CitizINFO: Free Resources for Informed U.S. Citizens
A curated collection of free resources designed to help U.S. citizens stay informed about their government, economy, and society.
“Let the people know the facts, and the country will be safe.” - Abraham Lincoln, 1861.
CitizINFO is a curated collection of free resources designed to help U.S. citizens stay informed about their government, economy, and society. I'll be adding to it regularly until it is sufficient to cover all topics related to active Democratic citizenship.
This is a working collection and will be growing on a regular basis.
February 6th, 2025 Additions:
Abortion, Every Day: A Substack keeping track of CDC guidelines that have been removed.
ScotusBlog: SCOTUSblog is devoted to covering the U.S. Supreme Court comprehensively, without bias and according to the highest journalistic and legal ethical standards. The site is provided as a public service.
Legal Information Institute: Governed by a belief that everyone should be able to read and understand the laws that govern them, without cost. They publish law online, for free.
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: Browse millions of annual returns filed by tax-exempt organizations with ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer.
KFF: Independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
Harvard Dataverse: Open online data repository where you can share, preserve, cite, explore, and analyze research data.
GovTrack.us: Tracking the activities of the United States Congress
ProPublica Elon Musk DOGE Tracker: With little information from the White House about the team working behind Musk, ProPublica is attempting to document who is involved and what they are doing.
Civics for Adults: Gain new insights into how the U.S. government works and move beyond Politics 101.
Freya Zank: A writer who, like me, hyperfocuses on politics. She holds a Masters in Peace and Conflict and does deep dives into policy, laying it out in plain English.
CitizINFO
Checking The Facts
USA Facts: Non-partisan, data-driven information on US government spending, revenue, and societal impact.
Brie-fing Favorite: America in Facts 2024: A Data-Driven Report for Congress
PolitiFact: Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking website rating the accuracy of claims by politicians and others.
Reuters Fact Check: Fact-checking by Reuters journalists on a wide range of topics, debunking false claims.
FactCheck.org: Non-partisan, non-profit project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, focusing on factual accuracy of political claims.
Following The Money
OpenSecrets: Tracks money in US politics, campaign finance data, lobbying, and influence.
Brie-fing Favorite: Elections Overview
CapitolTrades: Tracks financial trades made by members of Congress and their staff.
ProPublica NonProfit Explorer: Browse millions of annual returns filed by tax-exempt organizations with ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer.
Economic & Polling Data
Pew Research: Nonpartisan fact tank providing information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends.
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data): Vast database of economic data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve.
Brie-fing Favorites:
Share of Net Worth Held by the Top 0.1% (99.9th to 100th Wealth Percentiles)
Share of Total Net Worth Held by the Top 1% (99th to 100th Wealth Percentiles)
Share of Total Net Worth Held by the 90th to 99th Wealth Percentiles
Share of Total Net Worth Held by the 50th to 90th Wealth Percentiles
Share of Total Net Worth Held by the Bottom 50% (1st to 50th Wealth Percentiles)
Ipsos: Global market research and public opinion polling company.
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development): Provides data and analysis on economic and social issues across member countries.
Public Health Information
KFF: Independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
Assessing Bias
Media Bias/Fact Check: Rates the bias and factual reporting of news sources.
AllSides: Presents news stories from the left, right, and center to show different perspectives.
Ad Fontes Media: Rates news sources on their reliability and bias.
Brie-fing Favorite: Ground News: Compare headlines across the political spectrum using media bias ratings.
Superb Substack Publications
The Bulwark: Conservative commentary and analysis, often critical of the Republican party's direction.
Paul Krugman: Liberal economist and New York Times columnist on economic and political issues.
Robert Reich: Liberal economist and former Labor Secretary on economic and social inequality.
Lucid by Ruth Ben-Ghiat: Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat analyzes authoritarianism and threats to democracy.
Letters from an American: Historian Heather Cox Richardson provides historical context for current events.
Abortion, Every Day: A Substack keeping track of CDC guidelines that have been removed.
Freya Zank: A writer who, like me, hyperfocuses on politics. She holds a Masters in Peace and Conflict and does deep dives into policy, laying it out in plain English.
Political Podcasts
Up First by NPR: Daily news podcast summarizing top stories.
The Daily by the New York Times: Deep dive into a single news story.
The Journal by WSJ: News podcast focusing on business and finance.
BBC Global News Podcast: International news and analysis.
Advisory Opinions: Legal commentary on the Supreme Court and other legal issues.
Strict Scrutiny: Legal podcast focusing on the Supreme Court.
Economist Podcasts: Covers global news, politics, and economics.
PBS Washington Week with The Atlantic: Weekly discussion of politics and current events.
The Bulwark Podcast: Discusses politics and current events from a conservative perspective.
Pod Save America: Liberal political commentary.
Global Ranking Reports
Environmental Performance Index: Ranks countries on environmental health and ecosystem vitality.
WHO World Health Statistics: Annual report summarizing global health data.
Climate Change Performance Index: Tracks countries' climate protection performance.
Economic Freedom in the World: Measures the degree of economic freedom in countries.
Human Development Report: Assesses human development levels in countries.
Index of Economic Freedom: Measures economic freedom based on various factors.
Report on International Religious Freedom: Reports on the state of religious freedom worldwide.
World Press Freedom Index: Ranks countries on press freedom.
Global Gender Gap Report: Measures gender inequality across various dimensions.
Global Youth Development Report: Measures youth development in countries.
World Happiness Report: Ranks countries based on happiness levels.
Global Risks Report: Identifies and analyzes major global risks.
Legatum Prosperity Index: Measures prosperity based on various factors.
Freedom in the World Report: Assesses political rights and civil liberties.
Rule of Law Index: Measures the rule of law in countries.
Logistics Performance Index: Measures the efficiency of trade logistics.
Networked Readiness Index: Measures the capacity to leverage ICT for development.
Free Digital Libraries
Harvard Dataverse: Open online data repository where you can share, preserve, cite, explore, and analyze research data.
Voices I Trust on Bluesky
Following the Government
ScotusBlog: Devoted to covering the U.S. Supreme Court comprehensively, without bias and according to the highest journalistic and legal ethical standards. The site is provided as a public service.
Legal Information Institute: Governed by a belief that everyone should be able to read and understand the laws that govern them, without cost. They publish law online, for free.
GovTrack.us: Tracking the activities of the United States Congress
ProPublica Elon Musk DOGE Tracker: With little information from the White House about the team working behind Musk, ProPublica is attempting to document who is involved and what they are doing.
Civics for Adults: Gain new insights into how the U.S. government works and move beyond Politics 101.
Thank you for pulling resources together. I’m sharing with my 😴 friends
You are a librarian at heart! I will look this over and make suggestions. Thank you!!