Google helps the political get active with Map Your Representatives

It’s safe to say that US citizens live in a time of extreme political dissatisfaction, but in order to change that they need to know who to take to task. A new web tool called Map Your Representatives does just that. Users type in their address or zip code, and the site pulls up a list of their elected officials in a sleek, polished interface — starting with local representatives and running all the way up to the residents of the White House.

Built by UK design firm Bow & Arrow, it’s a demonstration of the power of Google’s Civic Information API (the company counts the search giant as a client). The API originally launched back in 2012, when it was geared towards providing information on polling places in anticipation of the then-upcoming presidential election. As used in Map Your Representatives, however, it surfaces an abundance of information for the politically minded. A given representative’s contact information, social media links, and even an embedded view of their Twitter stream are all included. All that’s needed after that is the urge to join the conversation — but you’ll have to take that most important step yourself.