Keeping an Eye on Politics: Watchdog.net

Here's a resource for educators who'll soon be guiding students through the wondrous world of Political Science. Watchdog.net is diligently building an impressive internet hub for information related to elections. The site's creators are persistently collecting useful data about district demographics, votes, lobbying records, campaign finance reports, and making the information available in one location that's a godsend for teachers and students (not to mention interested voters).

Using the site is very easy. Simply supply the zip code of an area and click the GO button.
Afterward, the site returns pertinent information about the district and its representative.

Note that the data is also accompanied by graphs. Having students review the graphs along with investigations of the information at sites such as the Census Bureau and StateMaster is a great way to facilitate a better understanding of the forces that drive national, state, and local government. After reviewing and discussing what they've discovered, pupils could generate their own graphs, make predictions about voter choice, political outcomes and decisions, as well as how future policies will be shaped.

Watchdog.net offers visitors an opportunity to carefully examine political factors that come into play during elections. By giving citizens, educators, and students access to information that is often ignored, the site promotes a more thoughtful approach to civic responsibility. Thank goodness!