High School Student and Tech Founder Abhinav Reddy is Using Technology to Encourage Political and Civic Participation in the United States

Abhinav Reddy wants to study political science in college and seeks to make a splash in the US by using technology to engage people in politics through PoliTrack

American civic education has reached all-time lows. A democratic institution, such as the United States, relies on a well-informed base of voters who can vote for competent leaders and activists to drive public policies that shape our country’s future. At the very bedrock of that principle is a rigorous civic education available to all students emphasizing the importance of democracy and its moving pieces. But unfortunately, over the last 100 hundred years, civic education in the United States has failed to meet these standards.

According to a Pew Research Center poll, only 30 percent of Americans believe living in a democracy is essential. Meanwhile, the same survey found that only 20 percent trusted the government in Washington most of the time. In 2011, 24 percent of U.S. millennials considered democracy an inefficient way of running the government because of the lack of available and transparent information. Fast forward to 2017, 35 percent of millennials said they were losing faith in American democracy. Finally, even with an increase to 66 percent voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election, the United States still lags behind other developed democracies.

High school student and tech founder Abhinav Reddy hopes to provide Americans with political information to solidify the trust between constituents and representatives. The Michigan-based student has identified that when people are well-informed, they will make better choices about their government. As a prospective political science major, Reddy is already on course to bring a new perspective to the US political scene by using technology that will give Americans the needed information to break the cycle of political and voter apathy.

Abhinav Reddy recently launched PoliTrack, an algorithm that analyzes the tweets sent out by American legislators. The tool uses Twitter Sentiment Analysis, which detects words’ positive or negative connotations and the accounts that retweet a legislator most often. PoliTrack offers Americans the ability to find up-to-date information about any legislator in the United States, providing them with a better and more comprehensive understanding of the most recent views and actions of legislators.

For more information, please visit https://www.politrack.net/.

About Abhinav Reddy

Abhinav Reddy is the founder of PoliTrack. He has worked in politics for almost half his life and has always sought to improve civic participation through voter registration drives, public policy proposals, phone banking, and canvassing. Reddy created PoliTrack to make it easier for constituents to track the latest perspectives and opinions of representatives to increase public awareness and help voters make informed decisions.

Contact Info:
Name: Abhinav Reddy
Email: Send Email
Organization: PoliTrack
Phone: 248-910-2755
Website: https://www.politrack.net/

Release ID: 89081390