politics

OpenSpending: The aim of OpenSpending.org is to track every government financial transaction across the world and present it in useful and engaging forms for everyone from a school-child to a data geek. The website has increasingly detailed datasets that provide us the ability to analyze at the macro level or drill down deep to spot contracts and purchases. Not surprisingly, the data is a lot richer for countries like the UK that have invested on releasing government information in great detail.

Electronic Frontier Foundation | Defending Freedom in the Digital World: EFF is the leading civil liberties group defending your rights in the digital world. A group working on various aspects of internet regulation and their impact on civil, political and other rights.

E-Democracy.org: “E-Democracy.org builds online public space in the heart of real democracy and community. Our mission is to harness the power of online tools to support participation in public life, strengthen communities, and build democracy”.

Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering by OpenNet Initiative: “Many countries around the world block or filter Internet content, denying access to information–often about politics, but also relating to sexuality, culture, or religion – that they deem too sensitive for ordinary citizens. Access Denied documents and analyzes Internet filtering practices in over three dozen countries, offering the first rigorously conducted study of this accelerating trend”.

TheyWorkForYou.com: Are your MPs and Peers working for you in the UK’s Parliament? Hansard++: Website that provides information about the functioning of the English parliament and assemblies, including the activities of individual members.

Corporate Watch UK: small independent not-for-profit research and publishing group which undertakes research on the social and environmental impact of large corporations, particularly multinationals

They Rule: A social network graph that aims to visualize the relationships between corporate leaders and politicians i.e. the ruling class. It takes as its focus the boards of some of the most powerful U.S. companies, which share many of the same directors.

MyNeta – Candidate Affidavits for Elections in India: Information on all Members of Parliaments of India based on the affidavits they file with the election commission. Visitors are permitted to point out inconsistencies between the given information and the case on the ground.