It’s no secret that our modern politics are broken.
Today’s political-media circus has become a 24/7/365 money making machine. Social media platforms promote negative and polarizing content because it’s more likely to go viral — and virality sells.
According to Pew Research Center, 8 out of 10 Americans feel negatively about US politics. Trust in our democracy is at an all-time low. Voters have lost hope that their vote has any impact, and they’re not wrong. This brief video from Represent.us summarizes a 2014 Princeton Study that investigated the relationship between public opinion and legislative outcomes in Congress.
The bottom line: “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near zero, statistically insignificant impact upon public policy”. Not good!
What’s causing the disconnect? Beyond the media circus keeping us distracted, the simple reason is poor transparency, especially regarding how your representatives vote on topics you really care about. Want to find the answers? Here’s Google and good luck with that! Today’s civic engagement options are indirect, they feel ineffective and just too hard.
Call my Senator? Really? Who has time for that?
How will Pinion transform civic engagement? Pinion is designed to let you engage easily, so you can get on with life. We focus on the only thing that really matters, legislation. It’s legislation that creates our future — that sets public policy, updates laws, allocates funding and directs resources. Legislation impacts your rights, your community, your future. Pinion purposefully avoids the drama and spin of politics. Instead, we directly connect you to pending legislation your local, state, and national legislatures are considering.Pinion’s idea is simple. Enable you to easily find and vote on the same legislative proposals that your representatives are considering, letting them know where you stand before they vote. Pinion tracks the results to show exactly how well your representatives are voting with you, or not. It also tracks the candidates running to replace the incumbents so you can easily see who best aligns with your policy goals.
Pinion is designed to help governments improve their civic engagement game. Our vision is higher satisfaction of constituents and communities with their representation at all levels. Yes, even Congress! Pinion enables elected leaders to share their planned votes and reasoning with their constituents, then receive useful feedback and consider public opinion before casting their official vote.
Everyone deserves democracy that works. Pinion is creating a civic engagement platform to engage constituents and generate feedback in real time, connecting leaders to how their community feels and demographic insights to align diverse communities and build shared consensus.
The primary function of a healthy democracy is to translate public opinion into public policy. Pinion is designed for the mission of transforming civic engagement — making it easy, engaging, and enlightening. With your support, a new paradigm of civic engagement can take hold for both citizens and their representatives.
PINION…Get Engaged!
Comments