Democracy isn’t just something that happens to us, it’s something we do together.
For the last twenty years, we have worked to support meaningful participation in democracy and access to political information, improving the ability of people around the world to make their voices heard and to hold governments to account.
We work in partnership with civil society and governments to build mechanisms for citizens to influence decision-making, giving people a voice in shaping the future of their communities.
In the UK, we run TheyWorkForYou and WriteToThem. We make data available to support a wider ecosystem of research and services.
Today, one in three UK adults has heard of TheyWorkForYou and one in five has used the site. Millions of people visit the site every year, while WriteToThem helps people send hundreds of thousands of messages to their representatives. Our email alerts provide a vital free parliamentary monitoring tool to charities, and even people working inside government and Parliament.
Repowering Democracy
This year we will be publishing a series of short pieces of writing from our staff, and external contributors who think deeply about how our democracy works and are at the frontlines of trying to improve it. Learn more about this series.
You can get this series as an email in your inbox, weekly:
TheyWorkForYou for citizens and campaigners
See who your MP is
As well as how they’ve voted, and what they’ve said.
Keep up with the UK’s Parliaments on TheyWorkForYou
Don’t miss the action
Keep track of mentions in Parliament of the things that matter to you.
Set up automatic alerts with TheyWorkForYou
WriteToThem for citizens and campaigns
Get in touch with politicians
WriteToThem provides a very easy way for people to contact their elected representatives, at all levels — even if they don’t know who they are. All that’s needed is a postcode. Try it out here.
Running a campaign and want your supporters to write to their MPs? WriteToThem can be very simply integrated with your own website. Find out more here.
Research and evidence
Discover best practice for civic and democratic projects.
Query our data.
-
WhoFundsThem: Literature Review
August 2024
-
It should be easier for MPs to vote
August 2023
-
What do we need to know to judge our representatives?
August 2023
-
Giving more power to Parliament helps MPs keep their promises to us
August 2023
-
Guest post: Does watching MPs make them behave better?
August 2023
-
Learning from the way people use TheyWorkForYou
August 2023