Description
MAPLight.org, a groundbreaking public database, illuminates the connection between campaign donations and legislative votes in unprecedented ways. Elected officials collect large sums of money to run their campaigns, and they often pay back campaign contributors with special access and favorable laws.
This common practice is contrary to the public interest, yet legal. MAPLight.org makes money/vote connections transparent, to help citizens hold their legislators accountable.
The Database
MAPLight.org combines three data sets:
* Bill texts and legislative voting records
* Supporting and opposing interests for each bill
* Campaign contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in State Politics
Combining this data makes visible key information that could never before be determined easily. For example:
* Contributions given by interests supporting and opposing each bill
* Average donations given to legislators voting "Yes" and "No" on each bill
* Timeline of contributions and votes for each bill, graphically identifying when legislators received large
donations before or after their vote.
Nonprofit and Nonpartisan
MAPLight.org operates as a project of TakeBackCA.org, a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
