I hope that readers will spare a second to check out LexPop. It’s a contribution to a problem that a lot of you are interested in: how to allow citizens into the legislative process to a greater degree. There’s no question that that old machinery that we use for transmitting public opinion to lawmakers and rulemakers suffers from some serious pathologies. So I’ve been very glad to see efforts like POPVOX and Expert Labs emerge.

LexPop is working in that same vein. I met Matt Baca, one of the people behind the project, at an event last month, and was struck by the ambition of his experiment. LexPop isn’t working at the federal scale, but the scope of what they’re doing is large: they’re trying to write a state law from start to finish. What makes the effort really fascinating is that they’ve got a legislator interested, ready to engage with the process. It’s going to be interesting to see how this unfolds.