Ask HN: Is it useful an informative&actionable 3D earth on all the governments? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Is it useful an informative&actionable 3D earth on all the governments?

5 pointsthepra3 comments

In scope it would be similar to Wikipedia but focused on making it easy to understand how governments are structured(in 3D, both organizationally and the responsible people behind), how they work and, when possible, provide actionable informations for any citizen on how to act collectively(or individually) to make their concerns or objections heard by the people representing them.

It might evolve into a decentralized discussion platform if done well and if there's demand.

I found that this kind of information is mostly disorganized and scattered all over internet (or offline) and there's no common format to represent it, making it not easy to understand many times.

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For finding out how government entities work, go to their web sites - most of the publish their ordinances, regulations, and policies. In the US, if they do not, you can get them via FOIA.

As far as how to make your concerns and objections known, it depends on the scale of government. For small local entities, go to their board meetings and have your say in the public comment times. For state-level concerns, talk to your representative. For federal concerns, again talk to your representatives, respond when requests for public comments are sent out.

For all levels of government, vote.

If you want to put together a new site that compiles that all into one place and lets people know what their options are, that would be a powerful tool for change. But trying to make it into a decentralized discussion platform may run up against sunshine laws - you cannot open a dialogue with city council members on some topics, for example - they are not legally allowed to have private discussions about public matters, as it excludes the public. This is why board/council meetings are public and people are invited to attend and speak up - to make sure private discussions don't impact public decision making.

Sorry, I meant public discussions, not behind a login page just to read those.

I kind of already knew that engagement info, even though I'm not American, and I'm looking at a bigger picture and a solution to apply to any government for the ease of engagement for the citizens.

Thanks for the appreciation.

Are you looking for something like this?

https://github.com/canonical-debate-lab/paper/blob/master/RE...

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