
Resources for Good
Citizenship
While civics courses used to be mandatory in most of the US, much that it's essential to know about governance and civic affairs isn't currently being taught in American schools anywhere.
Yes, we know better than most just how profoundly corrupt governance has become - particularly in the US (but elsewhere, too). Nevertheless, our aim in this resource is to help everyone acquire the core knowledge essential to acting as a good citizen. Of course, a primary objective of good citizenship is uprooting corruption.
The information linked to here spans a wide gamut, but all of it is crucial for achieving political literacy.
Console Key
APRE - America is a political realization of Enlightenment ideals (not, in any way, the creation of "pilgrims"):
https://www.coreknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/CKHG_G6_U3_The-Enlightenment_WTNK_C06_EnlightenmentInAction.pdf
UC - Understanding the Constitution:
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/
CA - The Constitution annotated:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan
BUSG - Branches of the US Government:
https://www.usa.gov/branches-of-government#item-211477
USB - Understanding the US budget:
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/
WA - World Atlas
LBC - Current legislation before Congress (searchable):
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/
MoC - Current members of Congress (with contact information):
https://www.congress.gov/members?searchResultViewType=expanded&KWICView=false
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/current
Money in politics:
CF - The basics of campaign finance:
https://www.opensecrets.org/resources/learn/
IC - Individual contributions:
https://www.fec.gov/introduction-campaign-finance/how-to-research-public-records/individual-contributions/
B - The connection between bribery and US policy:
https://maplight.org/
SE - The money in state elections:
https://www.followthemoney.org/about-us/mission-and-history
DL - "Donor" lookup - national:
https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup
MC - Researching the money connection:
https://www.opensecrets.org/resources/ftm/
E - Ballot measures, candidates standing for election, and election outcomes:
https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia:Scope
QSI - Lobbyists and other questionable sources of influence (sometimes unreliable):
https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SourceWatch:Purpose
RFO1-4 - How you can run for political office:
https://candidatebootcamp.com/how-to-run-for-political-office-2019/
https://www.crowdpac.com/
https://www.emilyslist.org/pages/entry/run-for-office
https://runforsomething.net/
GS - Governing for sustainability (there is no alternative):
https://www.amazon.com/State-World-2014-Governing-Sustainability-ebook/dp/B00JSNP4EM/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=State+of+the+World+2014%3A+Governing+for+Sustainability&qid=1578693456&sr=8-1#customerReviews
NMG - The Nordic model of governance (the nature of the "well-being state"), key to understanding how governance should be done:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28014216-the-nordic-theory-of-everything
DT1-5 - Dark triad personalities (The GOP psychological profile - responsible for nearly all human problems, throughout history):
https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/this-is-favorite-college-major-of-psychopaths-according-to-science.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_triad#Appearance
https://psychcentral.com/lib/beware-of-the-dark-triad/
https://aps.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajpy.12198
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315134821_The_Dark_Side_of_Power_The_Dark_Triad_in_Opportunistic_Decision-_Making
FC - To double-check assorted political claims (but don’t expect perfect truth here, either):
https://www.factcheck.org/fake-news/
N-FM - Neo-fascist ties to the American mass media: https://swprs.org/the-american-empire-and-its-media/
N-FEB - Neo-fascist ties to the Executive Branch: https://swprs.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/cfr-administration-members-1900-2014.pdf
Become conversant in the resources here, and you'll have a much clearer grasp of American society. Be sure to also check out our Media Console.
The Editor
Everything Progressive