Aaron Swartz is a writer, hacker, and activist. He co-authored the RSS 1.0 specification, helped develop standards for the Semantic Web, and designed the metadata system for Creative Commons. He co-founded Reddit.com, an online news startup acquired by Condé Nast, and architected OpenLibrary.org. His writing has appeared in a variety of magazines and journals and he has been profiled in Wired and Newsweek. He is on the board of Change Congress and is the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. During the fellowship year, he will conduct experimental and ethnographic studies of the political system to prepare a monograph on the mechanisms of political corruption.