What does “We the People” mean?
The most famous words in the Constitution began as a list of states and drew an angry objection. Here is what they meant in 1787 and what they came to mean.
A reverse echo chamber
I’m the
I’m the
people.
You don’t change government from the top down. I’m The People shows you where the people who represent you actually stand, next to where you stand, vote by vote, with the receipts. Then it puts you in the room with people who see it differently, to find what you can sign together.
Opening soon. We start with Congress; state legislatures, city councils, counties and school boards follow, city by city.
- Not a party.
- Not a candidate.
- Not a side.
How it works
The full version-
Say where you stand
Twelve issues, each between two real choices, never left or right. About ten minutes. Your answers stay private; other members see only the label you choose for yourself.
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Meet your delegation
Enter your address once. We use it to find your districts, then throw it away. You see everyone who represents you, starting closest to home.
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Hold them to it
See how often each one votes your way and how their record lines up with your values, every number linked to the vote behind it. A weekly email, the Pulse, tells you what they did.
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Agree across the divide
Talk it through with people who see it differently, where a comment rises only when both sides find it useful. What a district agrees on goes to its officials, signed across the spectrum.
We start with Congress: your U.S. representative and both senators. State legislatures, city councils, counties and school boards follow, city by city, beginning in Salt Lake County.
The Ledger
Two numbers, and the receipts
Votes your way puts your position on a measure next to how your official actually voted. Nothing to interpret, so nothing to spin.
Values fit compares your values interview with their record, using only votes a person has reviewed, and it always shows how much evidence it rests on.
Every row links to the public record it came from. Where a vote is still coming up, you can take your position first, and see afterward whether they voted your way.
The Floor
The comment both sides find useful rises
Discussion about what your officials are doing, open to every member. Everyone’s lean shows, in the words they chose for themselves.
A comment only rises when people on both sides mark it useful, so piling on from one side does nothing. Each thread shows its Common Ground Meter, and each side’s best case: the comment the other side found most useful.
When two people from opposite sides keep finding each other useful, they get a quiet invitation to talk one on one.
District consensus
A petition that is not a mob
When people in a district find something they can all sign, they put it in a statement. Its headline is never just the count. It is who signed, by lean.
Then it goes to the officials for that district, as a letter that names no one. A position held across the spectrum by the people they represent is hard to wave away.
One on one
The answer isn’t written yet
Some of the best agreement happens two people at a time. In a private conversation, when you find a sentence you both believe, you write it down. It counts only once you both confirm it, and then it joins the public Common Ground page, with your two leanings and without your names.
There is no official list to start from. The page starts empty on purpose. People fill it in.
Your leaning and Theirs
The first sentence has not been written.
Confirmed by both. No names. Either of you can take it back.
People decide. Software keeps the record.
No software is going to tell you what the country agrees on, or what a vote really meant. Those calls belong to people.
What the numbers are
- Votes your way: your position next to their actual vote.
- Values fit: built only from votes a person has reviewed, with the evidence count shown.
- Every number links to the public record it came from, and the method will be published when we open.
What never happens
- No AI decides what a vote means, what you believe, or what anyone agrees on.
- Your address is never stored, and your interview answers are never shown to anyone.
- No party, candidate or side gets a thumb on the scale.
At opening, nothing on the site uses AI. If it is switched on later, it may only suggest which issues a bill touches, for a person to approve, and summarize public discussions in members’ own words. Private conversations never go to it, and this site will say so before it happens.
Why the I
We the People is not a crowd. It is a person. It is you.
Look closely at our mark. Every figure in it is one person. The I is made of the people who stood up, and the gold one at its base is you, where bottom-up starts.
Nobody here speaks for a side. You speak for yourself, and so does everyone you meet.
From the blog
All postsWhat this is not
Not a party, not a candidate, not a side
No endorsements are coming. The unit here is one person, which is the whole argument.
Not a movement looking for members
There is no list to climb and no crowd to be counted in. You belong to your own district, and you speak for yourself.
Nothing to buy or donate to
There is no ask. It costs nothing to see where your officials stand.
Questions about I’m The People
What is I’m The People?
I’m The People is a non-partisan civic project, a reverse echo chamber for politics. It shows you where the people who represent you stand next to where you stand, vote by vote with the public record behind every number, and puts you in discussion with people who see things differently, where only what both sides find useful rises. What a district agrees on goes to its officials, signed across the spectrum. People decide; the software keeps the record.
Which officials does it cover?
At opening, your members of Congress: your U.S. representative and both of your senators. State legislatures, city councils, counties and school boards follow, city by city, starting in Salt Lake County.
How are the scores worked out?
Two ways. Votes your way puts your position on a measure next to your official’s actual vote, nothing more. Values fit compares your values interview with their record, using only votes a person has reviewed, and shows how much evidence it rests on. Every number links to the public record behind it.
Do you keep my address?
No. It is used once, with the U.S. Census Bureau’s public lookup, to find your districts, and then it is thrown away. We keep only the districts.
What is a reverse echo chamber?
It is our name for the opposite of a feed that surrounds you with people who agree with you. Instead, you are put in front of people who see things differently: in discussions where only what both sides find useful rises, and one on one. The term is our own description, not a scientific one.
Is this a party or a movement?
No. There is no party, no candidate, no side and no list to join. The unit is one person speaking for themselves.
Does an AI decide anything?
No. At opening, nothing on the site uses AI: introductions and rankings follow plain rules, and a person reviews what every vote means. If AI is switched on later, it may only suggest, for a person to approve, and summarize public discussions in members’ own words. Private conversations never go to it.
Find out where the people who represent you really stand
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Priya N. Libertarian Bridges the divide
Property rights cut both ways here. If I own the lot, I should be able to build. If you own the lot next door, you deserve a real say on drainage and height. Both can be true.
Useful to 2 left, 1 center, 2 right