If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.
-Theodore Roosevelt
Federal Government
Here are some Federal Government resources that should be helpful to get you started.
VOTER REGISTRATION
Click on a state below to view its voting resources.
Federal, State and Community Resources
SEARCH CONGRESS
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. Use the form below to search Congress.gov
TRACK LEGISLATION
GovTrack.us is here to help you track legislation being debated in the United States Congress. Once on the site, all you need to do is enter your address to find your representatives and senators to get alerts. You can also find legislation that affects you.
State Resources
We’ve put together state resources featuring a map that links to information for each state including voter registration links, contact information, links to state government pages, and more, to get you started
Community Resources
Take a look at our community resources page that offer a starting point for you to discover ways to contribute and invest in our communities.
It’s Your Government
Find out who your elected officials are, and how to you can connect with them.
FIND YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
On Common Cause, there are tools to help you find your Elected Officials, how to contact them, bills they’ve introduced, committees they serve on, and political contributions they’ve received.
GET VOTING INFORMATION
At Vote411.org, Learn where candidates running for office in your community stand on the issues. You can print or email the information to use as a reference when you actually vote.
YOU AND YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
A recent study on citizens communicating with elected officials found that direct constituent interactions have more influence on lawmakers’ decisions than other advocacy strategies. Read more.
General Resources
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation’s record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever.
BALLOTPEDIA
Ballotpedia is the online encyclopedia of American politics and elections that provides information about politics at all levels of government. The site includes 251,774 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of 60+ editors, writers, and researchers.
Fact Check
FactCheck.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.
Politifact
PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others who speak up in American politics.
Snopes
The snopes.com website was founded by David Mikkelson in 1995 as an expression of his interest in researching urban legends and has since grown into what is widely regarded by folklorists, journalists, and laypersons alike as one of the World Wide Web’s essential resources.
Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other projects including free online books, library, course materials, photos and multimedia, and so much more.
Expand your knowledge
Academic Earth
On Academic Earth, a number of universities offer select free online college lectures and courses. Some of the universities that offer free courses include MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU, Princeton, and more.
Alison
Alison is global online learning community, filled with free, high-quality online education resources to help you develop essential, certified workplace skills. The online courses are standards-based and certified.
KHAN ACADEMY
The Khan Academy is a great free resource and offers a number practice exercises, as well as instructional videos on math, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics, and more.
LET US KNOW WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO YOU!
Let us know what you’re working on.
We will periodically feature what folks have sent us to help spread the word and raise awareness on those issues and interests that are most important to you.
CLICK HERE to let us know what you‘re interested in!
Why Lead Without Authority?
Anyone can lead others and inspire change. Throughout history, people who are considered some of our greatest leaders were not given authority by any organization, power, committee or group. They just led from where they were. They saw an urgent need and felt like something needed to change. These people took bold steps to respond to a great need in a way that attracted others and helped people to see an opportunity for change.
Leading is not just for people in positions of authority. Leading is for all of us.