One of my favorite dorky words is “affordances”. As in, what are the affordances of, say, a push-bar across a fire-exit door: pushing, even when the user is panicked, and definitely does not afford for pulling.
Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine is using affordances brilliantly by requiring people to ask for earmarks via video submission. Video’s affordances are that it’s easily viewed, easily shareable, easily archiveable, easily citeable–and thus doesn’t afford for less ethical requests:
As your Member of Congress, I am committed to doing everything I can to support the economic and community development important to the people of the First District—that means fighting for sound federal investments in our community that can grow our economy and create jobs.
This year, I am unveiling a new, transparent and open approach to how I receive, review and submit these federal funding requests: every requesting organization has been asked to make a short presentation, which has been recorded and posted online. This is in addition to extensive written materials they submit describing their funding request and how it will benefit Maine’s first district. All of this information is particularly geared towards jobs retained or created and examining the long-term economic benefit of federal dollars. The videos and project descriptions will be posted on my website and the public is invited to comment on the projects.