As a way to help spread the word about the significance of open legislative data, we've circulated a letter to ask U.S. state legislatures to make several important datasets available online and in open, structured form.
Continue readingMás allá de los negocios: Impactos de los datos abiertos
As a way to spread the word about the important benefits of open data, former Sunlight fellow Iris Palma translated into Spanish both our observations on how open data helps the public achieve a variety of important goals.
Continue readingThe Impact of Open: Keeping you healthy
Health data makes the case for the social impact of open data.
Continue readingWhy open data and accountability are not the same thing
Open data is a tool, not an end in itself, much as a hammer is not an end in itself. It is just one factor necessary to produce the transparency that allows us to achieve accountability.
Continue readingHow New York City is beating the feds to 21st century transparency
How the New York City Council and an annual conference dedicated to the democracy-saving power of the internet are poised to beat the federal government into the 21st century.
Continue readingIn both the public and private sector, power is the power to hide
Power may be the power to influence others in public debate. But we also see that power being used to pressure us into allowing the powerful to remain secret — even as the rest of us become more visible.
Continue readingSunlight and secrecy in the Upper Midwest
On campaign finance as in other areas of policy, the formerly similar states of Minnesota and Wisconsin are on two different paths. This Upper Midwestern divergence is a microcosmic example of campaign finance politics in the country as a whole.
Continue readingBeyond business — the impacts of open data
Our new “Impacts of Open Data” resource provides a concrete overview of the kinds of non-business benefits enjoyed by localities with open data.
Continue readingContinuing Oxfam’s conversation on the limits of transparency
Oxfam's discussion of the limits of transparency resonates strongly with the weaknesses of the McCutcheon decision.
Continue readingThe state of state and local campaign finance: D.C. primary edition
While not yet perfect, D.C.’s campaign finance website has a number of features that allow reporters and other researchers to access many aspects of campaign finance data in bulk form.
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