News

Country reports using the increasingly popular Greenhouse Development Rights (GDRs) framework, created by RBF grantees EcoEquity (a project of Earth Island Institute) and the Stockholm Environment Institute, are now available for Denmark, Finland, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

Bank Information Center consultant Heike Mainhardt-Gibbs, author of an RBF-funded study, will defend her latest findings in a panel discussion at the Civil Society Policy Forum at the 2009 World Bank/International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings from April 25-26.

The International Monetary Fund is pushing to scale back on loans to the world's poorer countries, which make up more than 47% of the world's $55 trillion economy.

Despite polling place issues in 2000 and 2004, and fears that they would reoccur in the last election, the vast majority of Americans said they had a positive voting experience in 2008 and intend to remain active in their communities.

The Center for Public Integrity, bipartisan watchdog and RBF grantee, has launched the Broken Government project, which provides a comprehensive online inventory of 128 executive branch failures during the Bush administration across the U.S. federal government.

The American Prospect, an RBF grantee, has issued a special report on revitalizing democracy. The special issue highlights the relationship between economic and political inequality.

President-elect Barack Obama's team deployed a sophisticated Internet-based campaign to connect with new voters, particularly those under age 30.

Everyday Democracy and Rockefeller Brothers Fund grantees AmericaSpeaks, Inc. and Demos, A Network for Ideas & Action, Ltd., have released a report, "An Agenda for Strengthening Our Nation's Democracy."

Whether you live in Los Angeles, California, or Boise, Idaho, you can learn more about your candidates, campaign contributions, and other voter information through new web resources launched by RBF grantees National Institute on Money in State Politics and MAPLight.org.

The Information Technology and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA) has recently honored RBF grantee University of Wisconsin for their 2007 article, "Campaign Ads, Online Messaging, and Participation: Extending the Communication Mediation Model."