CivicPulse

Who decides?

Describe a problem in your own words, like a late bus or a pothole on your street. CivicPulse shows which part of government handles it, and who that is where you live in Virginia.

What you type is sent to an AI service only to pick a topic from our checked list. It isn't saved. How this works

Or just see who represents you
Every Virginia zip code works for Congress. Highlighted places also have recent local decisions; select one to open it.

Most people can name the President. Far fewer can name their own member of Congress, their senators, or the local officials deciding things like bus routes and school budgets. CivicPulse was created so students know who represents them, and how those decisions affect their lives.

The creator of CivicPulse

One state, done carefully.

The demo covers Virginia first, so every fact can be checked against an official source before it's added.

907Virginia zip codes matched to congressional districts with U.S. Census files
153members of Congress and the Virginia General Assembly, from official records
45everyday problems matched to the level of government that handles them
33local decisions from Fairfax County, the City of Richmond and the City of Alexandria

What students see

Every official and every local decision follows the same format, whatever the party.

  • Who decidesType a problem and see whether it's the school board, the county or city, the state, or Congress, with names for your zip code.
  • The facts, from the recordVotes, committee seats, and dates come only from official government records, with a link to check.
  • A plain-language explanationWritten with AI and labeled that way, so students know where the words came from.
  • A question worth arguing aboutEach one invites more than one side, ready for a class discussion.

Open the demo to see real decisions

Look up your officials

For teachers

Built for middle and high school civics and government classes, for the moment students move from how government works in general to who represents them in particular.

New to terms like "ranking member" or "appropriations"? The basics explains each idea tagged in the app.

Example: a 15-minute warm-up

One way to use it with nothing but an internet connection.

  1. Look up your own zip code.
  2. Pick one committee seat or one local decision.
  3. Discuss the question that comes with it, then compare with a partner.

Our pledge

Nonpartisan, always

CivicPulse is not affiliated with any government agency, elected official, political party, or campaign. Officials from every party get the same format, the same depth, and the same tone.

No student data collected

CivicPulse does not require accounts, does not track individual visitors, and does not store or sell any personal information.

What happens to what you type in "Who decides?"

When you describe a problem in Who decides?, that text is sent to an AI service (Google's Gemini) only so it can pick a matching topic from our fixed list. CivicPulse does not save it, and the answer you see comes from our own checked list, not from the AI. If the AI isn't available, a simple keyword match runs in your browser instead. Please don't type names or personal details.

Accuracy first

Every fact is checked against an official source before it's added, and each record links to that source so you can check it yourself. New areas are added once they clear the same bar.