voting
registering to vote in RI
voting by absentee ballot
be an educated voter

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There are a range of ways to be engaged in the local community, and direct service is just one of them. The Swearer Center encourages students to learn about the political context to their community interests and to explore the ways in which they can use their voice to advocate for others. Advocacy and activism can take many forms. We encourage you to think both individually and systemically about the crises facing our communities. There are many local community activist groups as well as numerous student groups devoted to advocacy.

Legislation
Thomas: U.S. Congress on the Internet Your first stop for Federal legislative information brought to you by the Library of Congress. Track the progress of current bills, find out how to contact congressional leaders and staff, check the membership of congressional committees and search historical documents. For those new to the legislative scene check out How Bills are Made for a primer on the process of creating federal legislation.

Legislative Research with Thomas

Contacting the Congress

Rhode Island Congressmembers

RI Secretary of State's On-Line Office

How to Muckrake in Cyberspace Part II: Congress

The National Freedom Scorecard from the ACLU allows users to easily track the voting record of elected officials on key civil rights issues.

Electronic Policy Network is an internet forum shared by a variety of national policy organizations.

Democracy.net hosts live, interactive cybercasts of Congressional Hearings and online town hall meetings with key policy makers.

Activism
The Virtual Activist Training Guide

The Electronic Activist from the Institute for First Amendment Studies offers resources for contacting your elected officials, materials on strategies for activism and profiles of individual activists.

Activism Training Materials and Resources is a range of links and resources from EnviroWeb

Protest.Net is designed to be a central place for activists from around the world to share information about actions, meetings and other events. Their Activists Handbook talks about what protest is, why people should get involved and how to organize an effective protest.

Active Links is Mother Jones' on-line directory of web resources. Their database is searchable using a range of key words including "Media Advocacy" and "Activist Directories."

Social Justice Links from IGC provides an eclectic alphabetized list of social justices sites. Activism Links from IGC does the same....

Web Active seeks to make the Internet a tool for progressive activism. News reports, commentary and a directory of progressive groups on the Net round out their site.

Political Activism Resources, sponsored by the Korean Nationalists Association, has some simple and clearly organized links to U.S. government, political parties, labor organizations and other political groups.

20/20 Vision protects the environment and promoting peace through grassroots action. Each month 20/20 identifies a 20 minute action that citizens can undertake to preserve the environment and promote peace. Their activist toolkit includes information on writing an effective letter, a guide for contacting and influencing government officials and tips on using the press effectively.

Political Advocacy Groups Index includes links to advocacy groups arranged by issue including "women," "tax reform," and "civil rights," etc.

Community Development
Asset-based Community Development Institute (home of John McKnight) has a number of his papers and some tools available on-line.

Center for Living Democracy is the home of Frances Moore Lappe and Paul Martin DuBois and their American News Service. Thier web site focuses on Interracial Collaboration, Environmental Sustainability, Democracy in the Workplace, Democracy in the Media, Democracy in Economic Life, Youth in Action, Educating for Democracy and Government Solutions. The Learning Tools Catalog is a database of publications (most for a fee, some free) in categories including Facilitation, Youth in Action, Democracy in the Workplace, etc.