Corporation
of New York
Vol. 1/No. 1
Summer 2000
Also in this issue:
A Bright Future for Russian Higher Education
Academic Freedom in the Former Soviet Union
Between the Lions Rates a Roar of Approval
Liberal Arts for a New Millennium
Partnership to Strengthen African Universities
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Democracy for Everyone |
Besides supporting high-level research and public debate on the problems and challenges of campaign finance reform, Carnegie Corporation of New York supports nearly 20 nonprofit organizations that help ordinary citizens participate more fully in national, state and local political decisionmaking. They all provide invaluable information to the public about campaign finance and political abuses and, in some cases, help communities organize themselves. Following is a list of seven of them, what they do and how to reach them:
National Institute on Money in State Politics.
A nonpartisan, nonprofit program, its database on state government campaign finances is searchable by industry and occupation of contributors, as well as across state lines to determine multistate and national trends. The Institute grew from a collaboration between the Western States Center, Northeast Action and Democracy South.
National Institute on Money in State Politics
648 North Jackson, Suite 1
Helena, MT 59601
telephone 406-449-2480
www.followthemoney.org
Center for Responsive Politics.
It is a widely used source of reliable, nonpartisan information on campaign finance issues, maintaining a searchable database of congressional and presidential campaign contributions, lobbyist activities and spending, political action committees and parties’ “soft money” accounts. It also publishes a newsletter, weekly alerts and biennial and special reports.
Center for Responsive Politics
1320 19th St., NW
Washington, DC 20036
telephone 202-857-0044
www.opensecrets.org
Center for Public Integrity.
Its staff of researchers and writers publishes investigations and analyses of the influence of money in politics, most notably The Buying of the President 2000 and Our Private Legislatures, a study of professional and business conflicts of interest by legislators in the 50 states. It publishes many reports in its newsletter, The Public i, and supports the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Center for Public Integrity
910 17th St., NW
Washington, DC 20006
telephone 202-466-1300
www.publicintegrity.org
Democracy South.
This nonpartisan, nonprofit network of state-based organizations in the Southeast emphasizes the impact of campaign finance on state and local government decisions. It helps build progressive multi-issue coalitions to address social, environmental and economic justice problems, including adoption by states of “Clean Money” campaign finance reforms.
Democracy South
605-A Highway 54 West
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
telephone 919-967-9942
www.democracysouth.org
Center for Governmental Studies.
It provides state and local governments and public interest groups with research and technical support for a wide array of issues, including campaign finance and ethics reforms. Its National Resource Center for State and Local Campaign Finance Reform provides model legislation, case studies, current research and expert testimony. It developed the Democracy Network, now operated by Grassroots.com, Inc., a web site for nonpartisan political information and citizen-to-citizen networking.
Center for Governmental Studies
10951 West Pico Blvd., Suite 120
Los Angeles, CA 90064
telephone 310-470-6590
www.cgs.org
Northeast Action.
Its Money in Politics Project combines research, coalition-building, policy development and public education campaigns to reform campaign finance laws in New England and New York. It has helped achieve adoption of major “Clean Money” reforms in Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts, and is helping reformers in numerous other states to develop similar campaigns. Northeast Action has also received Corporation support for a project it is working on in conjunction with Democracy Works and Public Campaign to provide technical assistance to nonprofits monitoring the implementation of comprehensive statewide campaign financing reforms.
Northeast Action
621 Farmington Ave.
Hartford, CT 06105
telephone 860-231-2410
www.neaction.org
Western States Center.
Besides helping progressive community-based organizations become more effective participants in state and local politics, it operates the Money in Western Politics Project. This project analyzes the impact of campaign contributions in western state governments, maintains accessible campaign finance databases, and builds support for “Clean Money” reforms.
Western States Center
PO Box 40305
Portland, OR 97240
telephone 503-228-8866
www.westernstatescenter.org