An endorsement of something useful, from the Columbia Journalism Review:
Those are the ingredients that helped produce the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Legislative Navigator, an interactive database that allows Georgia's political junkies to keep close track of what state lawmakers are up to—and that deserves a close look from any news organization considering a similar effort.
In addition to features that have now become pretty standard on these types of project—the ability to track specific bills, determine how legislators voted, and find out who contributed to their campaigns—the AJC's navigator provides a batting average for each of the 236 members of the Georgia General Assembly, using each legislator's history of sponsoring bills and data on how often those bills went anywhere at all. With only 30 percent of bills ultimately passing, few Georgia politicians are swinging for the fences.
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