The overarching argument of this paper is that parliamentary digital transformation is a relatively underfunded area of work, but a vitally important one in achieving the very common overarching goals of open, accountable, inclusive and participative government. Improvements in how parliamentary digital capacity building can be done better are possible with better strategy, funding and cooperation, and when parliaments are enthusiastic and willing to take the opportunities offered to them to improve themselves.
Now more than ever, digital transformation has become essential for parliaments. Such transformation can have a significant impact in making parliaments more transparent and accountable and can enable them to leverage greater public interest and engagement in the legislative and electoral processes.
Good external digital engagement requires parliaments to review their own internal digital structures, assess where development and investment are needed, and how digital improvement will assist in achieving their goals. Differential priorities in the needs of the parliament or societal actors can form a guide, according to which specific areas for digital development might be prioritised. These steps require long-term investment, which should go in parallel with the digital transformation of the Executive. However, because a country’s digital transformation is primarily the preserve of the Executive, it can bypass the legislature and may be almost disproportionately influenced by the ruling party. Uneven digital transformation between public bodies and the legislature may weaken the profile and legitimacy of the legislature itself. Furthermore, governments that effectively restrict digital development within the legislature are essentially restricting democratic integrity.
Besides the long-term process of building and developing infrastructure, short-term pilot projects can be useful to test approaches and begin building the digital infrastructure of the future. Properly targeted funding, to achieve specified digital transformation goals, agreed in collaboration with the development agencies operating in target areas, can yield significant dividends in improving the digital democracy ecosystem. This approach can neutralise harmful, short-termist and wasteful approaches to digital deficiency, and remove the ability of the more unscrupulous parliaments to play development agencies off against each other to leverage greater rewards or resources.
Digital transformation of parliaments requires better strategy, funding and cooperation on the part of donors and implementers as parliaments are enthusiastic and willing to take the opportunities offered by digitalisation.
Header photo: Jessica Taylor / UK Parliament
What's it all about?
Report authors Julia Keutgen and Rebecca Rumbol discuss their report and its key arguments
This analysis addresses a key question for Montenegro: Should the country maintain its integrated model of parliamentary budgetary oversight, where the Committee for Economy, Finance, and Budget (CEFB) oversees both ex-ante and ex-post functions, or adopt a standalone ex-post oversight committee model like those in the UK and Slovenia?
By comparing Montenegro’s system with the experiences of Croatia and Georgia, which have a single committee performing the ex-ante and ex-post oversight (referred to here as an integrated approach), and Slovenia and the UK, which have standalone ex-post oversight committees, this paper aims to identify the most effective approach for strengthening parliamentary oversight in Montenegro.
The goal is to ensure that the model chosen optimizes resources, enhances accountability, and improves public financial management through robust scrutiny of budgetary processes and audit findings.
This analysis ultimately recommends that Montenegro retain its integrated model while implementing key enhancements.
This policy paper provides a working definition of AI for Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and the broader democracy support sector.
It then provides a preliminary review of how AI is being used to enhance democratic practices worldwide, focusing on several themes including:
- accountability and transparency
- elections
- environmental democracy
- inclusion
- openness and participation
- women’s political leadership.
The paper also highlights potential risks and areas of development in the future. Finally, the paper shares five recommendations for WFD and democracy support organisations to consider advancing their ‘digital democracy’ agenda.
This policy paper also offers additional information regarding AI classification and other resources for identifying good practice and innovative solutions.
Its findings are relevant to WFD staff members, international development practitioners, civil society organisations, and persons interested in using emerging technologies within governmental settings.
Election and political campaign materials such as ballot boxes, laminated voter cards, security seals, campaign posters, and banners reach all corners of a country, including remote locations, during the electoral process. These materials are often produced from and packed with single-use plastic and non-biodegradable materials or so-called virgin plastic. Plastic production, its use and disposal are energy-intensive and a major driver of pollution, as well as of biodiversity loss, on land and at sea, with broad impacts on ecosystems.
Reducing plastic production and consumption during elections would contribute to less plastic pollution and might trigger a new way of thinking around plastic pollution among other actors. This policy paper proposes that electoral management bodies (EMBs) and political parties (PPs) can mitigate the environmental impact of delivering elections and political campaigns by reducing the usage of plastic origin materials.
Broadly speaking, making elections more environmentally friendly aligns with the democratic values of short- and long-term public interest and inclusion, and can make a positive contribution in several ways. It can influence broader societal attitudes towards sustainability, by encouraging eco-friendly behaviours among political parties, candidates and voters. It can contribute to national climate change mitigation efforts, by reducing the carbon footprint of the elections. Also, by minimising non-biodegradable materials and reducing pollution from campaign events, more environmentally friendly elections can lead to cleaner air, quieter environments, and improved public health. Avoiding plastics and in particular, single-use plastics (SUPs), and using biodegradable and recycled materials helps conserve resources like paper, promotes efficiency, aids tree cover conservation, and reduces waste.
While promoting plastic-free electoral processes that are aligned with global efforts to address the climate crisis and protect our planet's fragile ecosystems, this paper also considers that certain electoral processes are time- and security-sensitive and cannot fully align with environmental concerns. Accordingly, this paper addresses different stages of the supply chain management, highlighting areas and processes where a more environmentally friendly approach is not detrimental to electoral integrity.
Summary
This analysis evaluates the adoption and implementation of gender equality commitments given during the pre-election period of the presidential and parliamentary campaigns in North Macedonia. It was conducted during the conference "Violence on Women in Politics - Solutions to Strengthen the Political Participation of Women", held on February 9, 2024, in Skopje.
The analysis shows the gap between the commitments made by the political parties during the conference and their actual practices. Women’s forums within parties play a crucial role in promoting gender equality but they often lack financial independence and recognition. Even though the political party representatives expressed commitment to gender equality strengthening, the internal party structures remained inconsistent to these commitments. Many parties have not clearly defined or increased their gender quotas in leadership positions, and male dominance persists in decision-making processes.
Despite meeting the legal requirement of having at least 40% of the less represented gender on candidate lists, women are often placed in lower, less winnable positions, undermining their chances of election.
The analysis concludes that while progress has been made, the implementation of gender commitments still falls short of the expressed intentions, particularly during political and economic crises.