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Posts tagged "open government"

The Library of Congress Really Really Does Not Want To Give You Your Data

Posted September 30, 2013 at 3:28pm by konklone

Originally posted at the Sunlight Foundation blog.

Library of Congress

It’s 2013, and the Library of Congress seems to think releasing public data about Congress is a risk to the public.

The Library of Congress is in charge of THOMAS.gov, and its successor Congress.gov. These sites publish some of the most fundamental information about Congress — the history and status of bills. Whether it’s immigration law or SOPA, patent reform or Obamacare, the Library of Congress will tell you: What is Congress working on? Who’s working on it? When did that happen?

Except they won’t let you download that information. Instead, popular websites like GovTrack, widely used services like Sunlight’s, and world-class newspapers like the New York Times are forced to design complicated, error-prone systems that extract what data they can from the pages of the website of the Library of Congress. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a necessary burden for anyone outside Congress who wishes to use that data to inform and empower the public.

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One year of monitoring the world’s parliaments

Posted July 17, 2013 at 11:53am by gregbrownm

Its been just over a year since the PMO Leaders Conference convened an ever-growing community of activists working to open up their national and local parliaments. Its been a year since numerous individuals and groups participated in drafting the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness. Its been a year full of promise and success for the PMO community, but that’s not to say that we couldn’t do more to work together.

In May, the Sunlight Foundation, the National Democratic Institute, and the Latin American Legislative Transparency Network put together a survey that addressed the current condition of the PMO community, the biggest challenges facing PMOs, and opportunities for further collaboration and community strengthening. The survey, which can be viewed here, garnered the attention of much of the PMO community, receiving nearly 50 total responses from over 40 PMOs working in 35 countries around the world.

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The legislation will not be televised

Posted July 11, 2013 at 1:41pm by sunlightcities

Repost from Rebecca Williams of the Sunlight Foundation This map distinguishes five levels of legislative web and broadcasting comprehension on a sliding scale from “Best” (including all recommended elements: video formatting of floor proceedings and committee hearings, archived, and broadcasted via a variety of mediums) to “Worst” (missing several of these recommended elements). For more info (or to watch!) see the NCSL’s original roundup here.

Open legislative data is integral to a functioning legible participatory democracy. The legislative data canopy covers everything from information about who represents you to the nuts and bolts of the legislative process to final letter of the law, with each element carrying its own series of challenges and considerations when it comes to public access. Timely and archived legislative process data (i.e. bills, amendments, committee meetings, votes, and contextual information, such as: research reports, legislative journals and lobbying information) are crucial to supporting citizen participation and informed voting. Video documentation of the legislative process represents the barebones of open and accountable legislative process data – passive recordings of events as they happen for prosperity and public inclusion – and yet this information is still not comprehensively available in most U.S. states.

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Open data and emerging democracies: Considering Kenya

Posted June 7, 2013 at 11:51am by gregbrownm

Thanks to Andrew Mandelbaum, Dan Swislow, and Dickson Omondi for their assistance on this post. 

Increasingly, governments, civil society organizations, and citizens are utilizing open government data to improve democratic governance by increasing government accountability and efficiency. While the potential benefits of open government data have been widely recognized – states as diverse as Kenya and the UK have developed official open data policies and tools – the role of open data in diverse political settings is only beginning to be explored. Does open government data function differently in emerging democracies than it does in more established ones? How can open government data continue to drive political development in emerging democratic states? Is the quantity of info that a state possesses an obstacle or an opportunity? These are large questions and all the answers cannot be provided in this post; however, considering the value of opening up government data in emerging democracies is a valuable exercise that can produce many important lessons to countries looking to open up this important resource.

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