How Q Scores Work — The Q Collective

Endorsements tell you who likes a politician. A Q Score tells you what they actually do. We read the public record — the bills, the votes, the actions, the rulings — and hold every level of government to the same standard, from the U.S. Senate to your statehouse, from the governor’s office to the Supreme Court.

The score is non-partisan by design. We are not measuring whether someone is a Democrat or a Republican. We are measuring one thing: does their record move the seven pillars of life stability forward, for everyone it touches?

The Scale

0 to 100

Every Q Score runs from 0 to 100. The higher the number, the stronger and more consistent the alignment with the pillars. A score of 80 or above earns the title “Accountability Champion” — reserved for officials whose record clearly and repeatedly serves life stability. Lower scores reflect weaker, more mixed, or contrary records. The number is always backed by the underlying record, so you can check our work.

The Frameworks

Each branch is scored on its own job

A legislator’s job is different from a governor’s, which is different from a judge’s — so each branch is scored on the work it’s actually responsible for. Within a branch, the rubric is identical at every level: a state senator is judged the same way as a U.S. Senator, a governor the same way as the President.

Legislative — U.S. Congress & State Legislatures

Pillar Alignment — do their bills and votes advance the seven pillars?40%

Attendance — do they show up and cast their votes?25%

Citizen Impact — who actually benefits from what they pass?25%

Sponsorship — do they lead on pillar-aligned bills, or just follow?10%

Executive — Governors, the President & Elected Executives

Pillar Alignment of Actions — do their orders, budgets, and signatures serve the pillars?40%

Citizen Impact — who is better off because of their decisions?30%

Implementation & Delivery — do they actually deliver, not just announce?20%

Transparency & Accountability — are they open about what they do?10%

For executives, a veto of a clearly pillar-aligned bill counts against the score.

Judicial — the Colorado Supreme Court & the Courts

Integrity & Impartiality — do they judge fairly, without conflict or favor?30%

Access & Citizen Impact — can real people use this court — timely rulings, plain language, fair to the unrepresented?25%

Competence & Consistency — sound legal reasoning, applied evenly?25%

Transparency & Accountability — open opinions, clear recusals, cooperation with review?20%

Full transparency

Every score change on this site is recorded automatically — timestamped, with the exact before-and-after values — in a public, tamper-evident log.

See the audit log →

The Seven Pillars

What we measure alignment against

Every score is anchored to the seven pillars of life stability — the things a person needs to stand on solid ground:

Health · Income · Family · Housing · Food · Economic Opportunity · Protection from Disruption.

The Data

Where the numbers come from

Legislative scores are built from official bill text and roll-call votes sourced through LegiScan, refreshed every Sunday — the same day the official data source regenerates its records. We’re live in Colorado now, with more states on the way. Executive and judicial scoring use the rubrics below and are launching soon. In every case we work from primary sources and link back to them, so a score is never a black box — it’s a starting point you can verify.

The system rolls out in phases: the legislative engine comes online first, with the executive and judicial branches following. AI assists the analysis, but every result references the public record, and the methodology will be refined and published openly over time.

See a score you want to understand or challenge? Good — that’s the point. Tell us and we’ll walk you through the record behind it.