# Designing Open Democracy — Democracy Landscape

> A reference wiki monitoring organisations working on democratic governance design
> worldwide. Covers deliberative democracy, sortition, participatory democracy,
> civic technology, cooperative governance, and related fields.
>
> Site: http://designingopendemocracy.com
> Curation standard: organisations that work on governance systems for/with the
> people, in good faith. Not a human rights observatory — focus is governance design.

---

## Active Organisations (91)

Format: **Name** (Country · Type) — Summary  [/organisations/slug/]

- **888 Co-operative Causeway** (AU · cooperative) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/888-cooperative-causeway/]
- **À Nous La Démocratie!** (FR · political_movement) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/a-nous-la-democratie/]
- **Accountability Round Table** (AU · advocacy) — A non-partisan Australian group of citizens — academics, lawyers, politicians, journalists — working to improve standards of accountability, transparency, and democratic integrity in Australian governments.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/accountability-round-table/]
- **Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)** (IN · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/adr-india/]
- **Afrobarometer** (GH · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/afrobarometer/]
- **AMAN – Coalition for Accountability and Integrity** (PS · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/aman-palestine/]
- **The Australia Institute — Democracy & Accountability Program** (AU · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/australia-institute-democracy/]
- **Australian Democracy Network** (AU · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/australian-democracy-network/]
- **Australian Democrats** (AU · party) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/australian-democrats/]
- **BERSIH 2.0** (MY · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/bersih/]
- **br/acc (World Transparency Graph)** (BR · civic_tech) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/br-acc/]
- **Build a Ballot** (AU · civic_tech) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/build-a-ballot/]
- **Citizen Assemblies for South Australia (CAfSA)** (AU · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/cafsa/]
- **Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy (CAPaD)** (AU · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/capad/]
- **Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD West Africa)** (NG · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/cdd-west-africa/]
- **Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance (CDDGG)** (AU · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/cddgg/]
- **Centro Gumilla** (VE · research) — A Venezuelan Jesuit social research centre — independent, critically engaged with Bolivarian institutions, publishing on community council governance, political participation, and social policy since 1958. One of the few credible independent governance research bodies operating inside Venezuela.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/centro-gumilla/]
- **China Democratic League (CDL)** (CN · political_party) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/china-democratic-league/]
- **CIDECI-Unitierra** (MX · education) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/cideci-unitierra/]
- **Citizen OS** (EE · platform) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/citizen-os/]
- **Citizens Foundation** (IS · platform) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/citizens-foundation/]
- **Code for Australia** (AU · civic_tech) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/code-for-australia/]
- **Community Independents Project** (AU · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/community-independents-project/]
- **CONAIE (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador)** (EC · governance) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/conaie/]
- **Consul Democracy** (ES · platform) — An open-source e-participation platform originally developed by Madrid City Council, now stewarded by an independent foundation and used by ~350 governments worldwide.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/consul-democracy/]
- **Conversations at the Crossroads** (AU · advocacy) — An independent Melbourne-based civic network running deliberative democracy initiatives, including large-scale citizens assemblies and a national program to scale deliberative participation.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/conversations-at-the-crossroads/]
- **Co-operative Bonds** (AU · practice) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/cooperative-bonds/]
- **Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)** (CN · government) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/cppcc/]
- **Darkenu** (IL · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/darkenu/]
- **Decidim** (ES · platform) — An open-source participatory democracy framework used by 400+ governments and organisations worldwide — citizen proposals, participatory budgeting, consultations, and collaborative legislation.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/decidim/]
- **Democracy in Colour** (AU · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/democracy-in-colour/]
- **Democracy International** (DE · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/democracy-international/]
- **DemocracyNext** (EU · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/democracy-next/]
- **Democracy Technologies** (AT · research) — A curated database and research initiative mapping the global landscape of democratic innovation tools — tracking 200+ platforms across participatory, deliberative, and digital democracy.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/democracy-technologies/]
- **DemocracyCo** (AU · practice) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/democracyco/]
- **DemocracyLab** (US · civic_tech) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/democracylab/]
- **Démocratie Ouverte** (FR · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/democratie-ouverte/]
- **DiEM25** (EU · political_movement) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/diem25/]
- **Earthworker Cooperative** (AU · cooperative) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/earthworker-cooperative/]
- **Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA)** (ZA · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/eisa/]
- **Ethelo** (CA · platform) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/ethelo/]
- **Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK)** (RU · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/fbk/]
- **FLACSO-Cuba** (CU · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/flacso-cuba/]
- **Fundación Solón** (BO · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/fundacion-solon/]
- **g0v (gov zero)** (TW · civic_tech) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/g0v/]
- **G1000** (BE · research) — A Belgian civic innovation initiative that pioneered large-scale citizens' assemblies, bringing together randomly selected citizens to deliberate on complex public issues.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/g1000/]
- **G!LT (Offene Demokratie)** (AT · party) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/gilt/]
- **Grattan Institute** (AU · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/grattan-institute/]
- **Healthy Democracy** (US · practice) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/healthy-democracy/]
- **Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC)** (CN · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/hkdc/]
- **Institute for China's Democratic Transition (ICDT)** (CN · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/icdt/]
- **International IDEA** (SE · research) — An intergovernmental organisation supporting the sustainability of democratic institutions worldwide — providing comparative data, policy analysis, and technical assistance on elections, constitutions, and democratic governance.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/international-idea/]
- **Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF)** (IN · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/internet-freedom-foundation/]
- **Involve** (UK · research) — A UK charity that develops and promotes public participation and deliberative democracy, advising governments on how to design and run genuine engagement processes.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/involve/]
- **Israel Democracy Institute (IDI)** (IL · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/israel-democracy-institute/]
- **Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy** (IN · civic_tech) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/janaagraha/]
- **Kialo** (US · platform) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/kialo/]
- **Kongra Star (Women's Congress)** (SY · governance) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/kongreya-star/]
- **Lateral Economics** (AU · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/lateral-economics/]
- **Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS)** (LB · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/lcps/]
- **Liquid Democracy e.V.** (DE · civic_tech) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/liquid-democracy-ev/]
- **Lismore People's Assembly** (AU · practice) — A grassroots deliberative assembly in Lismore, NSW, set up in the aftermath of the 2022 floods to give residents a direct voice in decisions shaping the city's future.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/lismore-peoples-assembly/]
- **Loomio** (NZ · platform) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/loomio/]
- **Luminate** (GB · philanthropy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/luminate/]
- **MASS LBP** (CA · practice) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/mass-lbp/]
- **MEMO 98** (SK · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/memo98/]
- **MosaicLab** (AU · practice) — An Australian deliberative democracy practice that designs and facilitates public deliberation processes — citizens' juries, panels, and assemblies — for governments and public institutions.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/mosaiclab/]
- **Movement for Quality Government in Israel (MQG)** (IL · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/mqg/]
- **mySociety** (GB · civic_tech) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/mysociety/]
- **NAMFREL (National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections)** (PH · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/namfrel/]
- **newDemocracy Foundation** (AU · research) — An independent, non-partisan Australian research and development organisation that designs and runs real-world deliberative democracy trials using randomly selected citizens.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/newdemocracy/]
- **NewVote** (AU · platform) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/newvote/]
- **None of the Above Party (Canada)** (CA · party) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/nota-canada/]
- **OpenAustralia Foundation** (AU · civic_tech) — An Australian civic technology charity building tools that help citizens understand and engage with their parliament and government.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/open-australia-foundation/]
- **Open Society Foundations** (US · philanthropy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/open-society-foundations/]
- **Civil Network OPORA** (UA · advocacy) — 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).  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/opora/]
- **Participatory Budgeting Project** (US · practice) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/participatory-budgeting-project/]
- **Participedia** (CA · research) — A global open-access database and research platform cataloguing thousands of participatory democracy cases, methods, and organisations from around the world.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/participedia/]
- **Pirate Party Australia** (AU · party) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/pirate-party-australia/]
- **Pol.is** (US · platform) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/polis/]
- **Prediki** (AT · platform) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/prediki/]
- **PRS Legislative Research** (IN · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/prs-legislative-research/]
- **Proportional Representation Society of Australia** (AU · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/prsa/]
- **Rwanda Governance Board (RGB)** (RW · research) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/rwanda-governance-board/]
- **Sortition Foundation (Australia)** (AU · advocacy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/sortition-foundation-australia/]
- **Sortition Foundation** (UK · advocacy) — A UK-based organisation advocating for the use of random selection (sortition) in democratic institutions, most prominently campaigning to replace the House of Lords with a randomly selected citizens' chamber.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/sortition-foundation/]
- **Susan McKinnon Foundation** (AU · philanthropy) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/susan-mckinnon-foundation/]
- **TEV-DEM (Movement for a Democratic Society)** (SY · governance) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/tev-dem/]
- **Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF)** (VN · governance) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/vietnam-fatherland-front/]
- **vTaiwan** (TW · platform) — A Taiwanese open consultation platform that uses structured online deliberation — via Pol.is — to develop policy positions on contested issues, with outputs fed directly into the legislative process.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/vtaiwan/]
- **Your Party** (GB · party) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/your-party/]

## Inactive / Deregistered Organisations (17)

- **bHive** (AU · cooperative · inactive) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/bhive/]
- **Citizens Parliament (UK)** (UK · advocacy · inactive) — A UK campaign to replace the House of Lords with a randomly selected citizens' chamber — a permanent sortition-based upper house.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/citizens-parliament-uk/]
- **Coalition of Everyone** (AU · advocacy · inactive) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/coalition-of-everyone/]
- **The Democracy Foundation** (US · research · inactive) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/democracy-foundation/]
- **DigiPol** (AU · platform · inactive) — An open-source Australian app that lets citizens browse, read, and vote on bills before the Federal Parliament.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/digipol/]
- **Electoral Royal Commission (Australia)** (AU · advocacy · inactive) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/electoral-royal-commission/]
- **Golos** (RU · advocacy · inactive) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/golos/]
- **Horizon State** (AU · platform · inactive) — An Australian blockchain voting platform that aimed to bring secure, transparent digital voting to governments and organisations. Wound down after initial pilots.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/horizon-state/]
- **Memorial** (RU · research · inactive) — 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 through its international chapters, including Germany.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/memorial/]
- **Online Direct Democracy Australia** (AU · party · inactive) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/online-direct-democracy-australia/]
- **Open Government Partnership — Australia** (AU · governance · inactive) — Australia's participation in the international Open Government Partnership, producing a National Action Plan 2016–18 with commitments on transparency, citizen empowerment, anti-corruption, and technology in governance — the dedicated site is no longer live.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/open-government-partnership-australia/]
- **People Decide** (AU · platform · inactive) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/people-decide/]
- **PeopleCount** (US · platform · inactive) — A US civic technology project focused on restoring political accountability through structured many-to-many communication between citizens and representatives.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/peoplecount/]
- **Referendum Council (Australia)** (AU · governance · inactive) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/referendum-council/]
- **SecureVote** (AU · platform · inactive) — An Australian blockchain voting platform providing secure, scalable, and anonymous digital voting for governments, organisations, and token-based ecosystems. Now defunct — domain squatted.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/securevote/]
- **Flux Party** (AU · political-party · deregistered) — An Australian political party that uses Issue-Based Direct Democracy (IBDD) to let constituents direct how elected representatives vote in parliament.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/flux-party/]
- **MiVote** (AU · platform · deregistered) — 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.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/mivote/]

## Concepts (37)

Concept pages are discovery aids — brief orientations with links to better sources.

- **Accountability Sink** (`accountability-sink`) — A structural feature of organisations in which the consequences of a decision are absorbed or obscured so that no individual can be held responsible for the outcome.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/accountability-sink/]
- **Buen Vivir (Sumak Kawsay)** (`buen-vivir`) — A governance theory rooted in Andean indigenous philosophy — constitutionalised in Bolivia (2009) and Ecuador (2008) — that reframes the purpose of governance a  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/buen-vivir/]
- **Citizens’ Assembly** (`citizens-assembly`) — A Citizens’ Assembly is a representative group of citizens who are selected at random from the population to discuss a topic or issue and make recommendations.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/citizens-assembly/]
- **Cognitive Division of Labour** (`cognitive-division-of-labour`) — The idea, from economist Joseph Schumpeter, that in a complex society not everyone can have well-formed views on all questions — and that democratic systems the  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/cognitive-division-of-labour/]
- **Community Business** (`community-business`) — Community businesses are locally owned and operated enterprises that are accountable to and beneficial for their communities, reinvesting profits locally and aiming to improve the local economy and quality of life.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/community-business/]
- **Consensus Mapping** (`consensus-mapping`) — An approach to large-scale public deliberation that surfaces areas of agreement across a population rather than amplifying disagreement — distinct from polling   [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/consensus-mapping/]
- **Constitutional Democracy** (`constitutional-democracy`) — Constitutional democracy is a form of government in which the majority wields power within the framework of the constitution, ensuring the protection of the majority's interests. This form of democracy is characterized by popular sovereignty, majority rule, and institutional limitations on powers.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/constitutional-democracy/]
- **Cooperative** (`cooperative`) — A cooperative is a democratic enterprise where members have equal ownership and control, and they work together to achieve economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations. This article explores the definition, establishment, principles, and cooperative capital.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/cooperative/]
- **Cybernetic Governance** (`cybernetic-governance`) — An approach to designing governance systems using the principles of cybernetics — particularly Stafford Beer's Viable System Model — to analyse and redesign how organisations and governments manage complexity, feedback, and adaptation.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/cybernetic-governance/]
- **Decentralized autonomous organization** (`decentralized-autonomous-organization`) — A blockchain-based system that allows people to coordinate and self-govern themselves through a set of self-executing rules deployed on a public blockchain, and whose governance is decentralized, that is, independent of central control.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/decentralized-autonomous-organization/]
- **Deliberative Democracy** (`deliberative-democracy`) — An approach to democracy that emphasises informed reasoning and structured discussion among citizens — not just aggregating existing preferences through voting,  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/deliberative-democracy/]
- **Democracy** (`democracy`) — An overview of the concept of democracy, its origins, forms, defining principles, and significance in political systems.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/democracy/]
- **Democratic Confederalism** (`democratic-confederalism`) — A theory of democratic governance that rejects the nation-state as the appropriate unit of political organisation, building instead from the commune upward thro  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/democratic-confederalism/]
- **Direct Democracy** (`direct-democracy`) — Direct democracy allows citizens to vote directly on rules and procedures affecting the country, giving them more power than in a representative democracy.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/direct-democracy/]
- **E-Government** (`e-government`) — E-government (short for electronic government) is the use of technology, such as computers and the internet, to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government is also known as e-gov, electronic government, internet governance, digital government, online government, or connected government. Examples of e-government services can include using the internet for applying for government issued identification documents (such as a birth certificate), updating government records (for example, changing a residential address), or completing a tax return. E-government should enable anyone visiting a city website to communicate and interact with city employees via the Internet with graphical user interfaces (GUI), instant-messaging (IM), learn about government issues through audio/video presentations, and in any way more sophisticated than a simple email letter to the address provided at the site  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/e-government/]
- **Economic Democracy** (`economic-democracy`) — The extension of democratic principles into economic institutions — ownership structures, corporate governance, and the distribution of economic power — rather   [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/economic-democracy/]
- **Employee Ownership Trusts** (`employee-ownership-trusts`) — Employee ownership trusts (EOTs) are typically special purpose trusts that own a portion or all of a business's stock. Typically, trusts have governance documents that safeguard the company's character and the interests of its employees. Employees typically receive financial benefits as a result of annual profit sharing.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/employee-ownership-trusts/]
- **Employee Stock Ownership Plans** (`employee-stock-ownership-plans`) — Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are frequently used for broad-based employee ownership and as a vehicle for business transition. This type of retirement plan primarily invests in company stock and places its assets in a trust for employees. ESOPs are utilized to attract and retain employees, build long-term wealth, and foster a high-engagement work culture. They also provide significant tax benefits and can be formed during the process of selling a business.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/employee-stock-ownership-plans/]
- **End to End Verifiable Voting System** (`end-to-end-verifiable-voting-system`) — Proposed solutions to the problem: EVIV An end-to-end verifiable Internet voting system, and related documents.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/end-to-end-verifiable-voting-system/]
- **Equity Compensation Plans** (`equity-compensation-plans`) — Overview of equity compensation plans in the United States, including stock options, ESPPs, restricted stock, phantom stock, and SARs.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/equity-compensation-plans/]
- **Isegoria** (`isegoria`) — The ancient Greek principle of equal right to speak in the public assembly — used by contemporary democracy reformers to argue that elections undermine equality of political voice while sortition-based processes restore it.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/isegoria/]
- **Issue-Based Direct Democracy (IBDD)** (`issue-based-direct-democracy`) — The voting mechanism developed by the Flux Party — citizens vote on individual pieces of legislation, can delegate votes to others, and earn 'political capital' by abstaining which they can spend on issues they care about.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/issue-based-direct-democracy/]
- **Liberal Democracy** (`liberal-democracy`) — Liberal democracy is a form of democratic rule that maintains a balance between the principle of limited government and the ideal of popular consent, enabling citizens to participate directly in the governance of their society and state. It can take on various forms, such as monarchy or republic, and operate under parliamentary, presidential, or semi-presidential systems, typically with universal suffrage. Its characteristics include power separation, an independent judiciary, a system of checks and balances, and regular competitive elections based on universal suffrage and political equality.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/liberal-democracy/]
- **Liquid Democracy** (`liquid-democracy`) — A voting system that combines direct and representative democracy through transitive delegation — citizens can vote directly on any issue, or delegate their vote to a trusted person who can re-delegate it further.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/liquid-democracy/]
- **Mixed-member proportional representation** (`mixed-member-proportional-representation`) — Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system where voters have two votes: one for a single-seat constituency representative and one for a political party. This metadata enriches the information on mixed-member proportional representation.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/mixed-member-proportional-representation/]
- **Organizations of World Citizens** (`organizations-of-world-citizens`) — This page lists some organizations advocating the concept of a World Citizen. A short analysis provides a summary of what each organization is currently doing, the measurable objectives they have achieved (if any), or if they're just an advocacy group.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/organizations-of-world-citizens/]
- **Participatory Budgeting** (`participatory-budgeting`) — A democratic process in which community members directly decide how to allocate part of a public budget — most commonly used by local governments, but also appl  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/participatory-budgeting/]
- **Prediction Markets** (`prediction-markets`) — Markets where participants bet on the outcomes of future events — used in democracy contexts to aggregate dispersed knowledge about policy outcomes, surface considered collective intelligence, and improve on conventional polling.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/prediction-markets/]
- **Radical Transparency** (`radical-transparency`) — A governance practice in which government processes, meetings, and decisions are made fully and immediately public by default — not through selective disclosure  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/radical-transparency/]
- **Representative Democracy** (`representative-democracy`) — Representative democracy, alternatively referred to as indirect democracy, is a form of government in which elected officials represent a group of people.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/representative-democracy/]
- **Sortition** (`sortition`) — Sortition is the selection of public officials or jurors using a random representative sample, minimizing factionalism and prioritizing deliberation on policy decisions.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/sortition/]
- **Tribal Epistemology** (`tribal-epistemology`) — The condition in which group membership determines what people believe — where truth is assessed by whether a claim is endorsed by one's political tribe rather   [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/tribal-epistemology/]
- **Utopian Realpolitik** (`utopian-realpolitik`) — The disposition of continuing to push for idealistic goals against unfavourable odds — because history repeatedly shows that what looks structurally impossible   [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/utopian-realpolitik/]
- **Vanguardism and Consultative Democracy** (`vanguardism`) — A theory of democratic governance rooted in the idea that a disciplined, ideologically committed party can represent and advance collective interests more relia  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/vanguardism/]
- **What is Democracy?** (`what-is-democracy`) — Democracy is a form of governance in which all citizens of adult age are in charge of what a given polity, such as a state, country, or city does.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/what-is-democracy/]
- **Worker Cooperatives** (`worker-cooperatives`) — Worker cooperatives are businesses that are entirely owned and governed by their employees democratically. Employees typically join the cooperative by paying a membership fee, and each employee receives one vote. They are most prevalent in startups and small businesses, though they can exist in organizations with thousands of employees.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/worker-cooperatives/]
- **Workplace Democracy** (`workplace-democracy`) — Workplace democracy applies democratic principles to the workplace, involving voting, referendums, and public debate. It can take various forms and has several arguments such as economic, citizenship, ethical, and employee power and representation. Research has shown potential positive impacts on organizational effectiveness, productivity, and citizenship skills.  [http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/workplace-democracy/]

---

## Key pages

- Organisation index (sortable table): http://designingopendemocracy.com/organisations/
- Concept index: http://designingopendemocracy.com/concepts/
- Knowledge graph (org↔concept relationships): http://designingopendemocracy.com/graph/
- Blog (event posts, meetup summaries): http://designingopendemocracy.com/blog/
- About / philosophy: http://designingopendemocracy.com/about/
- DOD's own projects (wiki, tools, research): http://designingopendemocracy.com/community/

## Data downloads

Org data is exported at build time in multiple formats:

- organisations.csv (flat table, all orgs): http://designingopendemocracy.com/data/organisations.csv
- organisations.json (structured, concepts as arrays): http://designingopendemocracy.com/data/organisations.json
- organisations.geojson (active orgs with coordinates): http://designingopendemocracy.com/data/organisations.geojson
- organisations.kml (colour-coded by status, for Google Earth): http://designingopendemocracy.com/data/organisations.kml
- org-concepts.csv (edge list for network analysis): http://designingopendemocracy.com/data/org-concepts.csv