The People's Agenda

We the people of the United States, in order to keep forming a more perfect union, are designing and developing an open-source, people-driven web utility here to propose, discuss, and come to consensus on the agenda our government should put into action in our name.
 

By doing so we hope to follow up on our decision to elect Barack Obama our President, and bring him our proposals for governing directly, so that he can hear our voice along with those of the lobbyists, the rich, the powerful, special interest groups, and the well connected - those who previously have enjoyed an access the typical citizen is denied.
 

This project has just begun and is currently it its design phase at Sunlight Labs. Everyone is welcome to contribute.
 

Prototype in Place

The second iteration of this application has been delivered. Much of the data model is now in place. You can access it here. Feel free to experiment by making your own contributions. Be nice and don't trample on the contributions of others.
 

Obama's Memorandum

A couple of days after this page was first posted, President Obama issued a memorandum on Transparency and Open Government that welcomes efforts like this and directs whomever he appoints to the new cabinet post of Chief Technology Officer to collaborate on them:
 

Government should be participatory. Public engagement enhances the Government's effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions. Knowledge is widely dispersed in society, and public officials benefit from having access to that dispersed knowledge. Executive departments and agencies should offer Americans increased opportunities to participate in policymaking and to provide their Government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public input on how we can increase and improve opportunities for public participation in Government.
 

Government should be collaborative. Collaboration actively engages Americans in the work of their Government. Executive departments and agencies should use innovative tools, methods, and systems to cooperate among themselves, across all levels of Government, and with nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals in the private sector. Executive departments and agencies should solicit public feedback to assess and improve their level of collaboration and to identify new opportunities for cooperation.
 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/
 

Obama to Appoint Director of Citizen Participation in March

Apparently Obama will name Google product manager Katie Jacobs Stanton the new Director of Citizen Participation in March, under Director of New Media Macon Phillips. We look forward to working with her on this project after her appointment.