Abgeordnetenwatch

OpenAid is about transparency, accountability and the use of 2.0 technology for participation in development. There are examples in other areas of politics, where new media is used to foster accountability. In several countries internet sites exist to follow up individual parliamentary representatives. Some of these sites focus on regular income, pensions and additional income through advisory services or posts. Other initiatives target the employment of time of elected officials. Still other sites publish the positions of individual representatives in parliamentary discussions and in votes. The German site Abgeordnetenwatch is covering both financial aspects and voting behaviour.

What we at OpenAid particularly like is the possibility of citizens to question their representatives publicly on specific issues and for representatives to answer publicly to these questions. If local representatives can find the time to answer publicly to public inquiries, project managers of aid projects should be able to do the same and thereby enhance the local democratic culture of the project area. The interactive character is a key element of our proposed online tool for public monitoring of individual development projects.