When voting, only responsibly. But how can we easily and quickly find our way around the politicians who are supposed to defend our interests? This was the task for Transparency International, the Hlídač státu project, and dozens of expert volunteers of Česko.Digital, who together innovated the Naši politici project.
Party history, insolvency, sponsorship, media image, and biography in a nutshell, all this can now be found for Czech politicians clearly on the Naši politici website, properly attributed and with links. Within six months of its launch, over 41 000 users visited the site.
Verified data clearly and with sources#
The project is based on the idea that voters do not want to read politicians' biographies where various important information is missing. They want the facts. Behind every piece of information on the Naši politici website there is a source, so you can rely on what you see coming from a verified database.
The aim of the project is to provide the public with unbiased, verifiable and relevant information about politically exposed persons. The key was to strive for maximum openness and transparency - the source code of the application is freely available and all presented information is accompanied by links to independent sources.
The Naši politici project was originally founded as the association Naši politici, o.s. in 2008. For ten years, the unique database was filled by hand and using open sources. After Naši politici, o.s. ceased its activities in 2018, all data was handed over to the anti-corruption non-governmental organization Transparency International (TI) so that the long years of work would not be wasted.
That is why TI, with the vision of creating a functional and updated database, joined forces with open source IT professionals from Hlídač státu and a community of expert volunteers from Česko.Digital. This unique collaboration has reincarnated the project to be the place to find verified information about your elected representatives.
Impact#
Thanks to the volunteers of Česko.Digital and the cooperation with Transparency International and the involvement of the Hlídač státu project, the largest online database of verified information about Czech politicians has been created. It is called Naši politici and it is a continuation of the defunct organization of the same name. Compared to the original version, the new database is automated and enhanced with datasets such as media mentions. The general public and especially voters thus have up-to-date data in one place. That is, facts free of emotion. During the six months since the launch of the new version, over 41 000 users have visited the Naši politici website.
Media mentions#
- Non-profit organizations have teamed up to launch the Naši politici website, which aims to offer information about all politicians (Lupa.cz)
- Who governs us and who represents us? Check out the website NašiPolitici.cc (Živě.cz)
- You can now find almost 1000 vetted profiles in the public online database Naši politici (Transparency.cz)
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