Citizenship 101: “Only the Educated Are Free”

An informed citizenry is the keystone of freedom. Far too many voters are content to read and/or hear only those political messages that suit their personal preferences. They too readily accept “spin”, innuendo, half-truths, and blatant mendacity as factual. Critical analysis seldom characterizes this electorate’s decision making process. This laxity does no service to the individual, or to the country.

One can hardly escape the charges, assertions, and derision that are presented to the American public during a major election. Outrageous statements are leveled at each opponent with the expectation that trace elements of the message will have a half life one hour beyond Election Day.

Epictetus warns “Be not swept off your feet by the vividness of the impression, but say, ‘Impression, wait for me a little. Let me see what you are and what you represent. Let me try you.’” This sentiment is reinforced in the book UnSpun: finding facts in a world of disinformation by Brooks Jackson and Kathleen Hall Jamieson. The theme of this excellent book is that the “consumer” be skeptical of factual claims, that they demand and weigh evidence supporting those claims, and that they should maintain an open mind.

Educate yourself. This approach to “evidence” reprises what every librarian has been taught. Evaluate information according to criteria that require authoritative sources, confirmation, and objectivity. (See my blog entries “How to Evaluate Health Websites” dated March 11, 2007, and “How to Judge a Book by its Cover” dated February 3, 2007, for criteria used by information specialists.) Strategies like those in the Jackson book, as well as those practiced by good librarians, should be used to develop the habit of reflection any responsible citizen can utilize when making a political choice.

The responsible citizen should demand good value from those who wish to win his vote. I am including several websites that can help the voter determine the accuracy of political statements. In each case, the voter should visit the “About Us” portion of the website. Read the “Mission Statements.” Look at the Boards of Directors and Staff. If a claim is made for nonpartisanship, check it out. I have reviewed the sites that follow. They are quality choices.

Sites that verify political statements include FactCheck http://www.factcheck.org/. This site is the result of Jackson and Jamieson’s work for the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Their stated mission is that “We are a nonpartisan, non-profit, 'consumer advocate' for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics.” (From “About FactCheck.org”) Use this site to determine the truth of political charges and counter-charges.

Project Vote Smart http://www.votesmart.org/ is a product of dedicated volunteers. It specializes in the unbiased research of candidate biographies and voting records. It records campaign contributions, issue positions, public statements, finance, and evaluations of candidates by competing special interest groups. The purpose of Project Vote Smart is “to strengthen the most essential component of democracy—access to information—even as it suffers from candidates and political parties, many who are now willing to manipulate information and deceive voters.” (From “About Project Vote Smart”)

OpenSecrets http://www.opensecrets.org/ is “nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the organization aims to create a more educated voter.” (From “Our Mission”) It’s chief focus is to inform citizens of the effect money has in politics. Essentially, OpenSecrets follows the money. On this site you can learn who and what entities are contributing to which candidate.

In this election two partisan fact check websites have appeared. These are Obama Fact Check http://www.obamafactcheck.com/ and McCain Fact Check http://www.mccainfactcheck.com/ These sites purport to offer “an objective resource to determine whether (a media claim about each candidates) is true or not. (From “About Us”)

Sites that offer subject specific evidence allow the responsible voter to dig into the issues. These can be divided into governmental and independent sources. I urge you to familiarize yourself with these resources. It is amazing what expertly researched material is available at no charge and without a subscription.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) http://www.gao.gov/ investigates how your tax dollars are being spent. The GAO is often referred to as the “congressional watchdog.” Information provided to Congress is “objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, nonideological, fair, and balanced.” (From “About GAO”) Current reports include studies on financial markets and housing, gasoline prices, immigration, and elections.

If you want the primary source for the legislative records of individual members of Congress, Thomas http://www.thomas.gov/ is the official site of record on roll call votes and legislative proposals. How did the candidate really vote?

The U.S. Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/ is a primary source for information about income, poverty, health insurance, and business economic data. Use this source for accurate numerical information when evaluating candidate’s claims.

The Energy Information Administration http://www.eia.doe.gov/ is the prime statistical arm of the Department of Energy. This agency’s mission is “to provide policy-neutral data, forecasts, and analyses to promote sound policy making, efficient markets, and public understanding regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.” (From “About EIA”) Resources available here include all current and proposed energy sources. Topical reports on energy uses, forecasts, and international energy information are available.

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ collects statistical information on health topics that enable policy makers to “document the health status of the population and of important subgroups, identify disparities in health status and use of health care by (various) characteristics…provide information for making changes in public policies and programs, and evaluate the impact of health policies and programs.” (From “About NCHS”) The website is designed for quick and easy access to authoritative data to clarify the candidates’ proposals.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/ is “the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics.” (From “About BLS”) Information is impartial, timely and accurate. Subject areas include inflation, spending, employment, and unemployment. This is a primary source for labor and economic information.

The final governmental resource included is FedStats http://www.fedstats.gov/ This gateway resource provides access to more than 100 federal departments and agencies that provide information on essential topics. FedStats will enable you to quickly identify the governmental agency that collects the statistical data you wish to verify. There are various ways to find information on this resource: topical, subject areas, agencies, and a keyword search.

Truly objective, nonpartisan, private sector websites that address specific topics are not easy to find, but some do exist. The following are highly regarded nonideological resources. The information they make available to interested citizens, educators, policy makers, and business is the result of highly qualified experts who adhere to the highest of ethical standards.

Resources For the Future http://www.rff.org/ is a “nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that conducts independent research—rooted primarily in economics and other social science—on environmental, energy, and natural resource issues.” (From “About RFF”) Some of the topics this organization researches include pollution, land and water use, energy, climate, transportation, the natural world, and health. Its research includes testimony given before Congress and other regulatory agencies amongst its publications.

The Kaiser Family Foundation http://www.kff.org/ is a “non-profit, private operating foundation focusing on the major health care issues facing the U.S. with a growing role in global health.” (From “About the Kaiser Family Foundation”) The Kaiser Foundation produces policy analyses on health care issues. Access to accurate research and studies on health care is free to all in order to insure that all interested parties have the same, accurate, and complete information upon which to base decisions.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics http://www.iie.com/ focuses on international economic policy. This private, nonpartisan research organization “has provided timely and objective analysis of, and concrete solutions to, a wide range of international economics problems.” (From “About the Institute”) This is reliable source for information about international monetary and finance issues. It emphasizes global macroeconomics and is an excellent source for research on NAFTA, international banking standards, monetary policy and world trade agreements.

The “gold standard” for information on U. S. tax policies is the Tax Policy Center http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/ It provides independent, timely analysis and factual data relating to tax policy for citizens, journalists, policy makers, and researchers. This nonpartisan center “combines top national experts in tax, expenditure, budget policy, and microsimulation modeling to concentrate on four overarching areas of tax policy that are critical to future debate: fair, simple and efficient taxation, social policy in the tax code, long term implication of tax and budget choices, and state tax issues.” (From “About Us Our Mission”) This is an excellent source for policy analysis and tax facts.

The privilege of citizenship in the United States requires that the individual voter take seriously her responsibilities when choosing representatives and leaders. That responsibility can only be discharged by an educated citizen. The websites listed herein can help to lead you out of the darkness of political “spin.” As Jules Michelet wrote in the mid-19th century, “What is the first part of politics? Education. The second? Education. And the third? Education.”

When in doubt, check it out.


Note: The quotations are cited from Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, Sixteenth Edition. John Bartlett. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company c 1992. The first two are from Discourses Book 2 by Epictetus. The third is attributed to Jules Michelet in Le Peuple.