The Platform

We’re developing an internet platform to enable meaningful political dialogue between members of Congress, citizens, and advocacy groups. We will use social media technologies akin to those developed by Facebook and Twitter to provide automatically aggregated opinions, sorted both by issue area and by verified electoral district.

Insider’s Perspective

Technology has advanced to a stage where the technical development of this platform is almost trivial, especially when compared to the political and cultural complexities of its design and implementation. It must simultaneously meet the needs of members of Congress, citizens, and advocacy groups. Each has a unique set of interests that must be appealed to, and each presents unique barriers to adoption that must be accounted for. This also means that each must be involved in the creation of the platform. Read more »

Core Functionality

In this section, you can get more details on how the platform will come together to meet the needs of citizens, representatives, and advocacy groups simultaneously. Read more »

Website vs. Platform

We refer to what we are building as a platform because it moves beyond the traditional notion of a website by providing the possibility for other developers to extend its reach and ability in ways that we have not yet envisioned. Combining the innovations of platforms like Twitter and Facebook will enable the platform to connect to where the conversations are already happening. Read more »

Architecture

We are developing this platform with an understanding of the importance of its underlying architecture, and the necessity of adhering to web standards while looking to the future. Read more »