MapAgora, civic opportunity datasets for the study of American local politics and public policy.

ABSTRACT: Civil society plays a vital role in cultivating civic skills and democratic engagement. Yet studying it at scale in the United States remains challenging due to the decentralized nature of the nonprofit organizations that constitute civil society. We introduce MapAgora, a set of five new datasets that provide a comprehensive view of civic opportunity across America. Drawing on IRS tax records and the websites of over 1.7 million nonprofit organizations, we examine whether organizations offer civic opportunities, such as membership, volunteering, public events, or civic and political action, and classify them by type (e.g., political, professional, issue-based). The de-identified organization-level dataset includes indicators of civic opportunity, organizational type, and financial status.

SUBMITTER: Kim JY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12238288 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature