My Account
Society Issues
This category links to sites dealing with every kind of social and political issue and controversy.

Important Notes - Please Read:

Failure to submit to the proper category will entail significant delay in the review of your site.

Please do not submit your site here unless it is a very deep site with lots of content that covers virtually every major issue.

Please look through the subcategories to find the appropriate place for your site. Doing this will get your site reviewed much more quickly, saving several weeks or more in many cases.

Personal pages covering multiple social issues should be submitted to the Personal Multi-issues Pages subcategory.

Personal political homepages should be submitted to the Politics: Personal Pages subcategory.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Abortion

This category contains sites dealing with abortion issues. The terms "pro-life" and "pro-choice" are used for subcategories because that is how each group refers to itself. They are defined as follows: Pro-Choice: Believing that abortion is a right and should be legal under most or all circumstances. Usually implies a belief that the human fetus has no rights, or greatly abridged ones. Pro-Life: Believing that abortion is a violation of the rights of the pre-born child. Usually implies a belief that abortion should be illegal under most or all circumstances. In addition, there are some relatively neutral sites which are not placed in either category.
Please pick the most appropriate subcategory where possible. ODP does discriminate based on an individual''s or organization''s creed. However, sites directly advocating violence will not be listed.

Animal Welfare

Animal welfare issues deal with various aspects of humane treatment and the wellbeing of individual animals.

This category lists sites devoted to animal welfare issues.

Sites should be submitted to the appropriate subcategory when applicable.

Animal welfare organizations should be submitted to Animal Welfare. There is a separate category for animal Rescues and Shelters -- please submit accordingly.

Sites about species conservation should be submitted to Society/Issues/Environment/Conservation_and_Endangered_Species.

Please submit the site''s main URL and include a brief objective description of the features and content of the site, without hype.

Apathy

Sites that discuss, counter or argue about the alleged apathy in the rich, western nations.

Business

We welcome links related to Corporate Operations which (1) Generate concerns about its effect upon Society, (2) which raise concerns about corporation's effects on society or her issues, and (3) seek to address or enlighten the public about corporate operations.

Why? Because corporations, especially multinational ones, have become so powerful.

Therefore, even ones which wish to exercise no harm, may still do so.

This category is intended to go beyond verbalizations to include "other senses," such as murals, dramatizations, and any effective communication about or within the realm of Corporate Operations.

Sites devoted to promotion of Corporations may be included only to the extent that they are relevant to addressing the topic here.

Activist information about Corporate Operations may be included. We seek balance and fairness. We wish to hear from all points of view. As sites submitted to Society/Issues/Corporate Operations enlarges, we expect to have sub categories on Nonprofits, Nationalization, Multinationals, Overcharging, and so on.

Chats and Forums

Chats and forums that deal with social issues.
Please pick a subcategory where appropriate.

Children, Youth and Family

Please see the many subcategories of Children here in Society/Issues.
This category only lists sites pertaining to the rights, issues and concerns involved in adoption.

The Home/Family/Adoption category is the appropriate category for more general adoption sites (information, services, support, personal pages). Please take a look at the numerous subcategories and choose the most appropriate.

Church-State Relations

This category includes sites concerning the appropriate relationship between Church and State in their multivariate intersections in civil society.

Conferences

This category is for sites on conferences regarding various social issues.

Websites submitted here must be conference related and in English. Sites in other languages should be submitted to the appropriate World subcategory. Please submit to a subcategory whenever possible.

Conspiracy

Sites, links and content about conspiracy.

Crime and Justice

Societal issues related to the punishment of crime (prison management, prison reform, capital punishment) and the prevention and prosecution of crime. Listings related to particular types of crime generally belong in other categories.
Note that this category is not for lawyer advertising.

Directories

This category is for sites on directories and datebases of social issues.

Websites submitted here must be social issue directory related and in English. Sites in other languages should be submitted to the appropriate World subcategory.

Disabilities

This category contains sites about disability controversies, issues, advocacy, discrimination, abuse, and legal topics.

Economic

Economic issues relate to the control, dispersal or use of goods and services within a country, region, or among nations.
Economic issues categories include a number of well thought out sub groups. Please see those to determine if your submission fits there.

Education

Society: Issues: Education is intended for websites dealing with public issues related to education: access to education, financing of education, government control of schools, legislation, policy, news, etc. Sites specifically intended for students or teachers, or with a classroom focus, should be submitted to the appropriate subcategory of Reference: Education. Subcategories of Society:Issues:Education and cross-linked categories include Bilingual Education, Education Reform, Home Schooling, Literacy, School Choice (vouchers, etc.), Sex Education, and Church-State Relations:Public Schools. (As of 6 April 1999.)
Make sure the site you are submitting is either authored by somebody who could be considered a "child", or prominantly displays youth opinion. For general criticism of the school system and compulsory education, you may consider Reference/Education/K_through_12/Home_Schooling/Politics/ or Society/Issues/Education/Education_Reform/Compulsory_Schooling

End-of-Life

End of Life issues in society have to do with whether death occurs "naturally," the quality of life near death, and who determines and who chooses among the alternatives for living or dying near the end of one's life.

Environment

Any issue which concerns the ecological and human environment - this covers everything from local transport pollution to the destruction of the ozone layer.
With few exceptions, sites will only be listed once in /Society /Issues /Environment /Activism and its subcategories. Due to overlap with other categories of /Society /Issues /Environment, sites will typically only be listed once in both these areas. Sites with a only regional or local focus should be submitted to a category of /Regional or related Regional category in /Society/Issues/Environment/Organizations/Regional.

Family Planning

Sites about societal issues related to family planning. The abortion issue is covered in Society:Issues:Abortion. Information about birth control is in Health:Reproductive Health:Birth Control. The sub-category "Organizations" lists institutional organizations' sites.
This category is for websites about societal issues related to family planning. See the category description for additional details.

Sites about becoming pregnant do not belong here. See Health/Reproductive_Health/Pregnancy_and_Birth/Pre-Conception/

Fraud

In law, fraud is intentional deception to cause a person to give up property or some lawful right. Fraud as more generally defined is deceit, trickery or cheating. This category is intended more for the legal description of fraud but may involve human rights or other issues which may or may not have any monetary or economic concerns.
This is not a category for service providers. To locate or submit service provider sites, please see:
Attorneys and Law Firms
Business: Investing
Personal Finance: Investing

For legal information, please see Consumer Protection Information and Securities Information.

Gambling

Sites which discuss legal, economic and social impacts of gambling, and/or argue for legalization or regulation of gambling in its various forms, including casino gaming, lotteries, sweepstakes and betting.
Sites relating to the actual regulation of ongoing gambling should be sent to Gaming Business.

Sites relating Native American gaming issues should be sent to Native American Gaming Issues.

Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual

Cultural, social and political issues about being, becoming gay, lesbian or bisexual; about the effects the larger society has upon gay, lesbian or bisexual individuals or groups; and the concerns of, for, and about the individuals or groups.

Global

These political, social, economic and environmental issues are of concern to all nations - but, unlike national issues, are perceived to fall outside of nations' powers to deal with effectively alone.
Issues listed here must be those which "are perceived to fall outside of nations'' powers to deal with effectively alone." Please submit your site to the most appropriate subcategory, if possible.

Government Operations

Issues related to how governments are run, including accountability to the people, government corruption, public sector ethics, campaign finance, secrecy (and freedom of information), civil service reform, and government acquisition and retention of lands.

Health

This category is for sites about health issues from a non-medical standpoint.
Please pick a subcategory where possible.

Housing

Housing issues covers a spectrum of social and political issues that make it more difficult for people in different circumstances to acquire a home or rent an apartment. The causes of these problems can be quite varied, ranging from the property owner's or landlord's personal bias to the lack of affordable housing within a neighborhood to a lack of income opportunities. Emotional and drug issues can also impact a person's ability to obtain a job that would enable them to pay the rent. Or, a financial crisis may come up and a low-income family could have difficulties in obtaining a financial loan to cover immediate living expenses. The housing issues category contains sites that explain the problems, offers some solutions or lists organizations offering assistance to landlords and dwelling seekers about the laws pertaining to this issue.
Sites in this category include topics that deal with housing as a social or political issue covering topics, such as affordable housing, fairness in home ownership, cooperative living, and tenants rights. If the webpage deals with one of those topics exclusively, please list in the proper subcategory.

Suggest sites for Homelessness issues to the Society/Issues/Poverty/Homelessness category.

Please submit professional sites relating to the residential building industry, including house design, to Residential Housing Construction.

Please submit real estate sites to the Real Estate category in the relevant locality category in Regional.

Human Rights and Liberties

This category is for sites on human rights and liberties.

Please make sure this is the most appropriate category for your submission. Submitting to the wrong category may result in significant delay in the review of your website.

Submissions for sites under construction will be DELETED.

Please submit your site only ONCE. Multiple pages from the same site will not be listed in this category or any subcategories.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Immigration

This category leads to websites dealing with societal issues and controversies regarding immigration.
Immigration-related controversies include
the scope of and restrictions on immigration, immigration law reform,
the status of asylum-seekers, the means to control or discourage illegal immigration,
the rights and privileges of aliens contrasted with those of citizens, and
questions of culture, assimilation, and language.

Please suggest websites to this category only if they are exclusively about immigration-related issues
and controversies relevant to more than one country.
If you want to suggest a website, about immigration control for one federation or country it is likely
to be a better fit in one of the categories under  Regional.
The correct category for Informational websites about relocating between countries may be found
by following links in the  Home . . International Relocation category.
Suggesting a website to the correct category will improve its chances of getting listed.

Intellectual Property

Pages or organizations which debate whether or not some or all "intellectual property" laws are unfair monopoly grants, not real private property like physical things.
Only submit sites /discussing/ Intellectual Property rights, for or against, not sites instructing one in their use. Those go under Society/Law/Legal_Information/Intellectual_Property or various other places.

Labor

Social and political issues related to labor and work. Labor unions and sites relating directly to the labor movement should be listed under Society/Work/Labor_Movement/Unions or Regional/.../Society_and_Culture/Labor
There are many sites listing some very familiar economic arguments for and against the minimum wage and the question of whether to raise it. Please submit sites that explain those points in an effective, clear, or original way. In addition, sites on less well-explored aspects of the minimum wage--such as its history, its moral aspects, and its political dynamics--are invited.

Language

Sites concerning policies for the preservation or reform of language.
Please direct sites concerning a particular language to the specific category for that language.

Micronations

Micronations, sometimes known as unrecognized nations or ephemeral states, are countries which claim status as independent nations, but which lack diplomatic recognition by the world community. Many claim some physical land area as their national territory; others are non-territorial, existing only in the virtual world. These nations may represent true secessionist movements, experiments with political and governmental models, or extended jokes. The line between serious and whimsical micronations is often a thin one.
Imaginary countries or worlds that support a role-playing game, like Dungeons and Dragons, should be submitted to the Games/Roleplaying/World_Building/Created_Worlds category.

News and Media

This category is for public policy news sites, magazines, newsletters or journals that cover multiple issues.
This category is for public policy news sites, magazines, newsletters or journals that cover multiple issues. Sites that cover a particular set of issues should be submitted to the appropriate issue subcategory.

Personal multi-issue pages should be submitted to the Society/Issues/Personal_Multi-issues_Pages category.

Older Citizens

This category is limited sites on social and economic policy issues affecting senior citizens.

Online Issues Polls

This category is for sites on online polls regarding various social issues, either for formal data gathering organizations or from informal personal sites.

Peace

Inclusive of web sites that study, promote, argue about or discuss issues of peace.

Personal Pages

This category is for sites on homepages by individuals, not organizations, about more than one social issue.

Websites submitted here must be social issue related and in English. Sites in other languages should be submitted to the appropriate World subcategory.

Pages on multiple societal issues will be accepted...not simply multiple /topics/. Painting and music are not, for example issues. Censorship of painting and music would be, though.

Please submit sites to the appropriate letter subcategory based on site title or last name. For example, Joe Smith''s Issue Page should be submitted under "S".

Sites comprised primarily of mere LINKS to pages on various issues will not be added.

Policy Institutes

Policy institutes study a wide range public policy issues and topics; publish position papers; conduct conferences on public policy topics; etc. Their web sites are often good sources of information and opinion on public issues. Some policy institutes are nonpartisan, particularly if they are associated with universities, but most have a particular point of view. Institutes in this category cover the full range of the political spectrum.

This category is for public policy institutes that provide research and issue papers to policy makers and the public on a wide variety of public policy topics. If the site focuses on a specific issue area (i.e., crime, education, the environment, etc.), it should be submitted under that issue area, not here.

At least some materials must be available on the web site without charge.

Websites in this category must be in English.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your webpage''s server only.

Guidelines for submitting sites:

  • Do not type in capitals nor capitalize all nouns.
  • Please refrain from all hype, superlatives, or sales pitches. Any such content will be removed.
  • Submit to the most accurate category possible.

Poverty

Issues raised by the problem of poverty, responses to poverty by society, examples, concerns and problems of poverty in the modern world.
Submit here only if your site has information only on the causes of poverty.

Property Rights

Issues related to property owners' rights, particularly in relationship to the actions of governments such as eminent domain, regulatory takings and civil asset forfeiture.
This category is primarily meant for property rights advocacy, opposing viewpoints, and discussion surrounding concrete policy. In-depth economic analysis belongs under ,Science: Social Sciences: Economics, while broader ideological positions on property rights are best taken in Society: Politics. Legal particulars ought to live in Society: Law: Legal Information: Property Law and Real Estate.

Race-Ethnic-Religious Relations

A variety of subjects on Race-Ethnic-Religious Relations.
Sites that should be submitted to this category are sites that deal with anti-racism, multiculturalism, equality etc...

Please pick the most appropriate subcategory for your submission.

Regional

This category is to help guide net users to send their submissions to the proper regional area. Please use the appropriate @link to the proper category.

Science and Technology

The issues raised by modern science and technology
Please submit to the most appropriate sub-category for your site, if possible.

Survivalism

Sites listed here will focus on the issues and attitudes involved with disaster preparedness, war preparedness, preparation for a life threatening situation, or will relate to a lifestyle that would prepare someone for any of these situations.

Sites with information on the practical aspects of emergency preparedness of the home or workplace do NOT belong here, but instead are listed in Home/Emergency_Preparation, and sites about skills and resources to survive in the outdoors or wilderness belong in Recreation/Outdoors/Survival_and_Primitive_Technology.

Territorial Disputes

Movements for political separation from one sovereign country to form a new one or to transfer territory from one sovereign state to another. More generally, movements that seek greater regional or local autonomy.

Terrorism

Terrorism: Covers all aspects of terrorism. Including government sponsored, groups, individual.

Transportation

Transportation, whether you like it or not, is one of the "driving" forces that alters lives, cultures, and the landscape. If you walk, swim, ride, drive or fly then you should be interested in this integral aspect of your life.

Violence and Abuse

Sites that deal with the issues of violence or abuse in our society, including violence against individual people or classes of people, violence in certain places, and the study of violence and violent behavior as well as non-violent forms of abuse such as psychological abuse or neglect.
Please submit only sites related to issues of violence and abuse in our society as defined in the category description. Please note that certain issues related to violence are more appropriately placed elsewhere in the directory.

For example, sites relating to war should be submitted to War, Weapons and Defense , and sites related to terrorism should be submitted to Terrorism.

Similarly, certain issues related to abuse are more appropriately placed elsewhere in the directory. For example, sites relating to child abuse should be submitted to Child Abuse, and sites relating to abuse of people with disabilities should be submitted to Disabilities/Abuse.

Warfare and Conflict

This category is for sites on warfare and conflict, including its means, effects, strategies, weapons, and consequences.

Please submit your site to the most appropriate subcategory possible.

Anti-war and pacifist sites should be submitted to the Peace category.

Sites on terrorism in general should be submitted to the Terrorism category.

Likewise if your site is about Veterans, History, or Politics, please submit your site to the appropriate category.

Websites submitted here must be war related and in English. Sites in other languages should be submitted to the appropriate World subcategory.

Please do not submit sites selling products in this category. Such sites should be submitted under Shopping.

Please submit your site only ONCE. Multiple pages from the same site will not be listed in this category or its subcategories.

Related categories
Society Politics
Society Future Catastroph­es
Society Activism
Society Organizati­ons Advocacy