They can also be found at the US government's own web site: http://firstgov.gov.  Or through this link  http://capwiz.com/adc/dbq/officials/.

Local officials can be found through this page:
http://www.firstgov.gov/Agencies/Local_Government/Cities.shtml

3. What candidates and elected representatives stand for. This is best learned not from their advertisements or interviews, but from their voting records. For candidate voting records, detailed breakdowns of the issues, and other facts, you can go to:

• Project Vote Smart National Political Awareness Test  This is a questionnaire on most issues that Project Vote Smart asks members of Congress and others to complete.
  
• For voting records of current candidates click on "current candidates" in the red at the top of the page. Project Vote Smart
  
• Issues 2000  This is not just a website about the 2000 election. Some parts are very current!
  
• Voters Guides can usually be found online two weeks before an election for most locations. Start at the League of Women Voters site, go to "Find a Local League" and find your city or town. League of Women Voters
  
  
  
• What representatives stand for is in part influenced by where they get their money. For state officials, you can learn where their money is coming from. See  www.opensecrets.org (Center for Responsive Politics)  for national candidates and  www.followthemoney.org  (The Institute for Money in State Politics) for state candidates  to search their databases.
  

4. Knowledge of how to register to vote and voter requirements. 
http://www.vote-smart.org/voter_registration_resources.php 






5.  Issues and Facts


Government and Politics
        527 and Campaign Finance Reform   http://citizenjoe.org/node/311
        National Debt     http://citizenjoe.org/node/278
        Budget Reform    http://citizenjoe.org/node/339
        Estate Tax (the Death Tax)   http://citizenjoe.org/node/302
        Line Item Veto    http://citizenjoe.org/node/277
        Lobby and Earmark reform    http://citizenjoe.org/node/319
        Redistricting       http://citizenjoe.org/node/283
     

Health 
        Health Bills 2007    http://citizenjoe.org/node/440 
        Small Business Health Plans   http://citizenjoe.org/node/305  
        Medicare Prescriptions Drug Act   http://citizenjoe.org/node/83 
        Avian Flu    http://citizenjoe.org/node/90 
        Mad Cow Disease    http://citizenjoe.org/node/91 

Jobs and Welfare
        Social Security    http://citizenjoe.org/node/121 
        Minimum Wage    http://citizenjoe.org/node/315  

Business and the Economy
        Doha and the World Trade Organization  (facts)   http://citizenjoe.org/node/33 
        Trade (facts)     http://citizenjoe.org/node/29  
        Farm Subsidies    http://citizenjoe.org/node/34  

Crime and Justice 
        Medical Malpractice    http://citizenjoe.org/node/46  

National Security
        Enemy Combatants and Terrorist Trials   http://citizenjoe.org/node/235 
        State Grants and First Responders    http://citizenjoe.org/node/145 
        Dubai Ports Deal and Port Security   http://citizenjoe.org/node/143 
     
Energy and the Environment
        Global Warming    http://citizenjoe.org/node/236 
        Gas prices    http://citizenjoe.org/node/256 
        Price Gouging at the Gas Pump    http://citizenjoe.org/node/253 
        Clear Skies Act    http://citizenjoe.org/node/225 
        Arctic National Wildlife Refuge  http://citizenjoe.org/node/230 

Education
        No Child Left Behind   http://citizenjoe.org/node/61 
        Head Start    http://citizenjoe.org/node/116  

Social Issues 
        Stem Cell Research   http://citizenjoe.org/node/39 
        Same Sex Marriage   http://citizenjoe.org/node/292 
        Internet Neutrality    http://citizenjoe.org/node/35  

 

6. You need to also know how to get news in time. Often newspapers report that a certain bill became a law, or failed to become a law. At that point, it is usually too late to have an influence. Your chance has passed. Other sources of information can alert you earlier in the process. To find about some current bills pending before Congress, you can go to Congress.Org's bill section. They also have a section on action alerts by issue. But you can find action alerts more directly through a web search mentioning the issue (e.g. "gun control", "water pollution", "military spending" along with the words "action alerts" or "action updates."

All Active House and Senate Legislation: http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/109search.html 

Active Senate legislation only:  http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/b_three_sections_with_teasers/active_leg_page.htm#agency

The Library of Congress also has an up-to-date free service on Congress and other government activities. http://thomas.loc.gov/ 



For recent votes in Congress, go here to do a search:  https://ssl.capwiz.com/congressorg/dbq/issuesdbq/votesearch.dbq

For bills that have become law: http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d109/d109laws.html

State web sites:

For your state web site: http://www.firstgov.gov/Agencies/State_and_Territories.shtml

Local government web sites:

You can find local legislation through this page: http://www.firstgov.gov/Agencies/Local_Government/Cities.shtml


The following news sources often deliver news after it's too late to act.  But the news analysis and general background information is still valuable:

-  Major US Newspapers and news services:  Go a third of the way down this page:  http://www.vote-smart.org/news_media_resources.php for major papers.

-  BBC News   http://news.bbc.co.uk/default.stm\ (News from England)

-  Google News   http://news.google.com/

-  Yahoo News   http://news.yahoo.com/

Here are two long lists of other news sources:

http://www.vote-smart.org/news_media_resources.php   (Has five radio links near the end.)

http://www.projectcensored.org/resources/index.htm   (These are mostly alternative news sources and have about 35 alternative online radio sources)  

And here are two sources that rate news:

Newstrust.net      news stories are rated

www.memeorandum.com    blog stories are rates.

7. How to do advocacy. Voting is just a small part of political empowerment, knowledge of all of the common forms of political action besides voting. This is usually called "advocacy" and here are links and tips about each form of advocacy. [Note that citing a certain organization's advocacy information does not imply that we endorse their issues or viewpoints. Cited materials are almost completely generic.]  


From the American Planning Association's Advocacy Page  you can find good general information in their "Advocate's Toolbox:"

Sending E-mail to Elected Officials
Conducting Legislative Meetings
Connecting with the Media
Writing Advocacy Letters & Faxes  Note that letters now take a long time to be processed, due to anthrax, etc., emailing and faxing are faster.


From epolitics.com you can download a 44-page guide to doing online advocacy http://www.epolitics.com/2006/09/26/download-online-politics-101/   

From NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby Action Page, you can similar general information on the following topics in pdf format:

*  Letter writing and phone calls to your elected representatives
*  Writing Letters to the Editor     
*  Writing emails to your elected representatives
*  Making visits to your elected representatives.

NETWORK also has an excellent table on the path a bill takes to become law (in Congress) and how to influence at each step.
  

Some Advanced Knowledge Resources  (for highly motivated people and organizations):

StudentPIRGs has a good all-around resource. ("PIRG" means "public interest research group") http://www.studentpirgs.org/toolkit.pdf. This includes recruitment, leadership development, working the media, and grassroots organizing--everything from running meetings to creating petitions, and more.


Rainforest Action's  Activist Toolbox includes:
* How to host a media event
* How to write media advisories and releases  (PSAs)
* How to pitch your story
* Tips for interviews
* How to organize a protest


Tips for doing an advocacy campaign. "Lobbying Tips for Women."  It's on a Plymouth College web page.


Whistleblowing on unfair, unethical or unsafe practices     www.whistleblowers.org 


Building coalitions.  A 16-part series from the University of Florida:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FY508


NetAction has an excellent 26-page document on using the Internet for outreach and organizing. http://www.netaction.org/training/versions.html

Managing the Media, A Guide for Activists http://tenant.net/Organize/media.html 

NetAction Notes 20 on Media Activists http://www.netaction.org/notes/notes20.html

NetAction Notes 47 on Media Activism http://www.netaction.org/notes/notes47.html

The Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest has many resources at
http://www.clpi.org/index.html

 


8. Besides influencing government and making your voice be heard, you need to know how other groups are trying to influence YOU.  So you need knowledge about all of the "players" around an issue, and you need to become aware of the many sophisticated techniques being used to influence you—fairly or manipulatively. Knowledge of techniques is sometimes called "media literacy."   

Part 9 of our online course  (called "Don't Be Fooled!")

 "Scrutinizing Propaganda"   
Propaganda techniques   (PDF format)  This is similar to the above article

Source Watch       A directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda.  (From the Center for Media & Democracy)

PR Watch     A quarterly publication of the Center for Media & Democracy, is dedicated to investigative reporting on the public relations industry

Media Literacy:  Five Core Concepts and Five Key Questions

 

9. It also helps to know how special interest groups are influencing candidates and elected officials.

Money plays a huge role in American politics. That's the current reality. Large contributions must be reported to the Federal Election Commission. By making donations these PACs (political action committees) gain access to politicians—they are able to make their case for the legislation they want—but they legally cannot buy the politician's stand. Nevertheless, because of the high costs of running campaigns it is essential for the politician's long term "survival" to accept these large contributions. But knowing who made contributions to whom can help you These reports can be accessed at:


http://www.opensecrets.org  Lots of information, well organized, on contributions made at the national level.  (Center for Responsive Politics)

http://www.fec.gov  (Federal election commission information)

Institute on Money in State Politics   (A state-level searchable data base)

Project Vote Smart Campaign Finance info




10. Political effectiveness requires some understanding of economics (as much as many people might hate to hear this!) On our site, we plan to present some simple yet essential principles about money and politics.

http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg    A seven-page primer on economics  (plus a whole list of issues below.)

http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/default.asp   An eight-lesson free course.

http://www.americas.org/item_71    Lists terms relating to international economics.


The following are excellent background articles, usually about two pages long, about various economic topics. These are from AMOSweb whose principle author is Orley M. Amos, an economics professor from the University of Oklahoma. You can probably ignore the leading paragraphs in blue, since they are his lighthearted fictional introductions .  

About economic growth
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=16

"The Economics of Dueling Political Views"
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=36

About the Federal Deficit
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=21

About economic forecasting
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=15

About ten commonly-used economic indicators
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=17

About Social Security
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=43 

About inflation
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=28

About foreign investment
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=23


For some current US economic statistics:
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=awb&c=stp


11. Understanding of parties, platforms and party politics is important. Do you really know the planks of the Republican and Democratic parties?  Do you know anything about any of the other parties?  Even if the other parties can't have a controlling impact, understanding their views can enrich your understanding of useful political ideas. You can learn about these parties at:

Project Vote Smart Political parties





12. Finally, an understanding of structural changes in politics will complete your knowledge.  Structural issues in politics affect the political process itself.  Structural changes are very important because they affect the efficiency and purity of the political process. If the process becomes inefficient or corrupt, it will cause a lot of waste and a lot of harm to America. It will affect almost every other issue as well. That's why we are highlighting these structural issues.


Voting process integrity   www.electionline.org,  www.verifiedvoting.org,     
                                           www.votetrustusa.org,  www.commoncause.org

527 and Campaign Finance Reform   http://citizenjoe.org/node/311

Lobby and Earmark reform    http://citizenjoe.org/node/319

Budget Reform    http://citizenjoe.org/node/339

Line Item Veto    http://citizenjoe.org/node/277

Redistricting     http://citizenjoe.org/node/283
     





Besides knowledge, you also need critical thinking skills to be effective politically. These skills help you analyze information and weigh your choices. These skills are introduced in our online course in Part 10, Analyzing Issues.