The Parliameter

Dr. Stephan Vogel, Chief Creative Officer Ogilvy EMEA Jakub Korolczuk, Executive Creative Director Maciej Krawczyk, Head of Experience, Senior Copywriter Helena Smoczny, Senior Art Director Adam Śmiłowski, CEO Helena Olecka, Business Director Agata Pamięta, Account Manager

Background All around the world democracy is under attack. According to estimates 1/3 of global population is being governed by authoritarian populists. And while there are many origins of the democracy crisis, one of the key ones is a lack of control over governing elites. While Members of Parliament in different countries stay silent during crucial debates, miss important votes, people are asking themselves "are Members of Parliament we voted for, really representing our opinions?", "how can we have an impact?". Idea Democracy is not only the right to choose. It is also the right to be informed. Because knowledge about the activities of Members of Parliament, gives people the power to hold them accountable. The Parliameter was created to give voters this kind of power. With only few taps on their smartphone Poles can check how many debates has their member of parliament skipped, how many votes did he attend or miss. What's his general activity and how is he performing compared to others. Now holding members of parliament accountable is as easy as checking weather or Instagram. Strategy The main goal was to influence the behaviour of the members of parliament. To do this we decided to empower people. Creating a tool through which they can control and pressure the politicians to do their job. We also partnered with the biggest NGO in Poland promoting civic society. Their knowledge of the political landscape in the country helped us to craft the appropriate messaging and communication. Execution Until now data about the Polish parliament activities were hidden. Buried deep on the parliaments archaic websites the voters couldn't access it. Using a dedicated algorithm we scanned and analysed parliament databases and turned the data into a powerful tool for every voter to use. This tool is call The Parliameter - a web app accessible form any mobile device. Now each politician has its own activity score based on the number of votes attended, speeches made and interpellations submitted. Using an interactive map voters can easily and instantly check the activity of the politician they voted for. The can rank them form the highest to the lowest activity. Check the number of speeches they gave votes they attended or missed. See how is they are performing compared to the members of parliament form other parties. Results The Parliameter managed to reach over 400 000 users. To increase the pressure on the members of parliament Polish voters made The Parliameter a number 1 trending topic on the Polish internet and in the media. As the effect, many members of parliament used the app to show how proud they are about their activity. But more importantly the others, under strong pressure, finally have changed their behaviour. Today they give more speeches and attend the crucial debates more frequently than before. Apparently The Parliameter managed to place democracy where it belongs – back in the hands of the people.