Parliamentwatch
Encyclopedia
Parliamentwatch is an Internet portal that allows German
citizens to question their representatives in the German Parliament
publicly. The independent, nonpartisan site aims to increase transparency in government and deepen German democracy. Questions and answers are published, as well as the voting records of the deputies. Users of the site can contact representatives of the Bundestag
and German deputies of the European Parliament
. The sister project Candidatewatch (kandidatenwatch.de) offers similar communication with candidates for German federal and state elections.
and is run in cooperation with BonVenture
and the clubs Mehr Demokratie e.V. ("More Democracy") and Mehr Bürgerrechte ("More Citizens Rights"). The long-term goal is to finance both projects through fund-raising groups and online advertisements that can be hidden on demand.
Additional income comes from selling enhanced profiles to deputies and candidates.
Parlament GmbH is obliged to donate any excess funds to charitable organizations serving the public good. This commitment is defined in the organization's statutes.
Questions that violate the code are not activated and published, but the politician is informed about the incident. Beyond that, the project is strongly committed to neutrality and stays above party politics. In addition to general information about deputies, their voting behavior in issues that attract special public attention is documented.
The deputies of the Hamburger Bürgerschaft ("Hamburg Parliament") are already called "glassy" deputies.
abgeordnetenwatch.de:24 Stunden Bürgersprechstunde für alle Landesparlamente, 2. August 2007
; the project started in December 2004 for the Hamburgische Bürgerschaft
("Hamburg Parliament") after a successful referendum to reform and democratize the electoral system. The online dialog on abgeordnetenwatch.de enabled the citizens to get to know their politicians better and make a more qualified decision in the elections. After the election, the site made it possible to ask questions of members of Hamburg's Bezirksversammlungen ("Diets of the borough").
After the establishment of the city parliament that was elected in February 2008, the project was temporarily stopped until enough funding was provided. It was no longer possible to administer abgeordnetenwatch.de on a volunteer basis.
, Saxony-Anhalt
, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Berlin
, and Bremen
, it was also possible to question the candidates.
In Bremen, candidates of the Social Democratic Party
(Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) and The Left
(Die Linke) launched a boycott against the project because right-wing candidates had not been excluded.
However, the boycott was interrupted by Social Democrat Helga Ziegert, and Joachim Weihrauch from The Left enhanced his Parliamentwatch profile during the election.
The proceeds from profile enhancements contribute to the project's budget.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
citizens to question their representatives in the German Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
publicly. The independent, nonpartisan site aims to increase transparency in government and deepen German democracy. Questions and answers are published, as well as the voting records of the deputies. Users of the site can contact representatives of the Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
and German deputies of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. The sister project Candidatewatch (kandidatenwatch.de) offers similar communication with candidates for German federal and state elections.
abgeordnetenwatch.de
abgeordnetenwatch.de is a non-profit project of Parlamentwatch GmbH,and is run in cooperation with BonVenture
and the clubs Mehr Demokratie e.V. ("More Democracy") and Mehr Bürgerrechte ("More Citizens Rights"). The long-term goal is to finance both projects through fund-raising groups and online advertisements that can be hidden on demand.
Additional income comes from selling enhanced profiles to deputies and candidates.
Parlament GmbH is obliged to donate any excess funds to charitable organizations serving the public good. This commitment is defined in the organization's statutes.
Moderation
All questions are read by a team of moderators to make sure they are within the moderation code, which prohibits insulting statements, incitement, discrimination, questions concerning private life, and requests that are bound to discretion.Questions that violate the code are not activated and published, but the politician is informed about the incident. Beyond that, the project is strongly committed to neutrality and stays above party politics. In addition to general information about deputies, their voting behavior in issues that attract special public attention is documented.
The deputies of the Hamburger Bürgerschaft ("Hamburg Parliament") are already called "glassy" deputies.
Statistics
According to the site operators, 15,000 questions were posed on the site between December 2006 and August 2007, out of which 12,000—or 80 percent—were answered. Every day 10,000 visitors access the site.abgeordnetenwatch.de:24 Stunden Bürgersprechstunde für alle Landesparlamente, 2. August 2007
Media partnerships
The project has several media partnerships:- Der SpiegelDer SpiegelDer Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
- Süddeutsche ZeitungSüddeutsche ZeitungThe Süddeutsche Zeitung , published in Munich, is the largest German national subscription daily newspaper.-Profile:The title literally translates as "South German Newspaper". It is read throughout Germany by 1.1 million readers daily and boasts a relatively high circulation abroad...
- sternStern (magazine)Stern is a weekly news magazine published in Germany. It was founded in 1948 by Henri Nannen, and is currently published by Gruner + Jahr, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann. In the first quarter of 2006, its print run was 1.019 million copies and it reached 7.84 million readers according to...
- Die WeltDie WeltDie Welt is a German national daily newspaper published by the Axel Springer AG company.It was founded in Hamburg in 1946 by the British occupying forces, aiming to provide a "quality newspaper" modelled on The Times...
- Frankfurter RundschauFrankfurter RundschauThe Frankfurter Rundschau is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. It is published every day but Sunday as a city, two regional and one nationwide issues and offers an online edition as well as an e-paper...
- Der TagesspiegelDer TagesspiegelDer Tagesspiegel is a classical liberal German daily newspaper...
.
Awards
In 2005, the project was nominated for the Adolf-Grimme-Award and in 2007 it reached the final round.Landesparlamente
Due to abgeordnetenwatchs success in the German Bundestag, fundraising groups were established in August 2007 in order to make the site available for Germany's 16 Landesparlamente ("states"). Donations and sustaining members in each state enable the implementation of the project on the state level; each state's portal is activated once 90 days' advance financing is accrued.Hamburgische Bürgerschaft
abgeordnetenwatch.de is based in HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
; the project started in December 2004 for the Hamburgische Bürgerschaft
Hamburg Parliament
The Hamburg Parliament is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. As of 2011 there were 121 members in the parliament, representing a relatively equal amount of constituencies...
("Hamburg Parliament") after a successful referendum to reform and democratize the electoral system. The online dialog on abgeordnetenwatch.de enabled the citizens to get to know their politicians better and make a more qualified decision in the elections. After the election, the site made it possible to ask questions of members of Hamburg's Bezirksversammlungen ("Diets of the borough").
After the establishment of the city parliament that was elected in February 2008, the project was temporarily stopped until enough funding was provided. It was no longer possible to administer abgeordnetenwatch.de on a volunteer basis.
kandidatenwatch.de
The Parliamentwatch sister project kandidatenwatch.de ("Candidatewatch") enables German citizens to get in touch with candidates for federal and state elections. In the 2005 federal elections, it was possible to ask questions of all the candidates in electoral districts having direct elections. In addition, the site provided an overview of the platforms of all political parties that had direct candidates running for office.Controversy
During the 2007 election campaigns in the German states of Rheinland-Pfalz, Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and Bremen
Bremen (state)
The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is the smallest of Germany's 16 states. A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen .-Geography:...
, it was also possible to question the candidates.
In Bremen, candidates of the Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
(Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) and The Left
The Left (Germany)
The Left , also commonly referred to as the Left Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The Left is the most left-wing party of the five represented in the Bundestag....
(Die Linke) launched a boycott against the project because right-wing candidates had not been excluded.
However, the boycott was interrupted by Social Democrat Helga Ziegert, and Joachim Weihrauch from The Left enhanced his Parliamentwatch profile during the election.
Profile enhancements
The site publishes basic information about each candidate at no cost. For a €100 ($127)Conversion rate as of 9 September 2010 fee, candidates can add a photo and web link, announce specific dates and events regarding election campaigns, and publish a résumé of their political work and goals.The proceeds from profile enhancements contribute to the project's budget.