Sunlight's New PoliQuiz Asks, ‘What’s Your Political IQ?’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 3, 2008

Contact: Gabriela Schneider 202/742-1520 ext 236

WASHINGTON, DC – In celebration of Independence Day, the Sunlight Foundation today launched PoliQuiz, a new interactive political trivia game that provides a fun way for citizens to test their knowledge about their elected officials and the legislative process.

“Since Sunlight has a reputation for creating serious Web tools to facilitate investigative research by citizen activists, reporters, bloggers and other data geeks, we designed PoliQuiz as a more light-hearted way for citizens to learn more about Congress,” said Ellen Miller, co-founder and executive director of the Sunlight Foundation. “We hope to appeal to the patriotic spirit of political junkies and novices alike, and also encourage teachers to use PoliQuiz as an entertaining way to teach about Congress.”

PoliQuiz challenges players to answer multiple-choice questions about lawmakers’ identities and party affiliations; basic congressional procedures; historical government information and more. When players incorrectly answer questions, PoliQuiz directs them to different resources, including OpenCongress.org and Congresspedia.org, so they can learn more. The game also provides tidbits about lawmakers to augment players’ knowledge. Players can also submit their own questions.

PoliQuiz is not just a quiz on a Web site, it is also a widget that users can grab and play on their blog, Facebook page or Web site. The PoliQuiz widget also lets players create teams to play against other blogs and Web sites. A project of the Sunlight Foundation, it was built by Publi.us, the team who created the popular Fantasy Congress game.

The Sunlight Foundation supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. Through its projects and grant-making, Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government. Visit SunlightFoundation.com to learn more about Sunlight’s projects, including PublicMarkup.org, EarmarkWatch.org and OpenCongress.org.

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