Tracking what shapes belief
Every political conversation is shaped by an invisible architecture of narratives. We follow the threads.
01 / The Problem
A single claim, repeated and reshaped across hundreds of voices, becomes a narrative. That narrative becomes belief. That belief becomes a vote, a law, a policy. And yet — no one is tracking the architecture of these narratives as they form.
"The U.S. is very very polarized… at this point we are in a really high level of polarization."
— Ernesto Calvo, University of Maryland
Social Media Impact
"64% of Americans say social media have a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in the country today."
Pew Research Center, 2020
Polarization
69% say Republicans go too far in using inflammatory language; 60% say Democrats do. Rising partisan gaps continue to widen across platforms.
Gallup, 2025 & Pew Research, 2025
Fact-Checking Gap
90–94% of U.S. adults say they "fact-check" media — but less than 50% of those who share political posts actually verify before reposting.
2022 National Survey
Trust Divide
66% support third-party fact-checkers on social media, yet ~50% of adults and 70% of Republicans believe fact-checkers are biased.
Gallup, 2025
02 / What We Do
Search
We identify political figures, creators, and media voices shaping public conversation. We track specific claims they make — the raw material of narrative.
Track
Every factual claim is logged, sourced, and verified. Powered by Polygraph, our analytical engine cross-references claims against evidence and traces their spread.
Analyze
Individual claims weave together into narratives. We map the connections — who amplifies whom, which stories converge, where narratives diverge from fact.
Index
Our indexes are living collections — continuously updated profiles of narrative ecosystems around specific groups and institutions.
03 / The Indexes
Each index tracks a distinct ecosystem of political narrative. Together, they reveal the full architecture of public discourse.
Tracking influencers, commentators, and content creators who shape political opinion online. From podcasters to social media personalities — the new gatekeepers of political narrative.
Every senator's public claims, tracked and analyzed. We follow the narratives that emerge from the upper chamber and trace how they propagate through media and public discourse.
435 representatives, thousands of claims. The House Index maps the narrative landscape of the people's chamber — revealing patterns, coordination, and divergence.
From the White House to federal agencies, the executive branch sets the tone of national narrative. We track how presidential messaging cascades through government and into public consciousness.
Major news networks and publications are both mirrors and architects of narrative. We track how mainstream media amplifies, frames, and sometimes originates the stories that shape the national conversation.
04 / Why It Matters
"90% of Americans say they fact-check.
Less than half actually do before sharing."
53%
of U.S. adults at least sometimes get news from social media — and half say it's important for finding others who share their views
Pew Research, 2025
90%
of Americans say they fact-check information from media — yet about 1 in 6 rarely or never check before sharing
2022 National Survey
<50%
of people who share political posts actually verify before reposting — despite meta-analyses showing fact-checks do reduce belief in misinformation
2022 National Survey & Meta-analyses
Democracy depends on an informed public. But information alone isn't enough — not when it's woven into narratives designed to manipulate, mislead, and divide. The Narrative exists to make the invisible visible: to show not just what is being said, but the story being built around it.
05 / Support
Every index requires research, verification, and analysis. Choose which thread to support — or fund them all.
Every dollar funds accountability.
Donate NowSupport independent fact-tracking. No ads. No agenda but clarity.
The Narrative is a Democracy Innovation Society project. Democracy Innovation Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. All donations are tax-deductible.
Questions? Want to partner? Get in touch →