Sunlight Foundation

Join the fight for super PAC transparency

Two years after Citizens United, we still don't have the transparency and accountability we need to make sure that shadowy special interests, armed with super PACs and the power of unlimited spending, don't exert undue influence in the 2012 election. That's where you come in. Learn more about super PACs and how you can help.

Join the Fight

Meetups & Events

Participate

Want to contribute to the open government movement by contributing some of your time? Choose one of our initiatives below and get started.

  • Open Gov Champions

    Open Gov Champions are ordinary citizens, equipped with the special power we all share in this country: the power to take civic action to make our communities better. These folks are hard at work every day to make our government more accessible, accountable, open and transparent. Meet the Open Gov Champions and nominate someone whose transparency activism inspires you!

  • Make Super Congress Super Open

    To resolve the debt crisis, Congress created a 12 member Super Committee and gave them the super power of deciding where to cut $1.5 trillion from the national debt. With so much power, we need to ensure that this committee operates in the open.

  • Support State Transparency

    In states around the country, there’s been a disturbing rollback of transparency legislation. Thousands of you signed on to an "Open Letter to Governors" that we delivered. Now we need your help to make the call to your capitol and demand an open government in your state.

  • Tell Your Senators to Use the Internet

    The House of Representatives and the office of the President have been e-filing for years. Why hasn't the Senate? Check our handy list to see whether your senators are saving time and a good deal of taxpayer money by disclosing the funding they receive from campaigns online in real-time. And if they're not? Say something!

  • Read the Bill

    With your help, in January 2011, the new Congress passed rules that make it far more likely that we'll be able to read bills before they're considered on the House floor. This is a huge victory for the 72 hour rule and the Read the Bill campaign, but our work isn't done. We need to continue to hold Congress accountable and make sure that bills stay public and online.

  • Open Lobbying

    Be part of the effort to make sure there’s no more stealth lobbyists. Support sensible recommendations that lobbyists influencing our legislators disclose their activities in public, online and in real time.

  • Super PAC Sleuth

    Thanks to a 2010 Supreme Court decision, groups that take unlimited political donations from any source, commonly known as Super PACs, can now spend unlimited amounts of money in political campaigns. The Federal Election Commission has yet to set up rules to track this flood of money into the political system, so we’ve made it easy for you to do it yourself.

Resources

Share your ideas with other members of the open government community by participating in one of our groups below.

  • Citizens for Open Government

    This is a space for citizens and open government advocates of all stripes to share, collaborate, ask questions and move the conversation forward on local, state and federal transparency.

  • Transparency Bloggers

    This is a space for citizen journalists and bloggers, like yourself, to express your ideas and give your input on government 2.0.

  • Open House Project

    A collaborative effort by government and legislative information experts to study how the House of Representatives currently integrates the Internet into its operations, and to suggest attainable reforms to promote public access to its work and members.

  • Sunlight Labs

    Sunlight Labs' open discussion list on its current work. For developers who want to contribute to working on government transparency.

  • Public Equals Online Wiki

    The idea the public information should be online in real time is an underlying principle of Sunlight's work. The Public Equals Online wiki is a resource for anyone looking to share or find information on creating a more open and transparent government.