This document provides an overview of the NewGov social networking platform for civic engagement. It describes how the platform allows users to organize into groups based on political jurisdictions or issues to collaborate with and advise elected representatives. It notes that the platform verifies users' addresses using credit card information to prove they are constituents, while maintaining anonymity. The document promotes how the platform gives users influence over policy and the ability to get elected or advance careers through civic participation and networking on the site.

1. Open Source Policy.
There’s a Map for that.
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2. What’s behind the map:
50 State Groups
435 Congressional District Groups
535 Legislator Groups
1,967 state Senate districts
4,745 state House districts
3,601 US Cities
• 938 City Council districts, 32 largest cities
3,234 US counties
Unlimited Issues Groups*
Member and SuperVoter Power Tools
A Home Page for every Member
Every resource people use in the "real" world to:
1. Influence policy.
2. Get elected.
3. Stay elected.
4. Start a career in Politics.
Every NewGov group is a full Social Network, custom built for
voters to take charge of any political jurisdiction or Issue.
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3. Register @ NewGov.US to SuperVote* in
Finally! Voters can use social networking
to surround and advise their politicians.
NewGov SuperVoters meet
online to collaborate with,
support and guide their
representatives.
*
• Politicians earn votes the old-fashioned way
• Voters have real influence on policy
7 jurisdictions
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4. NewGov SuperVoters Have Clout...
...because SuperVoters are certified as constituents by two reputable authorities.
NewGov is the first service to use voters’ credit card data to prove to their politicians they are
constituents.
Even if you charge $0.00, Google Wallet and your credit card provider transmits your Billing Address
to our mapping service in Colorado. Their Mapping Robot transforms your address into your Latitude
and Longitude, so your location is linked to as many as 7 political jurisdictions.
NewGov Issue groups affect policy because politicians know that members are constituents with the
power to vote their beliefs.
It’s never been done before. You're basically anonymous, but you have an identity linked absolutely to
your politicians' future.
never revealing voters’ real name or address, unless they choose to.
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5. Power, Knowledge and Politics
— Georgetown Univ. Press, 2005, p.139.
In a breakthrough study, researcher
John Hird quantified the relative
importance to legislators of 16
Information sources.
Immediately
become a top
influencer
*
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Constituents have Power
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6. Congressional Staff Believe Constituents Are More Influential Than Lobbyists*
Survey Finds Internet Increased Accountability in Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new survey of congressional staff says they believe constituents have far more influence on undecided
lawmakers than lobbyists. When asked about various groups and strategies that influence their Member of Congress, 46% said
that “in-person constituent visits” would have “a lot” of influence, compared to 8% which said the same of a “lobbyist visit.”
Currently, no uniform standard exists [for a common, open source technological standard for sending constituent
communications to Capitol Hill], creating both administrative problems for congressional offices and obstacles for
citizens who participate in advocacy campaigns.
*http://bit.ly/17Oyjxn
Immediately
become a top
influencer
*
Constituents have Power
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7. Register whenever you’re ready
Click your state to get started
State of California
Click your town to join your
Congressional District
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8. 1. Influence Policy
2. Get elected
3. Stay elected
4. Start a consulting career
NewGov is a Constituency Engine, helping voters to organize into dedicated jurisdictional groups to
collaborate with, support and guide their representatives.
http://bit.ly/17Oyjxn
*
*
• Politicians earn votes the old-fashioned way, by listening
• Voters have real influence on policy
“While many Americans might feel that their voice is not heard in Washington, this research shows that
Congress is trying to listen,” said Bradford Fitch, President and CEO of CMF. “Congressional staff clearly believe
that getting information on policy impacts directly from citizens is helpful and influential to the decision-making
process on Capitol Hill,” he said.
CMF Researchers surveyed 260 staffers, a majority (53%) in management positions, from October 12-December
13, 2010. The survey also was representative of the House and Senate, both by chamber and party breakdown at
the time.
“Social media is now part of our democratic dialogue,” said Tim Hysom, the Director of CMF’s Partnership for a
More Perfect Union. “With both citizens and Congress using social media to learn and inform, we will have a
more robust national conversation on the issues our democratic institutions must wrestle with,” he said.
2011 Study by the non-profit Congressional Management Foundation
Congressional Staff Believe Constituents Are More Influential Than Lobbyists
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9. 1. Influence politics
2. Get Elected
3. Stay elected
4. Start a consulting career
Misty Smith Goes to Washington
Issues are campaigns, so every NewGov group is a campaign in a box. Each provides blogs &
comments, ratings, surveys, events, multiple pages, related groups (private & public), social
networking and more.
Imagine you’re Misty Smith, the popular and effective mayor of Ames, Iowa. You’ve been
encouraged to run for congress in Iowa’s 4th District against an entrenched incumbent. The
problem is that Misty's party's apparatus in the district has atrophied over the incumbent's eight
terms in office.
Within http://NewGov.US/IA/ia04cd, the home of Iowa's 4th Congressional District, you can set up
an entire web site so you and your early supporters can reach out to find new supporters, attract
their contributions, discover their most strongly felt opinions and send her to Washington using her
unique unfair competitive advantage over her aloof opponent – a weapon called "Listening". You
see how online collaboration can lead directly to campaign contributions, as it did for Barack
Obama. In five minutes, you create http://NewGov.US/IA/ia04cd/mistysmith.
Full parable at http://newgov.net/govdocs/MistySmith.pdf
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10. Quick Post to your home page any time.
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11. Quick Post to my page
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12. Posting options
1. Click down arrow on Post
2. Click "More options"
3. Complete Post
4. Save as Draft or Publish
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13. Rate any Post
On any post, click the number
of Plus signs it deserves:
1 = 80%
2 = 85%
3 = 90%
4 = 95%
1 = 100%
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14. Comment on any Post
This morning I was thinking about...
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15. Connect with another Member
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16. 12. Join/Leave a group (Member)
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17. 13. Invite a friend to a group (Member)
joeblow@gmail.com
missmuppet@gmail.com
ernie@gmail.com
burt@gmail.com
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18. Start a group (SuperVoter)
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19. Quick Post to a group (SuperVoter)
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20. Post to multiple groups
1. Click down arrow on Post
2. Click "More options"
3. Complete Post
4. Save or Publish
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21. Donate and become a SuperVoter
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22. Donate and become a SuperVoter
Enter amount, select create account on https://newgov.us/donate
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23. Donate and become a SuperVoter
Complete Google Wallet transaction
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24. Registration
REGISTER
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