fun. What may still be a secret is the way that new politics-focused websites might be able to transform the American electorate into a more educated group of people.

Far from being just another added side benefit to the ever-burgeoning mass of online information, these sites promise to revolutionize (or, at the very least, alter) the course of American politics. Information that was once the unique domain of journalists and think-tanks is now becoming increasingly available for general consumption in formats that lend themselves to easy interpretation and reproduction.

One of the best sites is opensecrets.org, a collection of data assembled by the Center for Responsive Politics. The Center, a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. is focused on creating more educated voters, and its website goes a long way toward supporting its mission.

The beauty of opensecrets.org is its clarity; information about candidates, lobbyists and individual states is displayed with clear, simple charts and brief, elegant summaries. Its interface is similarly effective. As a first-time user, I was able to effortlessly find out campaign finance information about my home state (Wisconsin), financial statistics on both of its senators and the amount of money that various industries have donated to campaigns.

With the emergence of new sites like opensecrets.org, national politics may never be the same again. And this might well be a very good thing.

— James Norton (jrnorton@flakmag.com)