Hallowed Halls

Congresspedia is a collaboratively written "citizens' encyclopedia on Congress," designed to shine more light on the workings of the U.S. Congress. Congresspedia is part of SourceWatch, a similarly collaborative, wiki-based website documenting the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. The purpose of Congresspedia is to give citizens and media the ability to root out corruption and bring transparency to the system. It is based on a set of basic ideas; "A well-informed public is an essential ingredient of a healthy democracy, Most people feel they’re not being well represented in Washington, while 'special interests' are. But few people could name the interest groups that support and lobby their own representatives, The cost of winning election to Congress has become so expensive that most members raise funds year-round and work hard to maintain good relations not just with their constituents back home, but also with the 'cash constituents' who supply the money for their campaigns. We all need to know who those cash constituents are. Despite the constant flow of news from Washington, much of what happens in the halls of Congress is not widely known outside the Washington beltway – and plenty of insiders like it that way." With 11,341 articles SourceWatch/Congresspedia is the world's 14th largest wiki website by article count.