Democracy Landscape
A reference directory of organisations active in democracy, civic technology and democratic reform. Search, filter and sort the table below — or hover the ℹ️ beside any name for a quick profile without leaving this page.
About this directory — what it is, what it isn't, and how to add an organisation
Maintained by DOD members as a monitoring resource — to keep track of what different groups are doing and how the broader landscape is evolving.
These are not affiliated or partner organisations. Individuals from some of these groups participate in our discussions, but there is no formal association. Entries aim to be neutral and factual.
The ℹ️ button beside each name opens a quick profile — what the organisation does, and either its next event or the last major one it held. Hover it, tap it, or tab to it; click to keep the card open, Esc to dismiss. It is a browsing aid, not a substitute for the organisation's own page, which carries the full timeline and sourcing.
To add an organisation, open a pull request or raise it in the Telegram channel.
Victoria's first registered co-operative co-working space, based in Melbourne CBD, providing affordable member-run workspace for social economy organisations alongside a podcast and events network focused on cooperative and mutual enterprise.
Last major event★ Major
15 Sep 2026 · 18:00
International Day of Democracy: democracy beyond the ballot box
Public panel co-hosted for International Day of Democracy
Panel at the Kelvin Club — the members' club 888 provides workspace access to — on democratic practices beyond voting. Confirmed panel of four — Nicholas Gruen (Lateral Economics), Anitra Nelson (University of…
A French citizen movement founded in 2016 advocating for direct democracy through institutional reforms — sortition, the Citizen Initiative Referendum (RIC), and non-accumulation of terms.
Last major event
31 May 2019
Published its platform for the 2020 municipal elections
The movement published its proposals for the 2020 French municipal elections, including a citizens' assembly chosen by lot, local citizen-initiative referendums and stronger neighbourhood councils.
A non-partisan Australian group of citizens — academics, lawyers, politicians, journalists — working to improve standards of accountability, transparency, and democratic integrity in Australian governments.
Last major event
20 Oct 2011
Holds the inaugural Annual Integrity Lecture, delivered by Fred Chaney on integrity in Parliament
Post dated 20 October 2011; the lecture series was renamed the Jim Carlton Lectures in 2016.
A New Delhi-based non-partisan nonprofit working on electoral and political reform in India since 1999 — best known for the Supreme Court litigation that compelled mandatory candidate disclosure of criminal, financial, and educational backgrounds.
Last major event★ Major
2 May 2002
Landmark legal/court win
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by ADR in December 1999 culminated into a landmark Supreme Court Judgement on May 2, 2002
A pan-African civil society network founded in 2015 in Dakar — mobilising bloggers, cyber-activists and changemakers across 45 African countries to strengthen democracy, governance, and civic participation through digital tools.
Last major event★ Major
26 Nov 2015
Founding of the organisation
Fondée le 26 novembre 2015 par Cheikh Fall, AfricTivistes compte à ce jour plus de 400 membres répartis dans 40 pays du continent africain.
A pan-African survey research network headquartered in Accra conducting nationally representative surveys on democracy, governance, and quality of life in 35+ African countries — data freely available since 1999.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 1999
Founding of the organisation
professors Michael Bratton, Robert Mattes, and E. Gyimah-Boadi merge three independent survey research projects to form Afrobarometer (AB)
Palestine's national anti-corruption and governance integrity coalition — established 2000, accredited as Transparency International's Palestinian chapter in 2006, producing integrity indices, corruption reports, and electoral integrity monitoring.
Last major event
1 Jan 2017
Holds the first Integrity School in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
In partnership with a group of civil society organisations, the Integrity School was held for the first time in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2017.
A London-based global learning network and AI-tools platform for government — connecting 500,000+ public servants across 170+ countries to share what works and, more recently, to adopt AI in public institutions.
Last major event★ Major
22 Jun 2017
Public platform launch
Today, Apolitical launched a global platform for government and its partners at Admiralty House, Whitehall in collaboration with the UK Cabinet Office.
A dedicated research and advocacy program within The Australia Institute focused on diagnosing and addressing Australia's democratic deficit — covering truth in political advertising, parliamentary reform, anti-corruption institutions, and campaign finance.
Last major event★ Major
15 Sep 2026
Flagship conference/summit
The Climate Integrity Summit convenes leading experts in economics, ecology, policy and governance to discuss a credible and achievable climate policy that serves the Australian people and the broader global community.
A coalition of 200+ Australian civil society organisations working for a fairer, more open, and more accountable democracy — focused on campaign finance reform, protecting civil society advocacy rights, protest rights, and countering disinformation.
Last major event★ Major
1 Feb 2020
Platform/product launch
ADN launched in February 2020 as a joint project of the Human Rights Law Centre, Australian Conservation Foundation and Australian Council of Social Service
A re-established Australian centrist political party with a strong focus on democratic reform, electoral integrity, and evidence-based policy — including explicit support for citizens' assemblies and proportional representation.
Last major event★ Major
18 Oct 1980
First elected to the Senate, winning balance of power — five Senators elected on a 9.3% vote
Election result
At the 1980 election, this increased to five seats
Australia's Greens party — tracked here for a specific, sourced governance-reform record (anti-corruption oversight, political donations transparency, truth-in-advertising law), not for its much broader multi-issue platform, which DOD does not track or endorse. Won amendments strengthening independent oversight when the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act passed the Senate in 2022, and has repeatedly proposed capping political donations and banning donations from "dirty industries."
Last major event★ Major
29 Nov 2022
Legislative win
Greens amendments to the NACC bill give significant additional powers to the Inspector of the Commission to provide real time auditing and monitoring of the NACC’s workings and to guard against potential overreach and…
Malaysia's largest non-partisan coalition for electoral reform — a network of 90+ civil society organisations conducting independent election observation, voter registration drives, and public campaigns for free and fair elections since 2007.
Last major event★ Major
9 Jul 2011
Bersih 2.0 rally — 50,000+ protestors demanding clean elections, met with police crackdown
Mass protest/mobilisation
9 July 2011 ranged from 10,000 to 50,000
A Berlin-based, non-partisan global foundation (formerly Apolitical Foundation) working to equip political leaders with better tools and support — through the Better Politics Index, the Better Politics Fund, research on politician safety and wellbeing, and a network of political-leadership entrepreneurs.
No dated events recorded yet.
A place-based platform cooperative in Bendigo, Victoria that has since closed — was the first of its kind globally, providing a member-owned sharing platform for local neighbourhoods to exchange skills, goods, and mutual aid.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2017
First platform cooperative in Australia
Finally Consumer Affairs granted us cooperative status. We were now a real thing.
An open-source Brazilian civic tech project that normalises 45+ scattered government databases into a single searchable graph — making public data genuinely accessible for accountability and civic research.
No dated events recorded yet.
A Nigerian civic-tech organisation that turns government budgets into plain language and pictures, then sends citizens to check whether the projects in them were actually built — now operating in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal and the United States.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2014
Flagship platform launch (Tracka)
Tracka lets citizens report on government projects in their own communities and press their representatives to finish them.
An Australian voter advice tool that helps citizens match their values to candidates before elections — launched before each state and federal election by Project Planet, a climate-focused charity.
Next event
28 Nov 2026
Planned coverage for the 2026 Victorian state election
Over the next three years, we’re expanding Build a Ballot to state elections in:...South Australia and Victoria in 2026
An Adelaide-based incorporated association advocating for the use of citizens' assemblies in South Australian policy-making, with a cross-partisan advisory board including a former SA Premier, a former Liberal Senator, and the executive director of newDemocracy.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2023
Established in Adelaide as an incorporated association
Founding of the organisation
Citizen Assemblies for SA (CAfSA) was founded in Adelaide in 2023 and is an incorporated association advocating for the use of CAs in public policy making.
A Canberra-based community nonprofit promoting good governance and civic participation in the ACT through candidate accountability forums, deliberative conversations, and civic education — independently funded and member-run since 2015.
Next event● Notable
19 Oct 2026
One-off local public forum
Event 3 Re-imagining Governance for the ACT: A Public Event Series Expanding the ACT Assembly for better government – is it time? Hosted by CAPaD & Active Democracy Bean
An Abuja-based independent research and advocacy organisation focused on democratic governance and human security in West Africa — founded in 1997 to support Nigeria's democratic transition, now a regional hub for policy analysis, electoral integrity, and civil society capacity-building.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 1997
Founding of the organisation
Correction to the previous title here, which said "Founded in Lagos" — contradicting its own cited quote. Per the same source: founded in the UK in 1997, registered in Lagos, Nigeria in 1999 (see the following event).
A world-leading academic research centre at the University of Canberra focused on deliberative democracy — home of the Journal of Deliberative Democracy, and the institution behind the 2009 Australian Citizens' Parliament.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2008
Designed and delivered the first Australian Citizens' Parliament at Old Parliament House
Landmark deliberative-democracy citizens' assembly, jointly delivered with newDemocracy
newdemocracy.md dates the same Citizens' Parliament to 2009 (when co-organiser newDemocracy Foundation's own source places the actual deliberation) — this page dates it to 2008 instead ("designed and delivered")…
A Venezuelan Jesuit social research centre — independent, critically engaged with Bolivarian institutions, publishing on community council governance, political participation, and social policy since 1968. One of the few credible independent governance research bodies operating inside Venezuela.
Last major event
1 Jan 1975
Revista Comunicación becomes an integral part of the Centre
"...the magazine Comunicación ... grew and developed from 1975 with autonomy and freedom as an integral and essential component of Centro Gumilla's analyses and reflections."
The largest of China's eight officially recognised 'democratic parties' — ~357,000 members, primarily intellectuals in education, science, and culture. Operates within the CPC-led multi-party cooperation system under 'bounded articulation': advisory on sectoral matters, structurally incapable of challenging CPC authority.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 1948
Foundational political alliance shaping the org's modern role
Followed the KMT's October 1947 declaration of the CDL as an "illegal organization" and the CDL's boycott (alongside the CCP) of KMT-led National Assembly elections that November. This alliance is the origin of the…
An indigenous education and documentation centre in Chiapas, Mexico, aligned with the Zapatista autonomous communities — hosting the Zapatista 'Little Schools' and serving as a hub for research on the Juntas de Buen Gobierno governance model.
Last major event
10 Aug 2013
Hosts registration for the first Zapatista Escuelita (little school)
"Registration ... is on 10 and 11 August 2013 at CIDECI" — EZLN communiqué; classes ran 12–16 August 2013.
An Estonian open-source civic technology platform for collaborative decision-making, public consultations, and online petitions — deployed in 50+ countries, with binding e-ID vote support in Estonia.
Last major event★ Major
18 Mar 2024
Launched first phase of the platform redesign with a new look and feel
Platform/product launch
We’re very happy to be launching the first phase of our redesign roll-out — with an improved look and feel, and a more intuitive interface.
An Icelandic non-profit developing Your Priorities, an open-source deliberation platform used in 45+ countries — best known for Better Reykjavík, which engaged over half of Iceland's eligible citizens.
Last major event★ Major
25 May 2010
Platform/product launch
on 25 May 2010, the website Shadow City (Skuggaborg) opened
A UK campaign to replace the House of Lords with a randomly selected citizens' chamber — a permanent sortition-based upper house.
No dated events recorded yet.
A Chilean civic-tech organisation building tools and strategies to strengthen citizen participation, transparency, and public advocacy across Latin America and the Caribbean, active since 2009.
Last major event★ Major
22 Oct 2009
Flagship platform launch
"That same year" refers to 2009, the org's founding year (registered as an NGO 22 December 2009; Vota Inteligente launched about two months earlier, in the run-up to the election).
A Lagos-based civic-tech fellowship and innovation hub — training civic-tech practitioners, launching platforms for election transparency and civic participation, and running the West Africa CivicTech Conference.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jul 2026
Hosted the West Africa CivicTech Conference 2026, convening 400+ participants from across the region
Flagship regional civic-tech conference
Month-only date — the recap post (published 26 July 2026) doesn't state the exact conference dates in its own text, though other coverage places the 2026 edition around 24 July. Theme was "Youth, Technology & the Future…
A crowdsourced directory describing itself as the world's most complete collection of projects, tools, and organisations using technology for democracy — founded 2016, now helping 50,000+ people a month find civic-tech work, tools, and collaborators rather than rebuild what already exists.
Last major event
1 Jan 2022
Revamped with National Endowment for Democracy support
In 2022, the National Endowment for Democracy provided critical support to revamp and activate the project, making its resources readily available to people fighting for democracy all over the world.
An Australian organisation that ran participatory and deliberative democracy processes in communities — aimed at repairing and building democracy into everyday life. Wound up after six years of operation.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2019
Founding of the organisation
I met my two other co-founders Suse Porter and Dr Sonia Randhawa early last year, and have been working closely with them since.
An Australian civic technology organisation that partners with government and non-profits to deliver digital solutions — through a fellowship program placing technologists inside public institutions.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2014
Founded by Alvaro Maz, Jacob Lindsay and Daniel Groch
Founding of the organisation
Founded in 2014 by Alvaro Maz, Jacob Lindsay and Daniel Groch, initially announced as a partnership with Code for America to bring civic technology fellowships to Australian government
Japan's leading civic-tech organisation, part of the international Code for All network — running an open community for citizen-led digital problem-solving, co-developing participatory decision-making platforms with local governments, and promoting open data and government digital transformation.
Last major event★ Major
3 Mar 2020
Widely-replicated flagship civic-tech product
Peer-reviewed source (Frontiers in Public Health, via PMC/NCBI). The dashboard's open-source code was widely forked — 30+ regional adaptations by other Japanese prefectures and by Taiwan — and translated into 8…
The national support and capacity-building body for Australia's community independent candidate movement — a decentralised network of locally organised, non-partisan groups that support community-driven independent candidates for parliament.
Last major event★ Major
1 Aug 2022
Hosted the second national Community Independents Convention ("Empowered Communities: Next Steps")
Flagship national convention
Month-only date (title/URL say "August 2022"; the recap post itself is dated 4 September 2022). Marked the 10th anniversary of Cathy McGowan's original Indi meeting that started the movement.
Ecuador's main confederation of indigenous nationalities — 14 nationalities, 18 peoples — a governance actor as much as an advocacy body, having co-drafted Ecuador's 2008 plurinational constitution and operating parallel indigenous justice and territorial governance systems.
Last major event★ Major
20 Jul 2025
Marlon Vargas elected president, defeating outgoing president Leonidas Iza
Contested leadership transition at the confederation's congress
Held at CONAIE's eighth congress; Vargas won 617 votes to 540 (per the body's "Key people" section). Iza had led the 2022 national uprising and went on to place third in the 2025 presidential election.
A legislative transparency project based at the Universidad de los Andes since 1998 — tracking all Colombian congressional activity, publishing voting records, and running 'Candidatos Visibles' voter information campaigns each election cycle.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 1998
Launched at Universidad de los Andes as Colombia's first legislative transparency platform
Platform/product launch
Desde 1998, el proyecto Congreso Visible del Departamento de Ciencia Política
A YouTube channel run by Professor Emerita Anne Twomey (Sydney Law School) — a one-person public education initiative explaining how the Australian Constitution actually works: reserve powers, conventions, federalism, and referendum mechanics — for a general audience rather than a legal one.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2022
Anne Twomey starts the Constitutional Clarion YouTube channel
Founding launch of the channel
In 2022, Twomey started the Constitutional Clarion YouTube channel, where she publishes her work for a more general audience.
An open-source e-participation platform originally developed by Madrid City Council, now stewarded by an independent foundation and used by ~350 governments worldwide.
Last major event★ Major
15 Sep 2026 – 17 Sep 2026
ConsulCon 2026 — three-day gathering on digital democracy and open-source civic tech, Munich
Flagship conference/summit
The CONSUL DEMOCRACY Foundation in collaboration with the Landeshauptstadt München organises the next ConsulCon on 15-17 September 2026 in München, Germany.
An independent Melbourne-based civic network running deliberative democracy initiatives, including large-scale citizens assemblies and a national program to scale deliberative participation.
Last major event★ Major
9 May 2026
Platform/product launch
On 9 May 2026, we gather to launch Reclaiming Democracy Together — an ambitious seven-year project. The aim: to rethink and revitalise democratic life in Australia, and beyond.
A Melbourne-based cooperative of cooperative developers, providing governance, business model, and development support to co-operatives, mutuals, social enterprises, and member-based organisations across Australia.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2018
Founded by Antony McMullen, Clare Fountain, and Paul Saeki
Founding of the organisation
The site's own About page confirms the 2018 founding and describes the founders as "a group of community enterprise developers" but doesn't name them individually — Antony McMullen, Clare Fountain and Paul Saeki per…
Victorian citizen watchdog on local council governance — tracks council CEO salary disclosures, campaigns on rate caps, and compiles council complaints and councillor wellbeing data.
Last major event● Notable
21 Jun 2026
Published first results from its National Council Census 2026, drawing ~5,000 respondents nationwide
Self-run national survey of council trust
Around 5,000 participants nationwide responded; the article reports early no-confidence indicators including 89.4% agreeing council wastes money and 85.2% saying council does not represent them. Self-compiled advocacy…
China's top political advisory body — a CPC-led consultative institution comprising ~3,000 delegates. Scholars characterise it as a 'flower vase' operating under 'bounded articulation': members can propose within preset CPC limits but cannot challenge the structure of authority. Included here as a documented example of managed consultation, and where it fails the good-faith accountability test.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 1945
Flagship conference
The Political Consultative Conference was established in 1945 as part of peace negotiations between the Kuomintang and the CCP.
A pan-African community of practice and action-learning network based at Wits University in Johannesburg — connecting civic-tech practitioners, maintaining the African Civic Tech Atlas, co-managing the AU Civic Tech Fund, and running the annual Civic Tech Innovation Forum.
Last major event★ Major
28 Oct 2024 – 31 Oct 2024
Flagship annual conference
The 2024 edition of CTIN's annual flagship conference, themed "#UnderTheHood" and exploring the interconnectedness of community, technology, and self (per this page's body text).
Israel's largest civic movement (400,000+ supporters) defending rule of law, democratic participation, and fighting corruption — founded independent media outlet DemocraTV, and led mass protests against the 2023 judicial overhaul.
Last major event★ Major
1 Feb 2016
Relaunch as a standing movement
Month-only date estimate ("early 2016" per source; the source article is dated Summer 2016). First-person account by then-Darkenu leader Polly Bronstein, published in Fathom Journal. Distinct from the 2002 OneVoice…
An open-source participatory democracy framework used by 400+ governments and organisations worldwide — citizen proposals, participatory budgeting, consultations, and collaborative legislation.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2019
Decidim Association formed — Barcelona transfers trademark and code to community governance
Founding of the organisation
the community formally established Decidim Association in 2019 and City Council of Barcelona gave control of the Decidim trademark and code base to Decidim Association.
A Brazilian deliberative democracy organisation that designs and runs citizens' assemblies and minipublics using sortition — operating climate assemblies in the Amazon, minipublics in São Paulo's periphery, and theatre-based follow-up to turn assembly recommendations into policy.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2021
Climate Assemblies of Pará launched — citizen deliberation in the Amazon on climate policy
Platform/product launch
O município selecionado foi Bujaru, no Pará
A UK civic tech nonprofit building free, open data infrastructure for elections — candidate databases, polling place finders, and ward boundary data used by the BBC, The Guardian, and local councils.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2015
Founding of the organisation
crowdsourcing the most comprehensive and accurate database of candidates in recent electoral history
A German volunteer-run nonprofit that brings the Bundestag to citizens' smartphones — users can vote on live parliamentary procedures and compare their choices with how their actual representatives voted.
Last major event★ Major
1 Oct 2018
Platform/product launch
Mit der App DEMOCRACY startet am 1. Oktober die bundesweit erste App, mit der sich Bürgerinnen und Bürger einen Echtzeit-Einblick in die Gesetzesfindung des Deutschen Bundestages verschaffen können.
An open-source civic technology foundation building quadratic voting and sovereign identity tools — aiming to make democratic participation internet-native and censorship-resistant.
Last major event★ Major
10 Sep 2017
Released "The Social Smart Contract" white paper, detailing its Sovereign blockchain voting platform
Platform/product launch
Sovereign is Democracy Earth's open-source blockchain voting/identity platform, still referenced on the org's own page today. Coverage at the time also appeared in New Scientist and Futurism per the same press release.
An internet project dedicated to research and design of innovative decision-making methods, best known for a curated list of e-democracy and e-voting projects that remains maintained.
No dated events recorded yet.
Australia's first national racial justice advocacy organisation led by people of colour, campaigning to address structural racism in Australian political, media, and civic institutions and to build the political power of communities of colour.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jul 2017
Platform/product launch
a new advocacy organization was launched in Canberra to fight structural racism in Australia. Democracy in Colour is led and directed by people of color
A Cologne-based NGO advocating for direct democracy and citizen participation globally — organises the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy and supports reform campaigns worldwide.
Next event★ Major
7 Oct 2026 – 10 Oct 2026
2026 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy — Gaborone, Botswana
Flagship conference/summit
In 2026, the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy heads to Southern Africa for the first time.
An international research institute focused on the theory and practice of sortition-based democracy — replacing elections with randomly selected assemblies as the primary decision-making mechanism.
Last major event★ Major
15 Sep 2022
DemocracyNext launched on the International Day of Democracy
Platform/product launch
The European Commission's CC-DEMOS community of practice promoted DemocracyNext's official launch on International Democracy Day 2022, with founder and CEO Claudia Chwalisz presenting the institute's early plans…
A curated database and research initiative mapping the global landscape of democratic innovation tools — tracking 200+ platforms across participatory, deliberative, and digital democracy.
Last major event
17 Mar 2024
Publishes "Democracy Technologies in Europe" report
Report on online participation, deliberation and voting in Europe, dated 17 March 2024 on the site.
An international NGO seated in Berlin promoting global democracy through institutional reform of the United Nations — coordinator of the campaigns for a UN Parliamentary Assembly and a UN World Citizens' Initiative.
Last major event★ Major
14 Nov 2019
Platform/product launch
The Campaign for the World Citizens’ Initiative was formally launched at a meeting opposite the UN’s headquarters in New York on Thursday, 14 November 2019.
An Adelaide-based deliberative democracy facilitation practice co-founded by Emily Jenke and Emma Fletcher, designing and delivering citizens' juries and deliberative panels for government and industry across Australia and internationally.
Last major event★ Major
11 Nov 2016
Facilitated the SA Nuclear Fuel Cycle Citizens' Jury on storing international nuclear waste
Landmark large-scale citizens' jury
Date is the article's publish date (the jury itself "has just concluded" at time of writing); described elsewhere on this page as the world's largest citizens' jury on nuclear waste storage at the time, involving 350…
A Seattle-based non-profit connecting skilled volunteers with civic technology projects — an open matchmaking platform for the civic tech movement, with 7,000+ volunteers and 300+ projects supported.
Last major event
10 Sep 2025
Reached 10,000 connected volunteers
Blog post announcing the milestone of 10,000 skilled volunteers connected to over 300 nonprofits and tech-for-good projects through the platform.
An influential open-source platform (2012–2017) for publishing proposals, hosting public debate, and collecting structured votes — used by the Argentine Senate and early vTaiwan.
No dated events recorded yet.
A French non-partisan association with over 10 years of democratic innovation work — experimenting with participatory tools, advising public bodies, and convening the French democratic innovation network.
Last major event★ Major
25 Apr 2019
France's Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat announced after the Gilets Citoyens' open letter
National citizens' climate assembly announced
Démocratie Ouverte helped create the Gilets Citoyens collective, whose open letter to the government called for a citizens' assembly drawn by lot; President Macron announced the Citizens' Climate Convention in response…
An Australian-operated, nonpartisan forum of process engineers, social architects, and philosophers exploring how technology, engineering, and social-systems design can improve democracy — running since December 2016. This is DOD's own site, so this entry is self-authored rather than third-party researched.
Last major event★ Major
15 Sep 2026 · 18:00
International Day of Democracy: democracy beyond the ballot box
Public panel co-hosted for International Day of Democracy
Panel at The Kelvin Club, Melbourne, on democratic practices beyond voting. Confirmed panel of four — Nicholas Gruen (CEO, Lateral Economics), Anitra Nelson (University of Melbourne), Godfrey Moase (co-founder…
A pan-European political movement founded by Yanis Varoufakis in 2016, calling for radical democratisation of EU institutions through transparency, a transnational constitutional assembly, and coordinated progressive politics across member states.
Last major event★ Major
26 May 2019
Contested European Parliament elections with a transnational list across multiple member states
First transnational EU election campaign
established an electoral list for the 2019 European Parliament elections
A Swedish democracy lab designing and implementing digital participatory processes — an official Decidim partner running citizens' assemblies, participatory budgets, and community organising training for municipalities and organisations across Sweden and the Nordics.
Last major event★ Major
9 Mar 2024 – 10 Mar 2024
Led Sweden's first national citizens' council on climate policy
First national citizens' council of its kind in Sweden
Translation: "On 9-10 March, Sweden's first national citizens' council on climate convenes." 60 randomly selected people from across the country deliberated on how Sweden should cut emissions in line with the Paris…
An open-source Australian app that lets citizens browse, read, and vote on bills before the Federal Parliament.
Last major event★ Major
24 Mar 2022
Flux, the party behind DigiPol, deregistered by the AEC — effective end of
Org deregistered / wound up
Flux was registered at a federal level from 2016, but it was de-registered in 2022 for failing to meet the increased requirement of 1500 members.
A Melbourne-based Australian charity campaigning for transparency, accountability and oversight over government and corporate use of personal data — founded in 2016 in response to Australia's mandatory telecommunications data retention scheme.
Last major event★ Major
11 Mar 2016
Founding of the organisation
In 2016, largely in response to the introduction of Australia's mandatory telecommunications data retention scheme, Digital Rights Watch was created at a meeting of representatives from Australian digital and human…
A Minnesota-based nonprofit (founded 1994) pioneering online civic participation — running neighbourhood discussion forums that connect residents directly with local elected officials.
No dated events recorded yet.
A Victorian network of worker-owned cooperatives focused on clean energy manufacturing and services — building a democratic economy as a response to both the ecological crisis and economic inequality.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2016
Became a worker-owned manufacturing co-op
In 2016, the network bought a hot water tank manufacturer in Morwell and began making their own tanks and solar hot water systems as the Earthworker Energy Manufacturing Co-operative.
The research and analysis division of the British media company The Economist Group — publisher of the annual Democracy Index, one of the two most widely cited global measures of democratic health alongside the V-Dem Democracy Indices.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2006
Publishes the first Democracy Index, assessing the state of democracy across the world
Major publication
The first Democracy Index report was published in 2006.
A Johannesburg-based independent non-profit supporting credible elections and strong democratic institutions across Africa — conducting election observation, technical assistance, and governance programming in 16+ African countries since 1996.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 1996
Founded as the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, Johannesburg
Founding of the organisation
founded in 1996 in Johannesburg
The UK's oldest and largest electoral reform organisation (founded 1884), campaigning for proportional representation, citizens' assemblies, and democratic renewal.
Last major event★ Major
5 May 2011
Referendum campaign/result
principal funder of the YES! To Fairer Votes campaign
An Australian campaign initiated by Pirate Party Australia calling for a formal Royal Commission into electoral and voting reform — the dedicated site now redirects to the Pirate Party.
No dated events recorded yet.
Australia's longest-running digital rights organisation, established in 1994 — a volunteer-run non-profit advocating for privacy, free expression and civil liberties online through parliamentary submissions, regulatory complaints and public campaigns.
Last major event★ Major
19 Nov 2024
Facial recognition complaint EFA co-lodged led to a finding that Bunnings breached the Privacy Act
Landmark legal/court win
EFA and other privacy organisations lodged complaints with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner regarding the use of facial recognition technology by major Australian retailers. Following an…
An independent Chilean think tank working on democracy and anti-corruption, innovation and ICT, diversity and human rights, and urban policy — named among the '100 Think Tanks to Watch 2025'.
Last major event● Notable
29 Oct 2025
International peer recognition
Translation: "Espacio Público was included among the 100 Think Tanks to Watch 2025, an On Think Tanks initiative that highlights research centres worldwide for their innovation, collaboration and impact." The page…
A Canadian collective intelligence platform used by 100+ municipalities and the Government of Canada — surfaces the least polarising, most broadly supported outcomes from large group consultations.
Last major event
1 Mar 2025
Selected to power California's Engaged California digital democracy initiative
Ethelo was selected after a global search to power the State of California's Engaged California program; its first engagement, the LA Wildfire Recovery exercise, ran from March to May 2025.
An independent Australian media-literacy outlet founded by journalists Jan Fran and Antoinette Lattouf, teaching audiences to spot spin, unpack headlines, and identify the commercial and political interests behind news coverage — via its podcast 'We Used to be Journos' and multi-platform content.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jun 2025
Platform/product launch
In 2025, Fran started a company with Antoinette Lattouf "Ette Media". The pair launched a podcast "We used to be Journos".
A US electoral-reform advocacy organisation founded in 1992, campaigning for ranked-choice voting and proportional representation — the national driving force behind RCV adoption in American elections.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jun 1992
Founded at a Cincinnati conference as Citizens for Proportional Representation
Flagship conference
to organize a Cincinnati conference in June 1992 and launch the new organization
An anti-corruption and pro-democracy organisation founded by Alexei Navalny — producing high-profile investigations of Kremlin-linked corruption, now operating in exile after being designated 'extremist' (2021) and 'terrorist' (November 2025) by Russian authorities. Led by Yulia Navalnaya following Navalny's death in prison in February 2024.
Last major event★ Major
27 Nov 2025
Harshest legal designation escalation against the organisation
The ruling targeted Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), Inc., the US-registered successor entity to the original Russia-based FBK (declared an "undesirable organization" in 2021). Escalates a years-long designation…
An independent, nonpartisan federation advancing deliberative democratic culture across Europe and North America — training practitioners, designing citizens' assemblies for governments from municipal to international level, and evaluating process quality.
Next event
9 Oct 2026
Online webinar: what the next €2 trillion EU budget means for civil society and local governments
Year inferred from page context (a current/recent FIDE news post); not stated explicitly alongside the day/month on the page.
The Cuban chapter of the Latin American Social Sciences Faculty (FLACSO), based at the University of Havana — one of the few academic bodies in Cuba publishing empirical research on Cuba's Poder Popular governance system, electoral participation, and local government reform.
Last major event
1 Jan 1994
Begins teaching the Master's in Social Development (Maestría en Desarrollo Social)
The FLACSO-Cuba journal article states: "FLACSO-Cuba imparte dos maestrías, Desarrollo Social (1994) y Gestión y Desarrollo de Cooperativas (2000)..." ("FLACSO-Cuba teaches two master's programmes, Social Development…
An Australian political party that uses Issue-Based Direct Democracy (IBDD) to let constituents direct how elected representatives vote in parliament.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2016
Founding of the organisation
Flux parties were registered
A Melbourne-based, nonpartisan not-for-profit forum that runs small-group "Folio Conversations" — structured public dialogue between diverse citizens and invited expert "Conversation Leaders" on issues of civic and democratic concern — under the explicit mission "Democracy evolves one conversation at a time."
Next event● Notable
24 Sep 2026 · 21:00
Should we celebrate democracy today — or reimagine it for tomorrow?
Global dialogue marking International Day of Democracy
we’re joined by Lisa Witter and Josh Lerner, two leading democratic innovators whose work traverses continents and the democratic ecosystem, from communities to public servants and elected representatives
A long-established Colombian civil society foundation working on citizen participation, peace accord implementation monitoring, and extractive industry governance — publishes Revista Foro (edition 118), runs anti-vote-wasting campaigns, and operates regional chapters in Bogotá and Cali.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 1982
Founding of the organisation
creada en 1982
A Bolivian research foundation led by Pablo Solón — former government minister and UN ambassador under Morales — developing Vivir Bien (Buen Vivir) as a substantive governance theory, and studying how plurinational constitutional design functions in practice.
Last major event
11 Dec 2015
Executive director Pablo Solón speaks at COP21 against the Paris agreement
Pablo Solon, former chief climate negotiator for Bolivia and current Executive Director of the Fundacion Solon, said: “The Paris agreement will force us to choose who of our children will survive, because in a +3C…
A Polish foundation working across citizen participation, social innovation, and research — ran Poland's first citizens' assembly (on energy costs) and hosts the country's leading participation practitioners' forum.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2022
Ran Poland's first National Citizens' Panel, on energy poverty
First national citizens' panel of its kind in Poland
Translation: "In 2022, Fundacja Stocznia carried out the Citizens' Deliberation on Energy Costs project. It was a nationwide process aimed at joint reflection on the problem of energy poverty in our country. ... The…
An Australian political party formed in 2021 from the merger of five minor parties (Science, Pirate, Secular, Vote Planet, Climate Change Justice), retaining them as semi-autonomous internal branches. Platform includes political donation disclosure, an anti-corruption commission, whistleblower protections, and lowering the voting age to 16.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2021
Merger of organisations
was formed in 2021 following the passing of the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Party Registration Integrity) Bill 2021
A Taiwanese civic tech community that forks government websites and services to make them more open, usable, and participatory — best known internationally for co-developing the vTaiwan deliberation platform.
Last major event★ Major
1 Dec 2012
First hackathon (Hackath0n) at Academia Sinica — launches the g0v community
Founding hackathon
driven by a bimonthly hackathon
A Belgian civic innovation initiative that pioneered large-scale citizens' assemblies, bringing together randomly selected citizens to deliberate on complex public issues.
Last major event★ Major
1 Feb 2019
Platform/product launch
This initiative, launched after a petition by Cap Démocratie, marked a first for Wallonia, where citizens and politicians worked together as equals.
An Austrian open democracy party founded by actor and political activist Roland Düringer, arguing that representative democracy as currently practised is broken and proposing citizen-led alternatives.
Last major event
1 Jan 2020
Wins 14.23% and three seats in the Koblach municipal election
G!LT erreichte dort auf Anhieb 14,23 % der Wählerstimmen und 3 Mandate.
Russia's only independent nationwide election-monitoring organisation for 25 years — training observers, documenting electoral violations, and operating a public 'Map of Violations' platform. Dissolved in July 2025 after its co-chair was convicted under foreign agent legislation.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2000
Founded as an independent election monitoring organisation in Russia
Founding of the organisation
GOLOS was founded as an association of non-profit organizations in 2000 to support civil monitoring of elections.
A pan-African civil society organisation founded in 1992 on Gorée Island, Senegal — working on political governance and electoral processes, peace consolidation, and democratic dialogue across West Africa, with diplomatic status and a nearly 35-year institutional track record.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 1992
Founded on Gorée Island, Senegal, as a Centre for Democracy, Development and Culture in Africa
Founding of the organisation
was founded on 25 June 1992
A non-partisan regional platform working at the intersection of democratic governance, elections, digital innovation, and policy reform across all 55 AU member states — active through 2026 with programmes on civic empowerment, electoral integrity, and digital democracy.
Last major event
22 Apr 2026
Formalises strategic partnership with Youth Agenda on youth participation in governance
Announced in the site's news section. The page is a JS-rendered SPA that plain fetches can't read, so this quote is verified against a manually saved browser snapshot (util/import_manual_dump.py) rather than a live…
A Melbourne-based public policy think tank with a democracy and governance program — producing research on electoral integrity, parliamentary reform, campaign finance, and trust in government. Not democracy-specialist; covers a broad range of policy areas.
Last major event★ Major
8 Jan 2024
Leadership transition
Aruna Sathanapally has been appointed CEO of Australia’s leading public policy think tank, Grattan Institute
A US non-profit that designs and runs Citizens' Initiative Reviews — structured deliberative processes where randomly selected citizens evaluate ballot measures and publish findings for the wider electorate.
Last major event★ Major
21 Jul 2011
Legislative win
In 2011, Oregon state legislators sponsored House Bill 2634 which made the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) process an official and permanent part of Oregon’s elections
An independent public policy think tank based at AUT Auckland — one of four research streams is 'public policy, governance and the future of democracy,' publishing major work on democratic reform ahead of the 2026 New Zealand general election.
Next event
29 Sep 2026
Playing the Long Game: public webinar with Simon Bridges on durable policy-making
Playing the Long Game is a new webinar series from the Helen Clark Foundation bringing together some of New Zealand's most experienced political, economic, and public-sector leaders to ask: how do we build policy that…
A Washington DC-based organisation advocating for the restoration of democratic governance in Hong Kong — specifically the election-based accountability system promised under One Country, Two Systems, which was effectively dismantled following the 2020 National Security Law.
Last major event
1 Jan 2021
Sponsors the first humanitarian parole visas for Hong Kong protesters
In January 2021, HKDC assisted in the rescue of five Hong Kong protesters, aged 18–26 who fled by boat to Taiwan in July 2020 soon after the national security law was imposed, by sponsoring the first set of humanitarian…
An Australian blockchain voting platform bringing secure, transparent digital voting to governments and organisations. Collapsed in 2019 under legal costs, was bought out by its community, and relaunched — relaunching its token in 2024 and currently offering managed elections.
Last major event★ Major
1 Nov 2019
Returned under new management after a community group purchased the platform's IP assets
Revived under new ownership after shutdown
Originally published at horizonstate.com/hst-faq/ — domain since parked.
A diaspora research institute focused specifically on constitutional frameworks and transition planning for democratic governance in China — studying separation of powers, institutional design, and comparative lessons from democratic transitions elsewhere.
Last major event
1 Jan 2023
Launches the China Journal of Democracy
Since its launch in January 2023, the journal has quickly become the flagship publication for pro-democracy Chinese intellectuals.
A Brazilian regional platform for political innovation and imagination in the Global South — connecting, strengthening, and producing knowledge to expand political participation, especially for Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ women.
Last major event★ Major
22 May 2025 – 25 May 2025
First edition of the flagship Conecta Latinas gathering
Translation: "From this Thursday, 22 May, until Sunday, 25 May, Recife will host Conecta Latinas, an international gathering bringing together approximately 200 Black, Indigenous and LGBTQIA+ women from more than 20…
An intergovernmental organisation supporting the sustainability of democratic institutions worldwide — providing comparative data, policy analysis, and technical assistance on elections, constitutions, and democratic governance.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2006
Platform/product launch
The Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Initiative was launched in 2016
A Delhi-based digital rights advocacy organisation defending civil liberties in Indian democracy — challenging internet shutdowns, surveillance, and data protection failures through litigation, policy engagement, and civic literacy since 2016.
Last major event★ Major
26 May 2021
Successfully challenged India's IT Rules 2021 in court, securing key digital rights protections
Landmark legal/court win
challenges to the IT Rules, 2021
A UK charity that develops and promotes public participation and deliberative democracy, advising governments on how to design and run genuine engagement processes.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2020
Ran Climate Assembly UK for six House of Commons select committees
Ran UK Parliament's Climate Assembly
Members met in central Birmingham from January to March 2020 and then online; outcomes were presented to the select committees in a report in September 2020.
Israel's leading nonpartisan democracy research institute — publishing annual Israeli Democracy Index, researching electoral reform, parliamentary oversight, judicial independence, civil service reform, and anti-corruption mechanisms since 1991.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2003
Major publication
A 2022 IDI article marking the Index's 20th anniversary, placing its first edition in 2003 — corrected from a previously misdated 1995 entry that had been citing unrelated Wikipedia text about the Institute (not the…
A Brazilian research institute studying the impact and future of technology on society — with a dedicated 'Democracy and Technology' research track running projects on AI's role in elections, digital policy deliberation, and algorithmic governance.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2013
Founding of the organisation
In 2013, he founded the Institute for Technology and Society of Rio (ITS Rio), dedicated to studying the impact and future of technology in Brazil and worldwide.
A Bangalore-based organisation working on urban civic participation and local government reform in India — connecting citizens to municipal processes through ward-level engagement, civic technology, and the I Change My City platform since 2001.
Last major event★ Major
22 Jul 2012
Flagship civic-tech platform launch
Exact launch date (22 July 2012) per earlier web-search corroboration; the org's own page confirms only the year. ICMyC went on to underpin the Swachhata Technology Platform, later adopted by India's Ministry of Housing…
Taiwan's official government-run public policy participation platform, launched 2015 by the National Development Council with assistance from Digital Minister Audrey Tang's office — the state's own successor to vTaiwan, reaching a broader public than vTaiwan's digital-policy remit ever did.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2015
Launched by Taiwan's National Development Council following a February 2015 Executive Yuan directive
Platform/product launch
was launched under the sponsorship of the National Development Council. The website has made it possible for citizens to submit a policy proposal to the government via the Internet.
The world's largest argument-mapping and structured deliberation platform — uses a debate-tree format to organise pros, cons, and sub-arguments. Proprietary and free to use, with a separate education product.
Last major event★ Major
1 Aug 2017
Founded by Errikos Pitsos as a structured debate and argument-mapping platform
Founding of the organisation
was founded by German-born entrepreneur and London School of Economics and Political Science graduate Errikos Pitsos
The women's governance organisation of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria — maintaining parallel governance structures at every level of the AANES system, from commune to canton, as a structural check on all decision-making.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2005
Founding of the organisation
Kongra Star (Kurdish for Star Congress), founded in 2005
An Italian association pioneering 'shared administration' (amministrazione condivisa) — a legal and practical framework for citizen-government collaboration pacts to manage common goods, adopted by hundreds of Italian cities.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2005
Founded in Rome as the Laboratory for Subsidiarity, pioneering shared administration in Italy
Founding of the organisation
Il Progetto Labsus, il Laboratorio per la sussidiarietà, ha un obiettivo ben preciso
An independent Australian podcast, newsletter, and YouTube show launched in 2025 by journalists Osman Faruqi and Scott Mitchell, examining the collapse of trust in Australian legacy media — ownership consolidation, political interference in newsrooms, and whether independent and influencer-driven media can fill the gap.
Last major event★ Major
6 Feb 2026
Published an Epstein Files investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's advisory role in Mongolia
Original investigative journalism naming a former PM
Part of a multi-part investigation (with a companion piece on a 2013 dinner between Epstein and Ehud Barak); also named former Australian PM Kevin Rudd as a fellow board member on Epstein's Mongolia advisory board (Rudd…
An Australian policy economics consultancy led by Nicholas Gruen — advising on economic reform, innovation, and democratic governance, with a particular interest in how institutions can better incorporate citizens' knowledge and deliberation.
Last major event★ Major
1 Dec 2011
Published the Herald/Age–Lateral Economics (HALE) Index, correcting GDP for wellbeing
Flagship national wellbeing index
Month-only date estimate — the outputs listing page itself carries no publish date; per earlier web-search corroboration, the Final Report was published December 2011. A quarterly-updated national wellbeing index…
An independent Beirut-based think tank founded in 1989 producing policy research and advocacy on governance, political representation, decentralisation, and electoral reform in Lebanon and the Arab region.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 1989
Founded as an independent, non-partisan think tank in Beirut
Founding of the organisation
Founded in 1989, the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies is an independently managed, non-partisan, non-profit, non-governmental think tank whose mission is to produce and advocate for policies that improve governance in…
A Berlin-based non-profit developing open-source digital participation software — creators of Adhocracy and Adhocracy+, and operators of meinBerlin, Berlin's official participatory platform.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2014
Commissioned to build Berlin's flagship participation platform
The org's annual reports record the Senate Chancellery commission in 2014; the project page dates meinBerlin "since 2014" and it launched for wider use in 2016-2017.
An open-source liquid democracy platform developed in Berlin — best known as the decision-making system used by the German Pirate Party, enabling delegated voting on policy initiatives.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2010
First political party adopts the platform
The Pirate Party Germany Berlin became the first political party to utilize the platform in January 2010 for a state party conference. LiquidFeedback assisted in the development of new statutes for the branch during…
A grassroots deliberative assembly in Lismore, NSW, set up by residents in the aftermath of the 2022 floods to practise participatory and deliberative democracy outside the formal political system.
Last major event
30 May 2025
Priorities included supporting local tiny house production, erecting 2022 flood-level signage, "Neighbourocracy" neighbourhood picnics explicitly modelled on Rojava's democratic communes, and a regular market stall…
A New Zealand worker cooperative building open-source collaborative decision-making software — used by cooperatives, NGOs, and local governments to run structured discussions, proposals, and votes.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2014
Raises $100,000 via crowdfunding for Loomio 1.0 release
Crowdfunded flagship 1.0 release
raised over $100,000 via a Crowdfunding
A global philanthropic organisation funding civic technology, digital rights, independent media, and government transparency — spun out of the Omidyar Network in 2018 with a focus on open and accountable governance.
Last major event★ Major
1 Oct 2018
Platform/product launch
Officially launched in recent weeks, Luminate aims to fund projects and organizations that can drive changes that fall into one of four categories: civic empowerment, data and digital rights, transparency and…
A youth-led, non-partisan campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age to 16 — won a Supreme Court ruling that the voting age of 18 breaches the Bill of Rights for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Last major event★ Major
21 Nov 2022
Landmark legal/court win
Supreme Court of New Zealand issued
A Canadian civic design firm specialising in citizens' assemblies, civic lotteries, and deliberative public engagement — with over 50 reference panels completed for governments and institutions across North America.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2007
Founding of the organisation
Since its founding in 2007, MASS has completed more than 200 major policy projects for governments and public agencies across Canada
A non-partisan New Zealand think tank applying foresight methods to long-term governance challenges — runs Project CivicsNZ (civic education, political agreements, government department strategies) and publishes on public sector governance and institutional design.
Next event
30 Sep 2026
which invites readers to consider a simple but important question: if you were Prime Minister and tasked with designing New Zealand’s machinery of government, what would it look like? Wendy will share her thoughts at…
A Bratislava-based media monitoring and democratic civic engagement organisation with 25+ years of experience — monitoring media integrity during elections, researching disinformation, and supporting democratic consolidation in post-authoritarian contexts.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jun 1998
Launched with NDI support to monitor Slovak media ahead of the 1998 parliamentary elections
Platform/product launch
We were launched with support from the US-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI)
Russia's best-known human rights and historical memory organisation — documenting Soviet-era repression and ongoing abuses for 35 years. Liquidated by Russian courts in December 2021 and designated 'extremist' in April 2026; continues operating in exile through its international chapters, including Germany.
Last major event★ Major
7 Oct 2022
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Ales Bialiatski and Center for Civil Liberties
Nobel Peace Prize
Memorial was one of the three laureates of that year's Nobel Peace Prize
A French association advocating for Majority Judgment voting — an alternative electoral method where voters grade each candidate rather than pick one, aimed at reducing strategic voting and better reflecting collective preferences.
Last major event★ Major
27 Jan 2022
Landmark legal/court win
MieuxVoter co-founder and president Chloé Ridel described the People's Primary as Majority Judgment's largest-ever political election; organisers credited MieuxVoter with making the method available. Ran 27-30 January…
An Australian civic technology platform and political party (2014–c.2019) that presented citizens with four structured policy destinations per issue — not yes/no polls — backed by a research and ethics pipeline designed to produce informed, non-ideological votes that constitutionally bound its Senate candidates.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2019
Australian party deregistered before the 2019 federal election, without electing any senators
Org deregistered / wound up
The Australian party deregistered around 2019; the movement and technology continued under a different structure.
An Australian deliberative democracy practice that designs and facilitates public deliberation processes — citizens' juries, panels, and assemblies — for governments and public institutions.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2022
Publishes Facilitating Deliberation — A Practical Guide, drawing on 39 deliberative processes
Major publication
Drawn from the authors’ experience delivering 39 deliberative engagement processes, the book is full of insider secrets, authentic lessons learned
A Colombian social innovation laboratory with global reach — transforming ideas into actions and apathy into social and environmental movements. Won the Schwab Foundation Award at the World Economic Forum (2026).
Last major event★ Major
20 Jan 2026
Major international recognition
Translation: "This is the organisation Movilizatorio, which received the Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Award 2026, one of the world's most important recognitions in social innovation and entrepreneurship…
Israel's main anti-corruption and rule-of-law watchdog — strategic litigation, Supreme Court petitions, and civic education since 1990. Has recovered billions in public funds and led legal challenges against the 2023 judicial overhaul.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2024
First-ever Israeli Supreme Court invalidation of a Basic Law amendment
MQG was the named petitioner. An 8-of-15-justice majority of Israel's High Court of Justice struck down the amendment (passed 26 July 2023) that had eliminated judicial review of the "patently unreasonable" doctrine for…
A UK civic technology charity that builds digital tools enabling citizens to hold governments accountable — including TheyWorkForYou, FixMyStreet, and WhatDoTheyKnow, deployed in over 40 countries.
Next event
28 Sep 2026
International Right to Know Day webinar with Aiden Clarkson (UK Information Commissioner's Office) and Christian Anker (Chile's Council for Transparency) on how regulators can help people use their right to information.
A Kenyan non-partisan parliamentary monitoring organisation ("Mzalendo" is Swahili for "patriot") running open-data tools that track MPs' voting records, committee work and constituency spending, plus annual scorecards on Parliament's performance.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2005
Founded in Nairobi as a non-partisan parliamentary monitoring organisation
Founding of the organisation
Mzalendo is a Kenyan non-partisan Parliamentary Monitoring Organization (PMO) started in 2005
The Philippines' independent citizen election watchdog — founded in 1983, widely regarded as the world's first citizen-led election monitoring organisation, with 250,000+ volunteers conducting parallel vote counts and election observation.
Last major event★ Major
7 Feb 1986
Mass protest/mobilisation
NAMFREL mobilized 500,000 volunteers nationwide
An independent, non-partisan Australian research and development organisation that designs and runs real-world deliberative democracy trials using randomly selected citizens.
Last major event★ Major
15 Sep 2026
Publication launch with UN agencies
newDemocracy announced that outgoing Executive Director Iain Walker would launch the handbook’s second edition at UN Headquarters on International Day of Democracy. The handbook itself was published on newDemocracy’s…
An Australian civic technology institute combining direct, deliberative, and representative democracy — empowering people on specific issues and surfacing the informed 'will of the people' to elected governments.
Last major event★ Major
24 Jul 2019
NewVote platform publicly launched
Platform/product launch
The University of Queensland Student Union is piloting and promoting the app with its 52,000 students, starting on 24 July 2019.
A Canadian provincial party (Ontario) that elects independent MPPs not bound by party discipline — advocating the 3Rs of direct democracy: Referendum, Recall, and Responsible Government laws.
Last major event
1 Jun 2018
Runs 42 candidates in the 2018 Ontario general election
The None of the Above Direct Democracy Party of Ontario had a 2018 candidate list filled up with 42 competent people that could effectively run the Ontario government.
An independent watchdog defending democratic rights and civil liberties in Aotearoa — active participant in New Zealand's Open Government Partnership civil society engagement, with a dense programme of parliamentary submissions on bills affecting democratic participation, freedom of expression, and protest rights.
Last major event
1 Jan 1982
Official Secrets Act 1951 repealed after 31 years of Council campaigning
Finally, after 31 years, the Official Secrets Act 1951 was repealed by the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA).
An Australian direct democracy electoral organisation that stood candidates on a platform of replacing the representative system with online direct citizen voting — the domain is now squatted.
Last major event★ Major
1 Dec 2020
Deregistered as a political party
Org deregistered / wound up
Online Direct Democracy – (Empowering the People!) was a registered Australian political party.
An Australian civic technology charity building tools that help citizens understand and engage with their parliament and government.
Last major event★ Major
21 Oct 2014
Launched They Vote For You, tracking Australian parliamentary voting records
Platform/product launch
today the OpenAustralia Foundation is launching a new site They Vote for You
Australia's participation in the international Open Government Partnership. Dormant after its second action plan (2018–20), participation was renewed with a third National Action Plan (2023–25) on transparency, anti-corruption, and technology in governance — now hosted by the Attorney-General's Department, with a fourth Open Government Forum appointed in 2026.
Last major event★ Major
15 Dec 2023
Major publication
The Australian Government worked with civil society to develop a Third National Action Plan (NAP3), which was published on 15 December 2023. It captures an ambitious plan for open government, transparency and…
A Brazilian organisation promoting open data, public transparency, civic technology, and open knowledge — flagship projects include Querido Diário (crowdsourcing municipal gazettes), the Open Data Index, Parlametria (Congress tracking), and Perfil Político (candidate profiles).
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2018
Absorbed an early, influential civic-tech project
Translation: "In 2018, Serenata came to be managed and monitored by Open Knowledge Brasil, the moment at which the Data Science for Civic Innovation Programme was created." Operação Serenata de Amor (an AI system…
The world's largest private funder of independent groups working for rights, equity, and justice — founded by George Soros in 1979, with grants, fellowships, and national foundations active across 100+ countries.
Last major event★ Major
1 Apr 1993
Founded by George Soros to support civil society, human rights, and democratic governance globally
Founding of the organisation
is an American grantmaking network founded by billionaire business magnate George Soros
Ukraine's leading non-partisan election observation organisation — monitoring elections since 2006, conducting parliamentary oversight, and co-founding the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE).
Last major event★ Major
21 Nov 2004
Deployed 1,000+ observers for Ukraine's presidential election, documenting
Large-scale election observation deployment
pro-democracy movements such as Pora! had created political networks throughout Ukraine, including 150 groups responsible for spreading information and coordinating election monitoring, 72 regional centers, and 30,000…
A North American nonprofit that has pioneered the spread of participatory budgeting in the US and Canada — helping governments, schools, and institutions engage over 740,000 people in directly deciding how to spend public funds.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2009
Founding of the organisation
Since 2009, PBP has collaborated with grassroots and government partners to launch PB processes in over 40 cities
A global open-access database and research platform cataloguing thousands of participatory democracy cases, methods, and organisations from around the world.
Last major event★ Major
1 Sep 2009
Platform/product launch
In September 2009, Fung launched Participedia, a website developed with Mark Warren of the University of British Columbia, aimed at strengthening democracy with its user-generated library of examples and methods of…
An Australian participatory democracy platform and political party of independents allowing citizens to vote on, create, and contribute to national laws and local government decisions online.
No dated events recorded yet.
A global hub for participatory democracy — connecting government practitioners, researchers, and advocates through mentorship, training, accelerator programmes, and a resource centre. Serves as a membership organisation for the participatory democracy field worldwide.
Next event
21 Sep 2026 – 23 Sep 2026
The International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (OIDP) will return for its 25th annual conference in Kraków from 21–23 September 2026
A US civic technology project focused on restoring political accountability through structured many-to-many communication between citizens and representatives.
No dated events recorded yet.
An Indonesian independent nonprofit founded in 2005 — a leading civil society voice on electoral integrity, democratic reform, and electoral system design in the world's third-largest democracy.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2005
Founding of the organisation
para mantan Pengawas Pemilu 2004 berhimpun dalam wadah yang bernama Perkumpulan untuk Pemilu dan Demokrasi
An Australian political party focused on digital rights, civil liberties, and democratic reform, including initiating the Electoral Royal Commission campaign to investigate Australian voting reform. Deregistered as an independent AEC-registered party in 2021 and now runs as a distinct internal grouping within the Fusion Party — retaining its own membership and infrastructure, with its members also counted as Fusion Party members for electoral registration.
Last major event★ Major
28 Apr 2021
Structural change in registration status
See this page's own "Note on status" for the full picture — PPAU continued as a distinct internal grouping within Fusion (separate membership, infrastructure, and activity) rather than dissolving.
A Cape Town information service that has minuted every open committee meeting of South Africa's Parliament since 1998 — the only public record of the proceedings where most legislation is actually shaped.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jul 2009
Became a fully independent NGO, separating from its founding partners
Became a fully independent NGO
PMG became a fully fledged independent NGO in July 2009.
An open-source consensus mapping platform used in large-scale public deliberations — participants rate statements rather than debating, and machine learning surfaces the points of genuine agreement across thousands of respondents.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jun 2014
First large-scale government deployment (vTaiwan)
pol.is has been "one of the key parts" of vTaiwan
An Austrian prediction market platform that aggregates collective intelligence on political and policy questions — users make structured predictions with reasons, and the system surfaces the informed consensus.
Last major event
17 Feb 2017
The prediction error on Prediki’s platform wahlfieber.com for example, only amounted to 1.87 percentage points, the average error of all German political stock markets came to an excellent 2.65 percentage points.
A New Delhi-based independent legislative research institute supporting parliamentarians and informing citizens — tracking bills, budgets, and MP activity for India's Parliament and state legislatures since 2005.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2005
Founded to track parliamentary activity and strengthen legislative debate in India
Founding of the organisation
was established in September 2005 as an independent research institute
Australia's oldest electoral reform organisation, advocating for proportional representation via the Single Transferable Vote — the system already used in Tasmania, the ACT, and the Australian Senate.
Next event★ Major
12 Nov 2026
Structural vote: org rename + remit change
A major South Korean civil society organisation founded in 1994 — a pillar of Korean democratic accountability with ~13,000 members, monitoring the judiciary, legislature, and executive, and driving public-interest law, economic justice, and peace advocacy.
Last major event★ Major
10 Sep 1994
Founded with ~200 members in Seoul as People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy
Founding of the organisation
was established on 10 September 1994 with around 200 members
A US-founded international nonprofit and movement advancing 'Plurality' — mechanisms like quadratic voting and quadratic funding that aim to make democratic and economic participation more expressive than one-person-one-vote. National-scale adoption in Taiwan and Japan's Team Mirai; a Melbourne chapter is forming as of August 2026.
Last major event★ Major
27 Aug 2026 · 18:00
Melbourne chapter launch event — first Australian RadicalxChange chapter
First chapter launch
We are also excited to introduce you to the founding members of the new RadicalxChange Melbourne chapter
A formal Australian advisory body (2016–17) tasked with consulting on constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples — its process produced the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Last major event★ Major
30 Jun 2017
Final Report published, incorporating the Uluru Statement
Major publication
The Final Report of the Referendum Council was published on 30 June 2017, and sent to the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and the leader of the opposition, Bill Shorten
America's largest grassroots anti-corruption organisation, co-founded in 2012, winning state and local reforms on ranked-choice voting, independent redistricting, campaign finance, and lobbying rules across partisan lines.
Last major event★ Major
8 Nov 2016
Maine Question 5 established ranked-choice voting for all statewide elections
Founding of the organisation
it established ranked choice voting with its 2016 Maine Question 5 for all statewide elections
Rwanda's government body for governance research and oversight — publishing annual governance scorecards, studying decentralisation and citizen participation, and administering the Ubudehe community classification system. Included for its governance design research, not as an independent watchdog of the Kagame government.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2011
Merger of organisations
Merger fact confirmed by ICNL's Civic Freedom Monitor, but there's a genuine date discrepancy worth flagging: RGB's own official About page (rgb.rw/1/about-rgb, checked 2026-08-12) cites its establishing law as…
An Australian blockchain voting platform providing secure, scalable, and anonymous digital voting for governments, organisations, and token-based ecosystems. Now defunct — domain squatted.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2018
Major partnership deal with Silicon Valley startup
A deal with Silicon Valley start-up Swarm Fund is a big win for an Australian firm working to revolutionise the democratic process using blockchain
The Finnish Innovation Fund — a public foundation under parliamentary supervision with a dedicated Democracy work track that renews democracy and strengthens citizen engagement through democratic innovations and technologies.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 1967
Founding of the organisation
Sitra was founded in 1967 as a part of the Bank of Finland
A Norwegian social innovation platform that initiates, coordinates, and drives collaborative projects for sustainable societal development — including Norway's first civil-society-initiated national citizens' assemblies on the use of national wealth and sustainable consumption.
Last major event★ Major
10 Aug 2026 – 13 Aug 2026
Flagship conference/summit
Om du er interessert i grønn omstilling, hvordan få til samarbeid, skogbevaring, grønnvasking, OsloFjorden eller inkludering i idrett - det finnes et arrangement for deg på Arendalsuka
The Australian chapter of the UK-based Sortition Foundation, running monthly community meetings and providing sortition recruitment services for Australian democratic processes — including Victorian council deliberations, federal electorate pilots, and national citizen assemblies.
Last major event★ Major
21 Feb 2025
Ground-breaking national sortition assembly
Selected 120 participants (from 36,000 mailed invitations) across 11 demographic categories for the AMPLIFY National Housing Assembly deliberating 21-23 February 2025 in Sydney.
A UK-based organisation advocating for sortition (random selection) in democratic institutions — running the sortition process for European Citizens' Panels, campaigning to replace the UK House of Lords with a citizens' chamber, and building an open-source lottery platform.
Last major event★ Major
4 Mar 2017
Founding of the organisation
on 4 March 2017 we registered as a member-run, not-for-profit company limited by guarantee in the UK.
A non-partisan Australian foundation working across all sides of politics to find common ground and practical pathways on major national challenges, with a focus on democratic and public sector reform. Rebranded from Susan McKinnon Foundation to McKinnon in 2025.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2025
Rebranded from Susan McKinnon Foundation to McKinnon
Rebrand
Archived homepage banner announcing the rebrand — snapshot dated 31 May 2025, so the change happened in the first half of that year. The live site has since removed the banner, and the foundation's ACNC registration…
A Japanese political party founded in 2025 by AI engineer Takahiro Anno, advocating e-democracy and digital democracy — using technology platforms to enable direct citizen input into legislative processes. Won 1 Upper House seat in 2025 and 11 Lower House seats in the February 2026 general election.
Last major event★ Major
8 Feb 2026
Wins 11 seats in House of Representatives with 3.8 million votes (~6.9%)
Election result
securing 11 seats in the House of Representatives
The civilian governance coordination body of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES/Rojava) — an umbrella of communal councils, civil society organisations, and professional bodies implementing democratic confederalism in an active conflict zone.
Last major event★ Major
17 Mar 2016
Announced the establishment of the Democratic Federal System of Rojava/Northern Syria
Formal declaration establishing the federal governance system
A revised Social Contract for the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria was issued the same year, superseding the original 2014 Charter of the Autonomous Regions of Afrin, Jazeera, and Kobane; the system was revised…
Converts Australian parliamentary voting records into plain-English histories for every MP and Senator, run by the OpenAustralia Foundation.
Last major event★ Major
23 Mar 2022
Defended editorial independence against a legal threat from a sitting Senator
Published despite the letter's "confidential" marking, after Bragg's lawyer threatened action under the Australian Consumer Law for "misleading and deceptive conduct" over how the site characterised his voting record…
The New Zealand chapter of the global anti-corruption coalition — running the National Integrity System assessment, campaigning for lobbying transparency, political donation reform, limits on parliamentary urgency, and beneficial ownership registers.
Next event● Notable
28 Sep 2026
Research launch marking International Access to Information Day
Marks International Access to Information Day; researchers present findings on environmental information access in Fiji and Solomon Islands.
The Colombian chapter of Transparency International — running the Monitor Ciudadano de la Corrupción (open data and analytics platform), tracking electoral campaign financing in real time, and working across all 32 departments on corruption prevention and democratic integrity.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 1998
Founded as the Colombian chapter of Transparency International, working across all 32 departments
Founding of the organisation
Transparencia por Colombia, la Delegación Nacional de Transparencia Internacional en Colombia, surge en 1998
A Kenyan-founded nonprofit (2008) that builds open-source crowdsourcing and crisis-mapping tools — originally created to map post-election violence in Kenya, now used for election monitoring, human rights documentation, and civic reporting worldwide.
Last major event★ Major
12 Jan 2010
Platform/product launch
in response to the Haiti Earthquake in 2010
An independent research institute at the University of Gothenburg that conceptualises and measures democracy worldwide — home to the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) dataset and its annual Democracy Report tracking global democratic and autocratic trends.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2014
Founding of the organisation
The V-Dem Institute (an abbreviation of Varieties of Democracy Institute), founded by Staffan I. Lindberg in 2014, is an independent research institute that serves as the headquarters of the V-Dem Project, a database…
Victoria's independent electoral authority, established under the Electoral Act 2002, which runs state and local council elections and maintains a public electoral misinformation register ahead of the November 2026 state election.
Next event● Notable
7 Oct 2026 · 12:15
Protecting Victoria's democracy
Electoral Commissioner on election integrity before the state poll
Free lunchtime panel at the University of Melbourne's Science Gallery Theatre, co-presented with the Melbourne Press Club. Bluemmel appears alongside University of Melbourne Professor of Political Communication Andrea…
Vietnam's constitutionally mandated consultative umbrella body — 50+ member organisations representing professional, religious, ethnic, and social groups — structurally analogous to China's CPPCC, operating under the Vietnamese Communist Party's single-party framework.
Last major event★ Major
1 Feb 1977
Founding of the organisation
was founded in February 1977 by the merger
An open-source election observation platform built by Code for Romania — allows accredited observers to submit real-time field reports from polling stations, replacing paper forms with structured mobile data collection.
No dated events recorded yet.
A Taiwanese open-consultation platform (launched 2015) that uses Pol.is-based deliberation to surface consensus on contested policy. Influential in its early phase but never legally mandated; now continues as a volunteer-driven civic lab as the state's participation efforts moved to other platforms.
Last major event★ Major
1 Aug 2015
First major deliberation, record turnout
Also confirmed on the same page — "925 participants voted on Polis survey (opinion stage)".
The Nordic region's leading deliberative democracy consultancy — designing, facilitating, and evaluating citizens' assemblies, participatory strategies, and democratic innovation for municipalities, governments, and organisations across Denmark, Norway, and the Nordics.
Next event
22 Sep 2026
Launch of recommendations from Citizens' Assembly on Future Tourism — Copenhagen
A Swiss civic-tech platform operated by the Stiftung für direkte Demokratie (Foundation for Direct Democracy) — helps citizens launch initiatives and referendums and collect digital signatures. 915,557 signatures gathered across 123 campaigns since 2015.
Last major event★ Major
1 Jan 2015
Launched by the Stiftung für direkte Demokratie as Switzerland's civic-tech
Platform/product launch
Seit dem Start 2015 haben wir über 800'000 Unterschriften gesammelt.
A UK political party founded in 2025, notable for using sortition (via the Sortition Foundation) to select delegates to its founding conference — producing a statistically representative membership sample balanced by gender, region, age, ethnicity, and other characteristics.
Last major event★ Major
29 Nov 2025 – 30 Nov 2025
Held its founding conference in Liverpool, using sortition to select delegates
Founding conference using novel sortition-based delegate selection
See this page's own "How they use sortition" section for the two-round Sortition Foundation delegate-selection process used to choose attendees for this conference.