First, a little background: Every so often, our legislative bodies express an opinion – without making a law – on the issues of the day. They use a special type of resolution called a “Sense of the Senate” “House,” or “Congress” to send a message, whether that message is to the American people, to the President, to the rest of the world, or all of the above. These resolutions can address some pretty politically charged topics; for example, they were used during the public debates on the war in Iraq and on the Terry Schiavo controversy. (See here for more information about these types of resolutions.)

The American people never get consulted on these resolutions. Their words are not included, and thus, their opinions are muffled. They are only given an outlet during the next election, when the “sense of” resolution is long forgotten.

This project aims to change that. We’ll build a mashup where Americans can come together and write their own version of the resolution together – a “Sense of the Nation” resolution. This site will allow the American people to play a more active role in their country’s political discourse. It will give hundreds or thousands of citizens the chance to come together to debate online, build consensus on the issues that are facing the country, and tell their legislators what THEY think.

If enough people contribute to the process, who knows – maybe some forward-thinking legislator will introduce the citizen-authored version of the resolution in Congress directly!